Shoe Shopping

Recently I saw an add for a shoe brand on Instagram I was intrigued by it and clicked. After that my feed was flooded with similar types of shoes and I realized this is a powerful way for consumers to use the algorithm to their advantage.

So I sat on the idea, followed the Instagram page, and Google searched about them and the type of shoe that was advertised. If they were good for feet or not. Then clicked on other brands that were aligning with what I was expecting. Even tossed in other brands that I was familiar with inside my Google search. All in order to tune the algorithm to feed me more ads that I was looking for.

I would then spend time scrolling through my Instagram feed, waiting for ads to pop up. Decided to engage or not as my intuition suggested.

Eventually I landed on a pair that was on sale and got them for a good deal. It was not the first ad that spawned this journey but it did inspire the next.

Phone Case Shopping

Shortly after I made that purchase, I needed a new phone case. Mine was cracked from taking it on and off my phone because I had a cool dBrand skin on it that I liked to show off. So instead of going out and buying a new one that didn’t show it off I started looking for clear ones. None that I found on my first search on Amazon really fit the bill of what I wanted. So I decided to let the algorithm find one for me.

Again, I went through and interacted with every phone case ad I saw. Eventually my feed was all phone case ads. A lot of them were cool and interesting, few had one for my specific andriod. I finally got advertised for the exact phone I owned. It also had a color around the edge that matched my skin and showed off the graphic on the back. However, I did not buy it through the Instagram app. I know it now has store fronts and I am intrigued by it, I just didn’t do it this time. I found the case on Amazon and purchased through that since it was in my comfort zone.

Apps Required

I used to keep the Instagram app off my phone to avoid it stalking me, but now that I have this method I plan to keep it around. It is the most obvious offender of using my data so it has gotten me results the quickest.

In Conclusion

As someone who is somewhat carful with my data and weary of “the algorithm” I have always been on the defense trying to ignore all ads that came at me from my feeds. Now, I plan to use my search queries and shopping habits to have the algorithm work for me rather than at me. If you are in the mood for shopping, I sell print on demands products on TeePublic and RedBubble, check em out! Thats all for now.

Update 4/18/2023 The phone case came in and I couldn’t be happier. This is the phone case I ordered.