How am I Personally Marketed to?

 While I was reading Chapter 4 about how marketing on Facebook has shifted and changed shape over the years, I found myself having new ideas and learning new approaches to Facebook. Personally, Facebook has been a dead media platform for Gen Z. I only ever visit it when I am bored or if I have an older family member who I know has no other social media that I want to catch up with. Thus, reading this chapter and learning about Facebook’s history with marketing was very interesting.

Meta Business Suite was something I had never heard of before, and I like the fact that you have all your analytics at your fingertips. Having a professional dashboard on my Instagram account has been very helpful for me to understand the analytics of who is seeing and interacting with my posts.

One thing that I really love about the Meta algorithm and marketing strategy is that they have analytics on what you are searching for and are interested in. Using Apple’s app tracking helps Meta know how to market to me. I am always on the lookout for comfortable and supportive shoes that make dancing easier. Two brands that consistently appear on my Instagram and Facebook feeds are Clove Shoes and Fuego Shoes. Every time, without fail, I click and spend at least 10 minutes looking into what style of shoe I like and what I would buy if I had the money.

Clove Shoes are made for healthcare workers, so they are designed to be worn during 12-hour shifts. Fuego Shoes are made for dancers and have a split sole that allows for better foot flexibility. Both of these brands were strategically marketed to my feed based on the analytics they have regarding my activity not only on their apps but also on Google.

One aspect of the chapter that I found particularly interesting was the concept of Facebook Zero. I had never heard of this previously and found it shocking. As a person involved in social media and marketing, I understand that a drop in your posts and engagement is a significant issue. However, as a social media user, I also recognize that seeing more ads than posts from people you follow is very frustrating. I remember a time when, for every one post from a friend or family member, I saw around three ads that followed. As a consumer, I believe that Facebook Zero was a healthy reset.