Context: A preceding situation or an event that gives meaning to the main event that is taking place right now.
Similarly, Contextual Advertising, in short, is advertising on platforms based on keywords, themes and content of the website. It is a targeted advertising technique that is commonly used in ads on blogs, websites and other online media.
Contextual advertising is also used by search engines to display ads based on searched keywords or phrases.
We are all subconsciously familiar with this form of advertising. But we are now entering an age where the context can be much deeper than a single recent search.
New elements are being introduced to the mix to create marketing messages that are personalized to a degree never previously possible.
Elements of Contextual Advertising
Some of the most common elements to help you with contextual targeting for your ads are:
- Language
- Location
- Device
- Weather
- Time of the day
- Preferred platform
- Past behavior
- Purchase history
In other words, think about where your viewers will be seeing your advertisement, what events will be happening at the point in time at which they see the advertisements, what they were originally looking for, and what stages of the buying process they might be in so that you can optimize your contextual advertisements as much as possible.
Customer Journey
Part of the necessity of this form of marketing is the development of the customer journey. Customer journeys used to be pretty simple.
Now, in the age of the customer, the path to purchase isn’t linear and contains multiple touchpoints.
Brands can be as meticulous as they want in their planning and marketing, but the fact is consumers conduct much of their research outside of the brand’s sphere of influence.
Search, online reviews and articles, print ads, display ads, in-store visits, TV ads, and mobile search can all play a part in the journey.
While traditional marketing campaigns are still vitally important, the other touchpoints in this journey give brands an opportunity to continue to build momentum.
Start with Understanding the Context
The first step to carry out contextual advertisement is to understand the context of the ad. Discover your audience whereabouts.
Using interviews, sales and CRM data, web data, reviews and feedback, and social data, you can build up a picture to refer back to in any campaign.
Pay Per Click – Ads that target people searching for relevant keywords. Your market research might have revealed particular language associated with a certain market segment, meaning you can tailor your messaging to that segment. Relevant real-time events may provide an opportunity to provide context.
Retargeting – Display ads can re-engage people who have visited your site only to bounce. These ads will be displayed elsewhere, displayed only to people who have expressed an interest in your brand.
Social media – One of simplest current methods, as social networks do all the hard work behind the scenes. A variety of targeting options are available including location, profession, age, gender, interests, or behavior.
Website – You can personalize your website for repeat visits based on an account system (think Amazon tailoring your recommended purchases) or using cookies (think millions of websites everywhere).
Email – Segment your email database to deliver different content to different groups. In B2B that could be by industry, job title, or the stage in the buyer journey.
Benefits of Contextual Advertising
Minimal privacy issues
When it comes to rules and regulations, contextual advertising complies with the GDPR and California Consumer Privacy Act without a hitch. As long as the company isn’t collecting any personal data and is providing advertisements strictly based on data about the website and pages (keywords, URL, content), there is little risk in regards to privacy.
Useful
Behavioral advertisements, while personal, can sometimes appear in places that don’t make much sense. Contextual advertisements, on the other hand, have been interpreted as complementary to the web pages they appear on; they work in tandem with the content.
Less scary
No, really. The topic of unnerving behavioral advertising has been discussed above. It’s much more reassuring to see an advertisement for Gatorade on a blog about sports rather than an advertisement for that porch light you were just talking about buying. Contextual ads are therefore received in a more positive light.
User intent is taken into consideration
The logic behind contextual ads is very apparent.
If someone is reading about traveling to Asia, showing them an advertisement for goldfish makes it seem as though the advertisement is being displayed without purpose. However, someone reading about traveling to Asia who sees an advertisement about a sale on plane tickets makes much more sense and has an increased chance of being clicked because the user was already searching for something along those lines.
Future of Contextual Advertising
Contextual advertising has been paying off both literally and figuratively, which means it isn’t going away any time soon. In fact, it’s only going to advance.
With the rise of artificial intelligence and augmented reality comes the rise of advertisements being more precisely catered to you without having to look into your personal history. Billboards with advertisements based on the type of car you drive, smartwatches with advertisements for rain boots as storm clouds loom overhead…who knows what else?
Everything makes more sense with a little context.
