I was scrolling through my Instagram feed this morning and was curious about the ads that were shown to me. Why were these particular ads shown? What was the basis of targeting? What does Instagram know about me? I took screenshots and then tried to analyse what Instagram knows about me. So, here are the ads :
Smaaash
Smaash is a Mumbai based sports and entertainment centre. I have been there twice in the last few years. I was quite surprised when this ad showed up on my feed. I am neither into sports nor do I visit a lot of places like this. Other than being in Mumbai, there seems to be no connection.
Nykaa
The second ad was from Nykaa. This is hardly a surprise given the amount of makeup and beauty accounts I follow, the amount of hashtag I post about products and makeup. I was honestly expecting an ad like this to be the first one.
Big Stylist
Another beauty related ad but this one is offering beauty and spa services at home. I suppose since makeup and beauty are big talking points, they figured I would be interested in grooming as well.
One Plus India
Now I love my gadgets and geekiness as much as I love my makeup and heels. I may not talk incessantly about the swanky new phone or shiny new laptop to hit the market but I do read up about that loads. Other than that, I like, follow and post photography related content. We all know One Plus has a fabulous camera and they do play up on the photography bit. Getting a DSLR quality picture from a phone is such a blessing I tell you. Okay, am digressing. You know now why this ad was shown to me. Right?
MyCity4Kids
MyCity4Kids is a web based parenting community. I think I am their target audience on many levels. I do post parenting related posts and interact with many mommy and one daddy blogger. This video was food related and it is no secret that I am a foodie too! Finally, as a blogger… platforms like these are great for content syndication. I do not know what targeting they did for this one, but I fit in!
So what does Instagram know about me?
On the basis of these ads, I think the answer to what does Instagram know about me is:
Ankita is a beauty and makeup loving geek foodie who is a parent and lives in Mumbai
Pretty accurate huh? Or you think I am trying to force fit on that basis of what I already know 😛
What about you? Have you tried to look at the ads you see? Do you ever think
[Tweet “What does Instagram know about me? #SocialMedia”]
Social media has become an alternative sales channels. I often say that platforms like Facebook and Instagram have levelled the playing field giving smaller brands a chance to compete with the biggies that have deep pockets. For marketers, the beauty of these platforms is that they reach your target audience on the basis of their interests and social activity. For individuals, they show you new things and allow you to try products you would not have known about otherwise. Win-win. Right?
Everything you do is being tracked and these programs are constantly trying to predict what you will do next, what you will buy next so that the seller is right there when you decide to make a purchase. A flip side to this consumerism is the lack of privacy.
Which side of the argument are you on?
Instagram sure has been showing a lot of ads, a bit intrusive and many irrelevant. Good idea to share about this and I have been seeing the ads more carefully. 🙂
Not a nice feeling to think that your data is being collected without your permission. Sites collect cookies and store data on your search patterns and accordingly throw up suggestions. Travails of digitizing our lives I guess.
Analytics. Google Analytics, your cache, the posts you like on Instagram, et cetera play an important role in customising the adcertisments you see. Sometimes you could see the exact same Amazon or flipkart product in the IG feed. Everything is by Analytics.
From Friday onwards,I have been seeing this quite often then earlier, reported unappropriate a Couple of times but still it did pop-up so I started enjoying them and m Cool about it As they say go with the Flow! As it will keep me updated.
Instagram ads were less intrusive earlier but now they appear every 5 posts or so. So what are the intersting ads you saw? Why did you report some of them as inappropriate?