Advertising is everywhere! Interrupting our favorite television shows, plastered on billboards around town, popping up when we click on websites, surrounding anything we read online and even embedded within shows, webinars and other broadcasted characterized as ‘product placements’.

While some advertisements are bold and blatant, others are much more subtle in nature. As more and more consumers are engaging with organizations and businesses via their hand held devices rather than in person, businesses are starting to shift the manner in which they market their products and services. Companies are taking their messages where consumers are; online. And as social media is where millions of consumers spend much of their day, businesses are beginning to place messaging on the popular platforms.

While companies can do a significant amount of their marketing for free on social media platforms, many are considering new paid opportunities. For example, Facebook offers advertising opportunities to businesses which essentially lands their messaging smack dab in the middle of a consumer’s newsfeed. But, are these paid advertisements more effective than more traditionally used free methods? It may be too early to tell.