The Power of Targeted Marketing: How It Shapes Your Spending Habits

Have you ever thought about your most recent purchase and asked, “Why on earth did I buy this inflatable pool mattress? I don’t even have a pool, for God’s sake.” Yeah, you are unfortunately not alone. In today’s world, your spending habits are often shaped by external factors. Thanks to tailored ads that you see based on the info that companies have on you, you often don’t even realize why you buy something. This is just a handiwork of something called targeted marketing. Here, I will try to explain what targeted marketing is, how it works, and how to be a more responsible consumer. So, let’s get started with the explanation.

The Brainchild of Modern Mad Men: Targeted Marketing

Targeted marketing is a marketing technique (well, duh!) that aims to raise awareness and increase consideration for a product or a service among a specific group. These groups are determined by some factors like their profession, income, age, location, etc. This specialization helps ad givers to reach the people who are likely to buy their products or services. For ad givers, this method increases return on investment, revenue, and reach.

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How Does It Work?

Well, it all starts with defining who is likely to buy your product. This way, it is easier to send a personalized directly. It is a little bit different from the traditional ad efforts, which usually start with what the message is. To give an example: Let’s say that you are selling men’s accessories like belts, watches, and cufflinks. You have one customer who bought a single gift for her partner in the past from you. If you were to send her ads about your products, it would be in vain because she is not interested in your products except the gift that she bought in the past.

So how do they know who to send ads to? You’ll be amazed (or terrified, I don’t know) how much information they gather about you while you are unaware. When ad companies create market audiences, they use your age, gender, income, race, sexual orientation, marital status, etc. They also use your interests to make more specialized ads. The last search that you made on Google, the last “like” you made on Facebook or Instagram, or the last video you watched are huge sources of information for these ad companies.

“Cool, Now Help Me to Be a More Responsible Consumer.” Alright, Let Me Try

The first and best thing you need to do is to educate yourself. Well, if you are reading this, you are educating yourself. Good for you. It would be great to learn a little about sustainable consumer practices, ethical sourcing, and fair trade.

Then you can limit your purchases. Buy only the things that you really need. I mean, REALLY, really need… It would be wise to actually focus on not quantity but quality items that would be long-lasting and durable. Also, take your time to find more sustainable alternatives for your everyday items. Carry a nice, durable, reusable water bottle with you so you don’t have to buy a new bottle every time you are thirsty. Or you can use a reusable bag so you don’t have to get a plastic bag when you shop.

Another thing you can do to resist targeted marketing is to guard your personal information. It might be hard to completely deny people from accessing your information unless you move into the hills and live off-grid. Yet, you might review privacy settings on websites and social media accounts. It is also a wise thing to do to use ad-blockers.

Also, please give yourself some time to think about the product that you’re about to buy. Are you looking for a, I don’t know, headset for yourself? Add it to the cart, go take a walk, or sleep. Are you still want to buy that $300 headset? Do you really need to hear some 14 year old to swear you in HD? Then don’t buy it. This also helps you to break the cycle of impulse buying.

Conclusion

Marketing is one of the biggest industries in the world right now. You maybe don’t even realize, but in this economy that is built upon consumerism, this industry shapes what you want and what you think you need. Educating yourself about such practices, taking precautions to deny yourself from buying impulsively, and protecting your information can make you a little bit more responsible when shopping. You’ll realize how much you spend your hard-earned money to stuff you don’t actually need. Be smart, be responsible. See you next time!