Online marketing is huge nowadays. People have access to online shopping, stores, services, and ads from their phones and laptops. It’s easily accessible, reliable, and literally at your fingertips. But how do the ads that interest you manage to find their way into your feed? Orwellian as it may seem, the answer is simple: targeted ads.
Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter algorithms are always changing, but the idea behind targeted ads is similar. Targeted ads are basically ads that are specifically tailored to an audience, using keywords, interests, and location.
The algorithm uses what you as the consumer interact with and are interested in. Liking a page on Facebook, commenting on a post about dogs, or even if you watch a video on your feed all tell the social platform where to target. You’re showing what interests you and what catches your attention. Then, they use that information to help cater ads to you.
It works the same way for businesses who are running the ad. They can select specific keywords, interests, and locations for the ad to target. So, if you are interested or interacting with any of their selected keywords or interests and live in the correct area, there is a good chance you will see that ad.
For example, if a sports organization was running a campaign to get new leads by giving away a coach meet and greet package, they’d run an ad using keywords catered to that fan base. For example; team names, mascots, universities, the coach, and star player nicknames all contribute to an algorithm pointing the engine to you. Combined with a location, your ad target becomes complete.
Ads are tailored to specific audiences for two main reasons. First, the company can really reach its key demographic and help bring customers into the store and secondly, it eliminates ads that the consumer does not have any interest in.
Companies and social platforms are forever trying to find more innovative ways to zero in on key markets and audiences, and using eye-tracking advertising to target people's emotions is usually a good start.
Ads are now even targeting your emotions. Keywords and searches can lead companies to have a feel for your mental state. Trigger the ad!
According to Vox.com, the New York Times reported back in April that they had been using machine learning to identify the emotions of readers throughout different stories. They identified a total of 30 different emotions.
Out of those 30, 18 are for sale and available to advertisers, according to AdWeek.com
Here are the 18 emotions that marketers may use to target you in ads:
- Bored
- Amused
- Indulgent
- Optimistic
- Interested
- Adventurous
- self-confident
- Inspired
- Informative
- Competitive
- Happy
- Nostalgic
- Fearful
- Hopeful
- Sad
- In the mood to spend
- Feeling love
This is not the first time that a company is using emotions to target audiences. USA Today has been using emotions-based targeting since 2017. Companies do not want to just buy content, they want content and ads that fit, identify and show real interest in their brand. Emotions have just become another metric in which they can measure who to target for their ads.
This is how and why you are seeing ads and how the sites choose what ads are best for you to see.
If you are interested in learning more about how targeted ads work or how to run them, check out these pages:
Let us know your thoughts and questions on the targeted ads below. ⬇️