Contextual targeting is back on the lips, plans and spreadsheets of marketers globally.
In the first years following the launch of the internet, it was contextual targeting that was favoured by brands and advertising buyers – allowing a publisher to frame the engagement between brands and consumers. This context can have a big impact on a brand’s campaign performance, as the advertisement is more likely to be seen as relevant to the consumer when alongside related content.
Somewhat obscured in the mid-2010s, lingering consumer data privacy concerns, YouTube brand safety and Facebook data breach scandals, and the introduction of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in Europe, meant that contextual targeting had very much returned to the forefront of savvy marketing in recent years.
And with the recent announcement by Google about its plans to eliminate third party cookies entirely 2022, the spotlight on contextual targeting is now as bright as ever.
Here are 3 reasons why contextual targeting should be an essential part of your advertising playbook in 2020:
1. Brand safe
Brand safety still remains a major issue for online advertisers in 2020. According to B&T, in 2019 ad misplacement incidents rose by 55 per cent across the Asia Pacific region with Australia experiencing the highest level of brand safety issues at a rate of over 10 per cent.
These misplacement incidents can do significant damage to a brand’s reputation. In recent research commissioned by Reuters, 77% of consumers say that advertising next to ‘unsavoury or objectionable’ stories can damage their perception of a brand and 62% believe that brands have full control of where their advertising appears.
By selecting media placements based on the content on the website or page, advertisers can reach consumers based on what they are reading, watching or listening to – without jeopardising their reputation.
2. Results effective
Contextual environments are not just safe, but also powerful in influencing active and in-market consumers. In the first Australian study of its kind, carsales commissioned Nielsen to examine and compare the campaign performance of automotive advertisers, both on the carsales network and in non-contextually relevant environments.
The findings of the whitepaper validated the effectiveness of carsales as a contextual automotive environment. The context of carsales positively shifted brand metrics for automotive brands, and increased Active Recommendation by 50%.
Active Recommendation is a key metric in calculating both the Brand Equity Index and the Net Promoter Score. Both of these are ways in which brands measure customer loyalty, and both correlate strongly with market share performance.
3. Cost effective
Contextual targeting solutions are not just effective, but cost-effective. Compared to above the line solutions such as TV, radio, print and outdoor, contextual advertising on a premium environment empowers brands to reach a motivated, in-market audience at scale – 24/7.
This is particularly powerful considering the 24/7 nature of modern car buying. The carsales audience – Australia’s largest and most engaged audience of car buyers – attracts an average of 3.5 million buyers each month, spending more than 40 minutes, while 52% of buyer sessions and 47% of enquiries also occur outside of traditional 9am – 5pm traditional business hours. This enables contextually-relevant media investment on carsales to reach more car buyers, and engage and influence their behaviour at the very moments that matter across their purchase journey – any time and any day.
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