Contextual targeting is a powerful way to connect with potential customers and show them relevant ads as they browse content that is relevant to their interests.
By using this digital marketing strategy, marketers and advertisers can maximize the cost-effectiveness of their pay-per-click (PPC) by serving ads only to interested customers who may convert – and minimizing irrelevant content.
What Is Contextual Targeting, And How Does It Work?
Contextual targeting can use keywords, website categories, and other information to understand the behavior of a particular customer – based on their current and past website activity. The idea behind this marketing strategy is to use the behavior of a customer to determine if they are likely to convert and be interested in your products.
A person who browses a lot of investment websites and is searching keywords like “Investment tips” or “retirement planning,” for example, may be a good target for an ad for a wealth management company, and is more likely to convert on that ad, based on the context of their online behavior. By focusing on the right categories and search terms, contextual targeting helps maximize the efficiency of online ads.
Keyword Contextual Targeting Vs. Category Contextual Targeting
There are two primary types of this type of targeting. Keyword contextual targeting focuses on the keywords that a user entered in the past, in order to serve them relevant ads. For example, a customer who has searched for “best pressure cooker 2019” could be served an ad based on this keyword, advertising a pressure cooker from an eCommerce website.
Category contextual targeting, on the other hand, focuses on user behavior within specific categories that are relevant to a product. For example, a user who browses a lot of food websites and recipe websites may be a good target for an ad for a pressure cooker, or other such cooking tools and supplies.
Either one of these types of targeting can be used – but they are even more powerful when used together. Most ad networks allow for the tracking of both categories and keywords – ensuring that marketers have access to extremely granular, fine-tuned marketing controls, and can serve up ads to the most highly-qualified leads who are interested in the content of the ad.
Use The Power Of Contextual Targeting To Maximize Marketing Efficiency
With this marketing stragy, you can overcome the challenges related to IP-based targeting and other methods of addressable programmatic marketing – and enhance the efficiency, cost-effectiveness, and conversion rate of your marketing efforts.