There’s no doubt that the digital marketing landscape is far different than it was just a few short years ago. 

Where it was once possible to use paid ads and a few blog posts to get the word out about your brand, today you need a robust content marketing plan to really see results.

Which is how the process of utilizing contextual content came about. 

Marketers realize that getting the right message to the right people at the right time is the most crucial way to cut through all the competition — and contextual content solves this.

Furthermore, personalized messaging is much more likely to resonate with consumers who are tired of being constantly approached with digital clutter on a daily basis. 

When a message meets their needs in an immediate and customized way, they are much more likely to take action.

Not sure what the process entails for brands and businesses? 

That’s okay. We have come up with this guide to help you out. 

Here’s what you need to know about contextual content and why it is such a powerful way to captivate your audience.

What is Contextual Content?

Contextual content is marketing content that adapts to the current location, channel, and needs of the audience. 

In short, it gives people the information they’re looking for at the moment, even if they don’t realize they need it at that time.

Have you ever wondered why you get social media ads for umbrellas when it is raining or for a particular restaurant when you’re driving in the area? 

These are both examples of contextual ads that adapt to specific circumstances of the user and what they are experiencing in the current moment.

Contextual content is different from traditional marketing in that it works to adapt to very specific circumstances. 

This is in direct contrast to the classical norms of marketing, which only work to bombard the client with brand recognition on a very broad basis.

For marketers, the end result of contextual content is a better connection to the needs of your target audience. 

This is key, as people are more likely to make a purchase at the exact moment they need something than later on when they’re trying to remember who offered a specific product.

Is Personalization the Key to Contextual Content?

There is one method that makes contextual content even more powerful in conveying the right message and that’s personalization. 

In fact, it is so important that you could easily say it is the absolute must to ensure the entire process works.

Essentially, the whole concept of contextual content means adjusting the format and substance of your message to the exact micro needs of a specific user, not the macro desires of a mass group. 

Personalization makes this happen by helping you narrow down the buyer persona segment you’re most trying to reach. 

In the end, this allows them to get the information they need when it most makes sense.

Need an example? 

Let’s say you’ve collected data on people who like widgets. 

In response to a survey you sent out, three people prefer red widgets and seven like blue ones. 

You could use personalization in this instance to offer a discount on red widgets to those three people who like them best and a separate message with a similar coupon to those who like blue. 

This will likely result in shoppers making purchases, which wouldn’t be as likely to happen if you only had one message sent out to the whole group of ten. 

And this is just one example of the power of personalized messaging!

Data behavior and contextual content

Of course, we can’t talk about personalizing content to meet audience needs without discussing the importance of data behavior, too.

Data behavior is how a particular member of your target market behaves in terms of how they search for things online, the way they interact with your brand, the choices they make in terms of product selection, and more. 

Think of it as the key that unlocks the door to true marketing personalization.

If you’re currently tracking this type of data, then it becomes incredibly easy to start using more customized messaging in your contextual content. 

By having the critical information necessary for segmenting your groups, you can help ensure that your targeted buyer persona is getting the messaging necessary for their needs.

Still, it’s not always cut and dry. Sometimes, the way people behave online contradicts how they act in brick-and-mortar stores or even what they say in surveys. Maybe you’ve noticed someone endlessly comparison-shopping for headphones but then walking into a shop and grabbing the first pair on sale. Contextual content, firmly rooted in real-time data, is pretty much the only way to connect with people as they truly are, not as they imagine themselves to be.

On top of that, tools that analyze this behavioral data have gotten a lot more accessible. Even smaller brands can dig into heat maps or session recordings now. You don’t have to be Amazon to figure out which parts of your site throw people off or where they get distracted and leave. The insights aren’t just for tweaking ad copy, either—they help you build genuinely intuitive experiences that (hopefully) make people feel seen instead of just targeted.

Interactive quizzes

The use of interactive quizzes is another excellent way to utilize contextual content. 

Best of all, they even work if you don’t have a lot of personalized data to go off of. 

Start by inviting a general buyer group to your website to take an interactive quiz. With each branch of the quiz or question they answer, they’re refining the information that you’re presenting to them. 

In the end, the final results provide a highly personalized piece of content that suits the needs and desires they’ve selected throughout the interaction.

Where these can be especially awesome is eCommerce. 

For example, you could use a quiz to refine down a short list of products that the customer would deem as must-have.

All by simply asking questions about colors, styles, needs, and more.

Geotargeting and Geofencing

Another two linked types of contextual marketing involve the use of geotargeting and geofencing. 

This is where target customers are given specific information based on where they live or even the current neighborhood they’re in at a specific moment.

A lot of big brands like Walmart, Target, McDonalds, and others use these types of contextual marketing to captivate shoppers. 

Linked with an individual’s smartphone GPS coordinates, the two processes make it simple to really get in front of those who are nearby a brick-and-mortar location.

Personalized website experiences

Your brand is probably already using contextual content without even realizing it. 

For example, if you serve customers in multiple countries, you might already have a tool on your website that determines the visitor’s country and adjusts the language of the copy on the page to meet what’s native in their region.

You might also have certain sections of a dashboard or cart that change when a customer signs into their account on your eCommerce store. 

Or you could even have a different page layout with individualized content for those who are on smartphone devices versus those on a desktop browser.

These are all good examples of how contextual content can be as simple or as detailed as you really want it to be.

}}