# This is How (and Why) Ads Follow You On Social Media

- Link: https://chatterblast.com/blog/this-is-how-and-why-ads-follow-you-on-social-media/
- Published: 2018-04-11T13:58:32-04:00
- Author: chatterblastteam

Greetings and salutations, all my precious social media fiends! If you’re a lot 
like me, you probably do a lot of your shopping online. As a matter of fact you 
probably do a lot of things online. Read your horoscope, stalk random IG models,
take some crappy BuzzFeed quiz, visit your favorite blog, check out some [dank memes](http://chatterblast.wpengine.com/q1-meme-recap-the-best-of-the-internet-since-the-new-year/)
etc, etc. And you probably do all of the above through one platform, Facebook. A.
K.A the social media one stop shop for everything possible.

It’s obvious that when you publish content on social media you want your friends
and family to see it. But what happens when you see an interesting post on Facebook,
click on it, and link out to another source? You’re in the clear right? No one can
see what you’re doing, right? RIGHT?!

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Wrong. Creepy people like me can see _exactly_ what you’re up to. And here’s how:

**Retargeting. **

Doesn’t ring a bell? Well in that case you probably need to be schooled. Like ASAP.
So here’s a link to our highly anticipated CBMU course, [Social Media Advertising: 101 & 201](https://www.eventbrite.com/e/social-media-advertising-101-201-tickets-44035861447).

No, that was not meant to be subtle. I’m not a “soft sell” kind of gal. My momma
always told me, say what you mean, mean what you say. And I _mean_ it. Click the
link. You need it.

And if for some reason you’re not able to join us for this class on **May 16****
th**, I suggest you continue reading for some very chilling facts about Facebook
ads.

I am both a victim and a perpetrator when it comes to Facebook retargeting ads. 
Meaning, I am constantly hit with ads of retailers or companies whose site I had
visited but did not take action on. However, I am also exposing others to that same
experience by working here at ChatterBlast where we place social ads for said retailers
and companies. Still with me? Good let’s continue.

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Here’s how it works: You share a lot of things on social media without realizing
it. Your hobbies, interests, job title, education, relationship status and so on
and so forth. Even if you’re not outright sharing these details about yourself on
your profile, Facebook is still able to collect this data through the pages you 
follow, posts you interact with and keywords you type into your statuses.

Yes, you have your own personal stalker and his name is **Mark Zuckerberg**.

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Once Facebook collects all of that data, advertisers like me are provided with said
data that can be used to effectively target people like you with Facebook ads. Now
let’s say I target you with an ad and you click on it, then bringing you to a retailer’s
website. If that retailer has a pixel installed (you’ll get to learn allllllll about
that at our amazing [CBMU course](https://www.eventbrite.com/e/social-media-advertising-101-201-tickets-44035861447)!)
then they will be able to track the actions you take on their site. Therefore, if
you don’t do what they want you to do (make a purchase) then boom, you’re in the
running to be retargeted on Facebook until you actually buy something.

So to sum it all up: that’s why Facebook ads are constantly lurking around like 
your creepy next-door neighbor. It may seem that Facebook and digital marketers 
like myself are stalking you, but that’s only because we are.

Oh and one last thing… Register for our [Social Media Advertising: 101 & 201](https://www.eventbrite.com/e/social-media-advertising-101-201-tickets-44035861447)
on May 16th.

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