Contextual Marketing: How to Use Context in Marketing

Marketing Planning

Although many people use contextual marketing without even realizing it, there are few who take advantage of the practice to its full potential. Whether you’re an individual looking to reach a wider audience or a business owner looking to reach more customers, the principles of contextual marketing can help enhance your strategy and increase the amount of traffic you receive through your website.

This article will go over how to use context in your marketing so that you can improve your message and gain more customers over time.

What is Contextual Marketing?

When done right, contextual marketing makes your brand stick out from your competitors in a very positive way. But what is contextual marketing? In a nutshell, it’s all about using context—things like consumer location, time of day, and device—to tailor and enhance your marketing strategy. For example, let’s say you run a pizza parlor and you serve beer on tap.

When you know that someone is at home at 2 pm on a Tuesday, that information can help inform what kind of deals you offer them. Maybe there’s a special for off-brand beers during those hours! Or maybe there are some other products (like premium pizzas) available to incentivize a purchase or increase frequency.

Why is it so Effective?

When you consider that online advertising alone is a multi-billion dollar industry, then it’s obvious why marketers everywhere are working hard to figure out how they can increase their effectiveness and efficiency. And, one of their best strategies for doing so is contextual marketing.

To be sure, there has been a rise in contextual marketing over recent years due largely in part because of how successful it is. Because of its widespread use, it can sometimes be difficult for individuals who aren’t steeped in marketing lingo to get a handle on what exactly contextual marketing means.

So, let’s start with an explanation and then dive into some examples so you can see exactly what we mean. In short, contextual marketing refers to any type of content or ad that is relevant to whatever website or platform it appears on.

If you visit a gaming site and suddenly notice ads for your favorite brand of energy drink appearing at regular intervals throughout your browsing experience, then you were likely exposed to contextual marketing.

It might seem like a pretty simple concept when put like that but there’s actually more going on than meets the eye here. The reason contextual marketing works so well is that most people don’t want to feel as though they are being advertised to when visiting certain sites.

The Top 4 Ways to Take Advantage of Contextual Marketing

Have you ever stopped to think about how many contextual cues you’re exposed to every day? From street signs, product packaging, and brochures in your mailbox, it’s easy to see that context surrounds us in nearly every aspect of our lives.

Why does that matter for marketing? It means brands can leverage those contexts (things like weather or holiday seasons) with their advertisements and become more relatable—which is a huge advantage in today’s environment where consumers are so bombarded with advertisements.

To learn more about using context effectively, here are some contextual marketing examples and tips on how your brand can benefit from them.

i. Showcase an Environment

If you’ve been following digital marketing trends lately, then you probably know by now that environmental ads have become very popular in advertising campaigns.

By creating ads featuring picturesque scenes from nature or interesting locations around town, companies show off their products as something people want to be associated with – and even if they don’t buy your product directly after seeing one of these ads, they might remember it later when making buying decisions related to other things in their life.

This works particularly well for outdoor recreation companies who advertise hiking trails and activities as well as activewear brands that highlight places where people exercise such as gyms or yoga studios.

ii. Highlight Seasonal Changes

Another contextual marketing example involves highlighting seasonal changes in your ad copy. For example, if it’s summertime and everyone wants to spend time at the beach, you could take advantage of that by promoting swimsuits or sunglasses as part of your campaign.

Similarly, during Christmas season many retailers create ads showing snow-covered trees and presents under bright lights – which makes sense because people tend to associate Christmas with snow!

iii. Target Holiday Shoppers

Perhaps no category benefits more from contextual marketing than retail stores do during holidays like Black Friday and Cyber Monday. These days are known for being big shopping days because there are specific reasons why shoppers go out on these days instead of waiting until normal business hours to make purchases.

In order to get a leg up on their competition, businesses will often create ads showcasing promotions they’re offering only during these peak times.

iv. Tie In With Current Events

Lastly, another way to use contextual marketing is by tying in with current events that are relevant to your brand or industry. For instance, if you sell home security systems and there was just a large burglary ring busted nearby, consider putting together an ad highlighting how much money homeowners can save each year by investing in additional security measures.

This type of advertisement would be most effective right after news breaks about a crime wave hitting nearby neighborhoods since people will already be thinking about ways to protect themselves from becoming victims themselves.

Conclusion

If you take only one thing away from contextual marketing, it should be context. Everything that happens on a website is influenced by its context, which makes things very difficult for marketers who must use multiple channels and still deliver a consistent message.

If you can figure out what’s influencing your customers’ decisions, though, you have an opportunity to provide solutions that are right in their faces when they’re looking for them. It’s no wonder then that 70% of people believe they already have enough information to solve their problem but aren’t getting what they need from marketers (Forrester).

The real question is how can you deliver content in a way that matches up with your audience’s real needs at critical points in their decision-making processes? Understanding contextual marketing will help you do just that.

If you enjoyed these posts, please share them with your friends! And if there are any topics I didn’t cover here that you’d like me to write about, feel free to leave a comment below or shoot me an email.

62 thoughts on “Contextual Marketing: How to Use Context in Marketing

  1. Hello There. I found your weblog the usage of msn. That is a very
    smartly written article. I will be sure to bookmark it and return to read extra of your useful information.
    Thank you for the post. I will definitely return.

  2. What’s up i am kavin, its my first time to commenting anyplace, when i read this piece of writing i thought
    i could also create comment due to this brilliant piece of writing.

  3. We stumbled over here from a different web address and thought I should check things out.
    I like what I see so now i’m following you. Look forward to looking at your
    web page repeatedly.

  4. You’re so interesting! I don’t believe I’ve read a single thing like that before.
    So good to find somebody with some genuine thoughts on this topic.
    Really.. thanks for starting this up. This website is something that is required on the internet, someone with a little originality!

  5. fantastic submit, very informative. I wonder why the other specialists of this sector do not understand this.

    You should proceed your writing. I am confident, you’ve a
    great readers’ base already!

  6. What i don’t realize is in fact how you’re now not actually much more neatly-liked than you may
    be now. You’re very intelligent. You understand thus significantly with regards to this matter, produced me
    personally imagine it from numerous varied angles.
    Its like women and men aren’t fascinated until it is something
    to accomplish with Lady gaga! Your individual stuffs outstanding.
    Always take care of it up!

  7. May I simply just say what a relief to find
    an individual who really knows what they’re discussing online.
    You certainly understand how to bring a problem to light and
    make it important. More and more people really need to read this and understand this side of the story.
    I can’t believe you aren’t more popular since you most certainly have the gift.

  8. I like the valuable info you provide in your articles.
    I’ll bookmark your blog and check again here regularly.
    I’m quite certain I will learn many new stuff right here!

    Good luck for the next!

  9. I do not even know how I ended up here, but I thought this post was great.
    I don’t know who you are but certainly you’re going to
    a famous blogger if you are not already 😉 Cheers!

  10. Hello very nice website!! Guy .. Beautiful .. Wonderful ..
    I will bookmark your site and take the feeds additionally?

    I’m glad to search out numerous helpful information here within the submit,
    we’d like develop more strategies on this regard, thank you for
    sharing. . . . . .

  11. Good day I am so glad I found your website, I really found you by error, while
    I was looking on Digg for something else, Regardless I am here now and would just like to say
    thanks for a remarkable post and a all round enjoyable blog (I also love the theme/design), I don’t have time to
    read it all at the moment but I have bookmarked it and also included your RSS feeds, so
    when I have time I will be back to read a lot more, Please do keep up the fantastic b.

  12. What i don’t understood is in fact how you’re now not really
    a lot more well-preferred than you might be now.
    You’re so intelligent. You already know thus considerably
    in relation to this topic, produced me in my view consider
    it from numerous numerous angles. Its like men and women are not interested
    except it’s one thing to accomplish with Lady gaga!
    Your personal stuffs excellent. At all times
    care for it up!

  13. Attractive component of content. I just stumbled upon your weblog and
    in accession capital to claim that I acquire in fact enjoyed account your
    weblog posts. Anyway I will be subscribing for your feeds and even I success you get admission to constantly fast.

  14. Very nice post. I just stumbled upon your weblog and wanted to say that I’ve truly enjoyed browsing your blog posts.

    In any case I’ll be subscribing to your rss feed and I hope you write
    again very soon!

  15. Write more, thats all I have to say. Literally, it seems as though you relied on the video to
    make your point. You clearly know what youre talking about, why throw away your intelligence on just posting videos to your weblog when you could be giving us
    something enlightening to read?

  16. I’m now not certain the place you’re getting your info, however great topic.
    I needs to spend some time finding out much more or figuring out more.
    Thank you for wonderful info I used to be in search of this info for my mission.

  17. whoah this blog is great i love studying your articles.
    Stay up the great work! You realize, lots of persons are looking round for this information, you could aid them greatly.

  18. I was curious if you ever thought of changing the layout
    of your blog? Its very well written; I love what youve got to say.
    But maybe you could a little more in the way of content so people could connect with
    it better. Youve got an awful lot of text for only having
    one or 2 images. Maybe you could space it out better?

  19. I actually wanted to make a quick word to be able to say thanks to you for the lovely concepts you are giving out here. My time-consuming internet lookup has finally been recognized with excellent strategies to talk about with my pals. I ‘d declare that most of us readers actually are undoubtedly endowed to live in a fine place with many brilliant people with very helpful strategies. I feel truly lucky to have used your entire web site and look forward to tons of more thrilling times reading here. Thank you again for a lot of things.

  20. Hello! I’ve been following your blog for a long time now and finally got the bravery to go ahead and give you
    a shout out from Huffman Texas! Just wanted to
    mention keep up the good work!

  21. I got this site from my friend who shared with me concerning this
    website and at the moment this time I am browsing this site and reading very informative content at this place.

  22. Today, I went to the beach front with my children. I found a sea
    shell and gave it to my 4 year old daughter and said “You can hear the ocean if you put this to your ear.”
    She placed the shell to her ear and screamed. There
    was a hermit crab inside and it pinched her ear.
    She never wants to go back! LoL I know this is completely off topic but I had to tell someone!

  23. Hello there I am so delighted I found your weblog,
    I really found you by mistake, while I was looking on Yahoo for something else, Anyways I am
    here now and would just like to say thank you for a incredible post
    and a all round enjoyable blog (I also love the theme/design),
    I don’t have time to go through it all at the minute but I
    have bookmarked it and also included your RSS feeds, so when I
    have time I will be back to read more, Please do keep up the fantastic b.

  24. Undeniably consider that that you stated. Your favorite reason appeared to be on the web
    the easiest factor to be mindful of. I say to you, I definitely get irked even as other folks consider
    worries that they plainly do not know about. You controlled to hit the nail upon the top
    and outlined out the whole thing with no need side-effects , folks
    could take a signal. Will likely be again to get more. Thanks

  25. I’m not sure where you’re getting your information, but great topic.
    I needs to spend some time learning much more or understanding more.
    Thanks for magnificent information I was looking for this information for my mission.

  26. Examples of hot games in this sectiion consixt of Mega Wheel,
    Crazy Coin Flip, 9 Pots of Gold, Super Stake Roulette, and
    Monopoly Massive Baller.

    My blog post site

  27. Thank you for every other wonderful article.
    The place else may anybody get that kind of info in such a perfect manner of writing?
    I’ve a presentation next week, and I’m at the look for such info.

  28. I may need your help. I tried many ways but couldn’t solve it, but after reading your article, I think you have a way to help me. I’m looking forward for your reply. Thanks.

  29. I need to to thank you for this very good read!!
    I certainly enjoyed every little bit of it. I have you bookmarked to look at new stuff you post…

  30. Hi my family member! I wish to say that this post is awesome,
    great written and include almost all important infos.

    I’d like to look extra posts like this .

Comments are closed.