Date: May 16, 2025
Not so long ago, newspapers, magazines, and TV were the sources of truth for our parents and grandparents when making purchase decisions. They were used to being bombarded with ads like, “This electric mop is the best in the world and only $99!” Advertising was a one-way street, brands talked, and consumers listened. Before digital advertising became common, businesses relied on print, TV, and radio ads to attract customers. These methods helped companies build strong brands, but they did not allow for much interaction or feedback (Pereira & Oliveira, 2017). But then social media arrived, and everything changed. It turned advertising into a conversation rather than a monologue. For example, if your grandpa had seen an ad that said, “This electric mop is the best in the world and only $99!” and thought it was too expensive, there was no way for him to express that opinion. Now, with social media, anyone can share their thoughts on a product’s performance, price, usability, and more. Social media platforms didn’t just enter the advertising game, hey transformed it.
Before forming my perspective on this issue, I studied traditional advertising methods and the evolution of digital marketing through credible academic research and real-world examples. I also spoke with professionals in the marketing field to understand how both small businesses and large corporations have adapted their strategies. It’s worth mentioning that I work as an Account Manager at a major marketing agency with clients like Starbucks and Southwest Airlines. I see every day how this not-so-new form of advertising is reshaping the world. Of course, many experts rightly raise concerns about privacy, misinformation, and the manipulation of consumer behavior. These are valid points. Still, it’s impossible to ignore the massive shift social media has brought. What became clear from my research is that the core purpose of advertising, connecting brands to people, hasn’t changed. What has changed is how they connect and the consequences of that connection.
So what exactly has changed when comparing social media advertising to pre-social media advertising? Social media turned advertising into a two-way dialogue where consumers and brands actively interact and build communities. Social media advertising relies on vast data sets to personalize messaging, predict behavior, and deliver what people want. It empowers individuals and small businesses to reach global audiences without massive budgets or access to traditional media, allowing brands to spend wisely, track ROI, and adjust strategies instantly. Unlike traditional ads, social media campaigns are available to anyone. In short, advertising is a conversation now. Anyone can participate. Advertising is more accessible, hyper-targeted, measurable, and cost-effective than ever.
Advertising through social media “being a conversation” means that now both customers and advertisers have a voice to share their opinions and desires. One study by Chang, Knight, and Fong (2024) explored how small- and medium-sized enterprises can overcome the challenge of being foreign businesses simply by having a social media strategy. The researchers conducted interviews with executives at 14 Taiwanese SMEs active in international markets. These executives emphasized the value of interactive communication through social media, especially when engaging with foreign customers. One executive noted, “I think the company has benefited the most from the two-way communication… It is important to know what [customers] want before sending out messages to them” (Chang, Knight, & Fong, 2024). Just like the example of your grandpa earlier, before social media, customers had no voice. They couldn’t share opinions on pricing, the product itself, or even the color. Now, advertisers can engage directly with customers and ask them what they want. For example, these Taiwanese companies do business internationally simply by having active social media channels. Consumers now have more power, and advertisers have more data. They no longer need to guess like they used to—data is their compass.
Data-oriented marketing is key to highly customized campaigns through any social media channel. Before social media, executives were recruited to try to guess which products their customers could possibly want. Nowadays, executives gather all possible data to see what trends are going around, what the highest searched keywords are, and what topics are trending. Now brands know what people are looking for before even asking. I, as an Account Manager for YouTube Ads Campaigns, download data daily to report to clients. I can see how many people viewed a video, how long they watched it, their age and gender demographics, and even which topics attracted the most attention. Aktaş and Özçağlayan (2024) explain, “The concept of big data… refers to the huge amount of data produced in the digital world. Digital footprints like social media posts, search queries, and online shopping habits create vast datasets.” These “footprints left by users,” as they mention, are the new power of advertising: you can know what people want before they ask. For instance, if I download a “Topics and Interests” report and see that the top-searched keyword is “red candles,” I already know the consumer interest, where they live, and their demographics. That’s the power of data-oriented advertising. Social media is free because users pay with their consumer behavior data; advertisers pay to get that data and be able to predict what the audiences want before they even ask for it, and it is impressively cheaper than what ads used to cost.
Another way social media channels have transformed advertising is by making it cheaper and more accessible than ever. Social media charges advertisers per interaction, ensuring that every penny is actually spent on someone engaging with the content. Can you imagine if, in the past, flyer printing companies only charged advertisers when someone read the flyer? Impossible, right? In an interview with a brand manager on my team, I learned how even small ad budgets can now outperform traditional campaigns by targeting niche audiences with laser precision, something unimaginable just a decade ago. As the Journal of Strategic Marketing (2020, p. 1) explains: “Ad agencies and marketers are leveraging algorithms and machine learning to remove the guesswork from media planning and buying. Ad spending and marketing messages are now optimized to reach appropriate targets… This ensures consistent, aligned, and targeted marketing campaigns that bring results.” This shift in consumer power is something I see firsthand in my daily work as an Account Manager. Machine learning is used by platforms like YouTube, Instagram, and Facebook to optimize performance by automatically identifying the audiences most receptive to specific content. For example, if I have a $10 budget split between two video ads, the algorithm will analyze performance in real time and allocate the budget to the video that resonates more with the intended audience. That means the budget is spent only where there is actual interest. Social media’s flexibility supports small businesses and personalizes user experiences. In short, in social media advertising, every dollar is carefully calculated and spent, and this level of targeting is available to anyone with just a device and internet connection.
Traditional ads were not available to everyone, but social media advertising is. Before social media, the number of available advertising spots was significantly lower than the number of small businesses that existed. How could these small businesses run awareness campaigns for the masses? After the rise of social media, businesses of any size, from the smallest to the largest—gained the ability to run campaigns. Unlike before, today it’s not the ads with the biggest investment that become the most famous, but the ones that connect most with the audience. There is a study by Agarwal and Mitra (2025) that shows how emotional connection has become the key driver of ad engagement on social media. In their words, “Emotional appeal in ads creates a strong emotional bond with viewers. When individuals deeply connect with ad content emotionally, they are more likely to express empathy, finding the ad relatable and developing a favorable attitude toward it” (p. 12). This proves that powerful ads today are not necessarily the most expensive ones, but the most relatable, and anyone with a good story and creativity can make them. Social media has democratized advertising, taking some power away from money and giving it to meaning, proving that connection is now more valuable than cost. Despite the wonders of social media, we know not everything is perfect and there is a lot of room for improvement, especially in terms of privacy.
Social platforms have made advertising more interactive, personalized, emotionally resonant, and performance-driven. However, I fully recognize the concerns about privacy and manipulation. Critics argue that algorithmic targeting and data collection have gone too far—and they have a point. Voorveld, Meppelink, and Boerman (2024) show that consumers fall into categories based on their awareness and ability to cope with algorithmic persuasion. Not everyone feels in control of the ads they see or how their data is used. These are serious issues. So, to the critics: yes, there are risks tied to social media channels and their refined algorithms. But there are also incredible opportunities for people beyond those who can afford traditional media placements. Rather than rejecting social media advertising altogether, we should advocate for ethical, transparent, and creative practices that benefit both consumers and companies. I strongly agree with this: “Social media users today need to develop and enhance their knowledge about algorithmic persuasion tactics to be able to recognize and evaluate them, as well as coping skills to protect themselves against such tactics” (Voorveld et al., 2024, p. 961). That’s why I believe social media has many benefits, and we just need to be informed about how it works so we can be conscious and educated about it. The benefits are greater than the problems, and we can solve those problems by simply staying informed.
In summary, social media didn’t just change advertising, it completely transformed it. What used to be a one-way message is a real conversation where anyone can make their voice heard, share feedback, and even influence brand decisions. Thanks to data, smart targeting, and high-quality algorithms, companies do not need to guess what people want. Actually, they can see it in real time. Costs are lower than ever in history, and emotional storytelling, which used to be reserved for million-dollar TV commercials, is now possible with just a phone camera and some creativity. Yes, there are real concerns about privacy and how algorithms can shape what we see, and those shouldn’t be ignored. But instead of walking away from social media advertising, we should learn how it works, ask for transparency, and use it responsibly. The opportunities it offers for businesses, creators, and everyday people are just too big to ignore. Karunarathne & Thilini (2022, p. 288) say, “social media has become more prevalent in recent decades, and billions of people worldwide have adopted this technology… From a business perspective, it has become one of the most convenient platforms to reach and promote its products and services to its customers.” Social media didn’t just join the ad world; it changed the rules, gave more people a voice, and made connection the most powerful tool in marketing. It’s not the future; we’re already in it.
References
Agarwal, B., & Mitra, D. (2025). What drives users’ impulse buying behavior in social media advertising? The roles of empathy expression and privacy concerns. Journal of Marketing Theory and Practice, 33(2), 1–23. https://doi.org/10.1080/10696679.2025.2452848
Aktaş, S. G., & Özçağlayan, M. (2024). Using Google Trends as a big data tool in digital journalism. Global Media Journal: Turkish Edition, 14(28), 80–105.
Chang, H.-H. S., Knight, G., & Fong, C.-M. (2024). Marketing capabilities, strategy, and performance in international small- and medium-sized enterprises. Journal of International Marketing, 32(4), 21–37. https://doi.org/10.1177/1069031X231221804
Journal of Strategic Marketing. (2020). Special issue on data-driven marketing strategies. Journal of Strategic Marketing, 28(6), 469–471. https://doi.org/10.1080/0965254X.2020.1789292
Karunarathne, E. A. C. P., & Thilini, W. A. (2022). Advertising value constructs’ implication on purchase intention: Social media advertising. Management Dynamics in the Knowledge Economy, 10(3), 287–303. https://doi.org/10.2478/mdke-2022-0019
Pereira, A., & Oliveira, L. (2017). Traditional advertising: The impact of print, television, and radio on consumer behavior. International Journal of Marketing and Business Communication, 8(2), 1-15.
Voorveld, H. A. M., Meppelink, C. S., & Boerman, S. C. (2024). Consumers’ persuasion knowledge of algorithms in social media advertising: Identifying consumer groups based on awareness, appropriateness, and coping ability. International Journal of Advertising, 43(6), 960–986. https://doi.org/10.1080/02650487.2023.2264045