Hashtags, the new way to target ads to consumers

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If you change your status on Facebook to engaged or married, you will see on the right that ads start to appear about photography or wedding advertising. All because we changed a status. We all know we get targeted ads by the information we share on line. I read an interesting article on Forbes. The article is about how we soon will be getting ads based on the hashtags we use. We are using hashtags everywhere. I even see people using hashtags on Facebook, which I find funny. We are so use to using this form of gesture on our social media feed. So how is this going to work?

A company like Forever 21 may target someone based on the hashtags that a consumer may use. For instance they may target someone who uses the hashtag “shopping” or “fashion.” Another great example used on the article was how a fast food company like McDonalds may target someone who uses the hashtag “hamburger” or “hungry.” Very interesting stuff huh. This form of advertising technique may not be in use until next year. The company who is making hashtag advertising available is Radium One. They simply help advertisers reach the right consumer. So this would be the perfect fit for Radium One. I think many companies are going to use hashtag advertising. I find this very exciting and interesting. I just wonder, if people will be more aware of the tags they use so they wont be targeted by ads they don’t care about or are people going to be hashtagging about everything.

What do you think?

Is this a great technique for advertisers to use? Will this work?

No, I dont mean where you shop…haha

Last week I was reading on how to Identify Target Audience in my textbook, “Social Media Marketing: A Strategic Approach”

One of the first questions that the author asks the reader is, “Who is the message designed to reach?”

I am an advertising major and I took a class where I learned to create print ads, radio spots, and pretty much anything executional while having a good strategy that backed up my print ads or radio spots. Every time we had an assignment we always had to remember who the message is designed to reach. In simpler words, Who is our Target Audience?

When we look at Print ads, we sometimes dont even think about if this print ad is targeted towards us or other consumers. In mostly all print ads, commercials, radio spots their a solution to the wants and needs of a consumer.By understanding who our Target Audience are, we can know how to motivate individuals so that they may buy a certain product.

A great example of how to successfully reach your target audience, is a case study of Colgate. Colgate used social media and video to reach Generation Y target. Colgate introduced a new product called “Wisp.” This product is a mini disposable toothbrush. It is a very tiny toothbrush that fits in a purse of backpack. The product is intended for college students or individuals who are always on the go. They specifically wanted to target individuals who were 18-25, so Generation Y. How weird is to follow update on a toothbrush on twitter and facebook. This was a dilemma that Colgate and the agency their worked with had. How was Colgate going to interact with their target audience? They created contests, a facebook app, a campaign where individuals can upload videos on YouTube and become “More Kissable” and “The face of the Wisp.” Their results, $44 million in sales of their new product.

They proved that knowing your target audience is an extremely important step to be successful.

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