Kaitlin Wilson
Jul 21, 2017 · 2 min read

Social media: A term that just a few years ago would have been synonymous with teenagers has completely evolved into a new platform for advertising and selling. Social media has completely reinvented the way companies target and reach their customers. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and even Snapchat are becoming new ways for brands to influence potential customers.

Marketing and advertising teams have been working tirelessly to create new strategies to affectively target their consumers across social media, whether it is advertisements disguised as pictures on Instagram or promoted articles and content on Facebook, the rise of social media has created a new marketing technique. Gone are the days of google-ing a website to order clothes. Sure, that still exists, but now customers don’t have to leave Facebook to buy clothing or other items. How do they do it?

Half the battle is getting customers to click on the advertisements. There are many different approaches to this. Some companies will use click-bait articles or promoted content to entice customers. Others will take high quality pictures and try to sneak them into customer’s newsfeed, posing as regular pictures. Companies also use online tools, such as Google AdWords to track how successful their Ads are.

Clothing companies will pay influencers on Instagram or Snapchat to promote their items, encouraging them to tag the company in their posts so their followers will possibly try their products. Youtube bloggers, mainly makeup artists, will be sent free makeup to “review” on their channels and influence their subscribers to buy. Social Media has completely revolutionized the way consumers view products, and many do not even realize they are being influenced.

Sponsored ads line the side of Facebook, offering users content relevant to their search history while they interact with friends. Pages that friends have liked appear amongst status’s and vacation pictures, seemingly in place, promoting “30 percent off sale” and “new arrivals.”

Marketing and advertising have gotten smarter with how they target customers. It was only a matter of time before the next evolution came. The question remains however, what is next?

)