How Facebook’s Re-Launched Atlas Feature Will Change the Way You Market on Social Media

In a move toward more people-based web marketing, Facebook recently re-launched its Atlas feature, which allows marketers to track consumer habits on an individual level and provide tailored advertisements based on a consumer’s purchasing habits and interests.

According to Forbes, Atlas takes the same user data that Facebook uses internally to offer contextual ads on a user’s news feed, and allows third-party marketers to access it and target ads across multiple devices and platforms.

The ability to offer targeted advertisements on mobile devices is one of Atlas’s biggest draws for marketers, as the cookies that would normally track a user’s interests and behaviors on a desktop computer don’t work on mobile platforms, according to Forbes.

How is Atlas able to track a user as he or she moves between devices?

It all starts when an individual logs into his or her Facebook account on a mobile device. By signing in, users unknowingly identify their mobile devices to be associated with their Facebook accounts, and the content and information they access on their mobile devices — down to the very apps they download — can affect the targeted ads that they see.

“Allowing the advertiser to address their desired audience and the consumer to have a tailored advertising experience, narrows the gap between all that is available and what interest an individual; changing social media advertising into a more personal experience,” says Tiffiny Hladczuk, President of Integrated Technology Services Inc.

Whether or not Atlas proves to be a success for the marketers who use it, it’s clear that Internet marketing is continuing to move in a more personalized direction that will make web browsing a unique experience for each user. This is especially true as marketers continue to gain more access and insight into consumer habits on the web.