Social Media Advertisements- Do They Really Work ?

Youth and Social Media
Image used for representation only

 

Social media sites today are an advertising hub for the millennial audience. Be it Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat or YouTube; brands appeal to potential buyers across every entertainment platform. Now there are emerging platforms like LeoList specifically just for advertisements to sell whatever you want.

The big question here is whether target customers respond to advertisements and if so how well? Do they merely view them, ignore them or make tangible purchases at the end of it all?

A talk with Pune’s youth reveals it all-

Teena Bharucha, (18) reveals, “I made my purchase online, but it was not a sponsored advertisement. It was an Instagram account showcasing leather jackets.

The seller was based in Mumbai and promised to ship the jacket once payment was done. I contacted him through Whatsapp and he sent me pictures of the product. Payment options were NEFT or Paytm. I was apprehensive of wiring money to a stranger!

“But I saw his testimonials and went for it. My jacket is stunning and a steal for the price of a meagre 2,000 rupees.

Sid Kalra, (21) shares his experience. “It was December and I needed to buy a present for my office’s Secret Santa.

Since I was neither the receiver nor the end user of the item, I didn’t much care if it wasn’t a quality product. So I went for a bright violet phone casing and a Game of Thrones themed printed T-shirt.

“The two items cost me a total of 4,000 rupees. The T-shirt was fine, but the phone case had a matt finish when I assumed I was getting a glossy finish.

C’est la vie! That’s what you get for buying through a Facebook add,” he shrugs.

Vidhi Kaustubh, (20) and a model affirms that the 20 second cosmetics advertisements played before YouTube videos have caught her eye on more than one occasion.

“My parents tell me never to buy online as it could be a hoax, but I took the plunge last Diwali. After paying Rs. 1,800 on the site I was redirected to, I have a stunning Crystal Mauve lipstick to flaunt!”

Bhairavi Sharma is 24 and a student of fashion design who confesses that she eagerly awaits the Flipkart Big Diwali Sale each year.

I make most of my big purchases then. It just makes sense to wait for the big discounts. The glitch is that you never know which products are going to be on sale.

“So if it is a laptop I want or a phone, I must shortlist the top few brands and buy based on the best offers they give. But you can apply coupons and save a couple of hundreds that way too, for more savings!

Rishab Subhash, (34) waits for the Amazon Great Indian Sale most of the time.

I have Amazon Prime so quick deliveries are guaranteed. The up side here is that you get to save between two and four thousand on major purchase of say 20,000 rupees along with the option to exchange electronic goods; it’s a great deal.

Riddhi Ganguly, (35) says, “I bought my mother a silk saree from a little-known website advertising on Facebook. It was not a bad experience- I would do it again.”

A preliminary survey indicates a trend where females are twice as likely to purchase online as their male counterparts. A fraction of the buyers indicate reluctance, as they doubt the quality of goods they cannot touch or see prior to purchase.

Some swear by popular e-commerce sites for sizable purchases; while impulse purchases based on social media advertisements average between 2,000 to 4,000 INR.

It is probably safe to say, that social media advertisements have to an extent triggered impulse purchase in today’s youth.

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Aditi Balsaver