The new age of digital marketing: People over payment, personality over product | Opinion

Whether it is a real estate agent slipping into a pool for 13 million views or a restaurant owner getting a bucket poured on her head for 11 million, social media continues to change the landscape for the advertising industry.

The debate between traditional and digital advertising has died down significantly over the years. Accessibility, targeting and a surplus of data make digital advertising the clear winner in 2025. But the reality of successful digital marketing has changed, with the current version being unrecognizable from where it evolved from.

Digital marketing is a catchall term for any advertising on the internet. Originally, this meant banners to display on websites and having services like Google Ads find the business’s target audience for them. For example, if a user generally searches about music, Google will use this information to send them an advertisement for headphones – for a fee.

The advantage is that the business gets to offload the work of finding the audience for their product. They do not have to find out which television station their potential customers are watching, which billboards they are passing by or which newspaper they are reading. The growing disadvantage is that it is still not nearly as accessible as posting a TikTok or Instagram reel for themselves for free.

This new formula for success does mean taking on the burden once again of finding an audience. Contrary to popular belief, platforms like Instagram will not find a video’s target audience for free. Videos made like advertisements that do not pay the platform to be treated like advertisements will completely fail, only getting a few hundred views if they are not from already-established brands like Nike or Apple.

What has changed is businesses are delivering advertisements indistinguishable from the entertainment that keeps users scrolling. Those examples given earlier of the real estate agent and the restaurant owner use humor and a human connection to have their videos perform better than if they stuck to the script. This is because most people watching forget they are being advertised to.

Viewers are not watching these videos because the restaurant’s drinks look delicious or they are interested in real estate. They are there to laugh and, in turn, connect with the owners of these businesses.

This value provides the viewer with something to take away besides knowing more about a company or recognizing its brand, it creates an immediate inclination for brand loyalty. Businesses should package their advertisement with some sort of value so that people do not catch the scent of the ad and scroll. Viewers will attach their laughter and enjoyment to these brands subconsciously.

Whether this translates to better sales or results than that original form of digital advertising is inconclusive, but it is certainly more effective at generating new interest in people that even Google could not predict would be that business’s target audience. Creating entertaining content that hits the lowest common denominator helps rope in new customers who might not have even been interested in the niche before.

In this new age, brands are not the ones selling products – people are. It is why sponsored content has become another popular way to advertise as well. Companies will pay established creators in their space, like someone who reviews makeup on YouTube or home products on Instagram, to take a look at their own eyeliner or pillow. It is similar to product placements in TV shows and movies but significantly more direct.

These sponsorships have led to some criticism as it can be difficult to tell when a product review is authentic or if they are being paid for their praise. Instagram, TikTok and YouTube have all implemented badges that will appear on a video to indicate a sponsorship. Some videos even have “#ad” in their description to make it hard to miss, but this does not stop all of the criticism because money is still exchanged for a potentially-compromised review.

Creating their own content allows for new opportunities for smaller businesses that do not have the money to fund targeted ads or sponsorships.