Even if targeting becomes less effective, as long as users remain on the platform, there will be creative ways to reach them.
D2C fashion company Betabrand said it often receives thousands of comments on its Facebook ads, and hopes to get extra mileage out of each impression by engaging with potential customers firsthand.
“We noticed that we were getting a lot of comments on ads, and we saw patterns where people were talking about the products in ways that weren't true,” said Douglas Hoggatt, vice president of digital marketing at Betabrand. “We needed to reply to these comments and start a dialogue with our customers. That's what we did, and we realized that it started a conversation about our products before anyone even got to our website.”
Toluna data shows that this kind of marketing does work. When asked how positive user comments on social media affected consumers’ behavior or perception toward a brand, more than half of US internet users said it helped them remember the brand, while just under half said it made them more likely to purchase their products.