Who is a targetologist?

What is targeted advertising? Who needs targeting? How does Facebook learn about our interests?

We caught our targetologist and made them answer all these questions. See what came out of it.

As always, below is the transcript of the interview with all the questions and answers. Enjoy reading!

1. Who is a targetologist and what does he do?

A targetologist is a specialist who launches advertisements on social media platforms. They configure the ads to be shown not to everyone but only to a specific group of people – the target audience. Finding the target audience is one of the main tasks of a targetologist.

2. Who is suitable for the job of a targetologist?

As I believe, people inclined towards analytical thinking. If the prospect of constantly looking at the monitor, collecting data, interpreting them, and forming hypotheses based on this data does not frighten you, then I recommend delving into the profession in more detail. In general, targeting is a vast field for work and development. More and more businesses are becoming detailed and transitioning online, which is leading to an increasing demand for skilled targetologists.

3. Why have I been seeing ads for backpacks on Instagram for the past week?

Perhaps you recently showed interest in backpacks or bags. Facebook’s algorithms have recognized this topic as interesting to you, and Instagram started showing you ads for backpacks..

4. How does Facebook know what interests me?

Depending on the pages you visit, the ads you react to, the accounts you follow, and your general interests, Facebook assigns specific interests to you and presents advertisements based on those interests.

By the way, you can easily check these interests in the settings of Facebook itself and find out what advertising interests are associated with your account.

5. Who needs target marketing?

Any business that deals with end consumers, i.e., B2C (business-to-consumer). For example, beauty salons, bakeries, clothing stores, and so on. Typically, these are retail businesses that offer mass-produced products or service-based businesses that cater to end consumers.