../ Advertising Shift

*This post was inspired by some thinking after seeing this X post

I came across this post on X earlier today, and it got me thinking about the shift in how marketing success is achieved. I'm writing this as I wanted get my ideas down somewhere.

Previously

I was thinking about how advertising success used to be achieved; it's simple right? Pay for a bunch of billboards / tv adverts / newspaper adverts. No matter how good or bad your advert is, the same amount of people will see it. It's a simple transaction, you pay the company, they get you eyes.

Present day

Now with over 91% of medium & large companies using social media for marketing, a crucial external factor has been added: the algorithm. If your advert is good, more people will see it, and reach will in turn, cost less.

In the startup space, I've frequently encountered the term 'Creative Advertising.' This technique aims to reduce advertising costs by creating content that the company hopes will go viral, as illustrated in the tweet mentioned earlier.

Thoughts

I believe this shift is positive—provided social media platforms maintain fairness in their algorithms. It democratizes the opportunity for global reach, allowing even small companies to compete without the hefty price tag traditionally associated with wide reach. However, this dependence on social media platforms could pose risks, particularly if there are changes in policies or pricing in the future.