How Advertising Has Changed Digital Media

The rapid growth of the internet and technology has brought new ways to reach consumers through advertising. The internet is no longer about being able to sign onto AOL to check your email or use AIM (RIP you iconic messenger) and having a cell phone is no longer just about being able to dial a phone number remotely. Apps like Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and the like have given people new ways to communicate with each other from across the globe, but they’ve also given advertisers new ways to communicate with those people too.

Advertising has adapted itself to digital media landscape to reach audiences. Adults have accounts on about 5 or more social networks, giving advertisers various platforms to make their brands and products known to a mass consumer base. But the traditional single-page print ad or the 30-second commercial while watching our favorite Thursday night TV show doesn’t work in today’s digital media landscape. Advertising now exists organically across media platforms to create a brand experience or get messages across to consumers.

Advertising has changed digital media, especially social media, in that creation of a brand experience. Adweek says that “social media is a consumer-run land,” brands are welcome, but only if they “behave like human beings.” Advertisements now show up in between your friend’s Snapchat stories, the photos you scroll through on Instagram, and the quick videos on your Facebook newsfeed. Advertising has changed digital media into being a closer relationship between brand and consumer. A relationship that is always there and making itself known whether you actively notice, scroll right past it, or click “Skip ad.”

With digital media changing, advertising has reaped the rewards. Advertisers have access to huge amounts of consumer data, giving them the ability to better understand their target audiences in detail and making those advertisements fit into your newsfeed even more seamlessly.