Getting drawn in to social media ads

Are you like me?  Getting drawn into social media ads?  I say I hate the ads, and I do, because there’s too many of them, mostly repetitive or not that relevant. But I still find myself being drawn into buying things from them.

Thankfully most purchases 

a) have turned up; and 
b) have been good purchases.

Nowadays, many of us can avoid tv advertising. We stream tv shows or films so avoid ads all together.  I tend to watch most of the tv shows I like on catch up after recording them. The OH just watches freeview tv channels of old films or repeats of documentaries, but flips between channels at breaktimes. Sigh, I really hate that.

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But on social media nowadays you can’t get away from ads.  Even if you try hiding every one you see. Telling the platform that you’re not interested, or that it’s too repetitive.

Twitter ads are the worst – soooo many, and very few of them are relevant at all.

Facebook are next – because they’re the worst for listening in and knowing what you’re doing across apps and platforms they own, you see the same ads time and time again. Even if you’re bought something, they still show up. To cancel or hide them it’s several clicks to get rid…and then it tries to tell you why you have seen the ad again. We know why, we don’t need telling again and again.

Now, Instagram, I’m less bothered by.  Yes, in my feed it’s frustrating – ad after sponsored post, after ad. Every 4 photos seems to be an ad.  And in stories it’s even worse. But the bonus with stories ads, is they’re easier to just swipe past.

I have to admit to getting sucked into the ads sometimes. And it’s usually on Instagram. Their targeting seems to be spot on, and sometimes here’s some really good items that could make great gifts. Or are things that I might need. (or maybe not but just get attracted to).

My big pulls are clothing and gadgets.  I have to try and avoid clothing ads on Instagram. Usually they’re just cheap fast fashion items, sold in the US, and therefore with huge shipping costs. It’s a shame because there are sometimes nice items but I don’t need to buy that type of thing.

I have bought Shapermint big pull in underwear for occasions, and I like the Betty Bramble t shirts. It’s just a shame their sizing comes up small.  I have one t shirt I bought from there and when I’ve dropped another dress size it’ll finally fit. Yay.

Gadgets are my other suck in point. This isn’t just social media ads. I like kitchen gadgets, but now I’ve decluttered the kitchen recently, I don’t need any more gadgets.

I have had some successful purchases:

• Boot buddy – this appeared on Dragons Den, but I spotted it on social media, and bought one for our house for wellies. And as a gift for my nephew to go with his birthday football themed gifts.  If we ever had a bbq, I’d get one of the new bbq cleaning brushes they’re now advertising too!
• Gravity disc – a fun little mini silicon type frisbee disc. Santa bought this for a stocking gift. Lots of fun, but harder to throw than you might think. (you can find different mini frisbee discs* elsewhere but I’m not sure how good those brands are)
• Set of kitchen peelers*.  I’d seen these at Blenheim Palace flower festival, but they were too expensive. Then they popped up on my Instagram feed. This was my one error purchase. They never arrived, and I’d never had an order confirmation through. Luckily they weren’t expensive and I just bought them from Amazon instead. They were worth the hassle just for the spiraliser peeler!
• Balance board*. N loves sitting on and using this. It’s basically a board to stand on and twist or use for exercise. Of course I don’t use it as much anymore, but it’s quite good for balance and engaging my core more.

I’ve also ordered children’s newspapers, make up and other items.

Tips on buying from social media ads

As with buying anything online from somewhere new:

• Always check the payment is on a secure site
• Check for prices online elsewhere to compare prices
• Think about it before just buying straight away
• Check shipping costs – often items aren’t shipped in your own country, so this can end up being more expensive than the actual item
• Check reviews – not just on the website that’s advertising, but also on other websites that sell the item.
• Often you can enter your email to get a discount, or even leave your basket after leaving your email and you might find you’re sent a follow up discount to encourage you to buy.
• Check the return policy

Do you get drawn into social media adverts?

Like this post, try these other tips for nearby days out.