Can Facebook, Instagram posts predict buying behavior?

There’s an interesting way marketers are reaching out to customers through Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. When users post that they’re pregnant, or recently engaged — or another significant life event — that’s data marketers can use to predict buying behavior.

Viralheat, a social marketing management firm, says that many clients are seeing success by tracking this type of conversation. For instance, a variety of retailers could target ads toward a user (or join the discussion) who posts a picture of a ring on Instagram with the hashtag #Engaged or makes a public post about an engagement.

Viralheat spoke with Inside Facebook about how brands can use more information that users freely post in order to turn fans into influencers.

Viralheat, using its proprietary program, tracked the amount of public posts from mid-March to mid-April on Facebook that had the hashtags #ImEngaged, #JustEngaged, #WereEngaged, #Engaged, #ISaidYes, #SheSaidYes, along with just the phrase “I’m engaged.”