( Estimated reading time: 4 min )

You’ve probably heard the expression ‘content is king’ on numerous occasions by now, and whilst generally that was, and still is to some degree, true, the rules of the game are changing slightly, and nowadays, it is a context that is king, as opposed to content. If you’re a business owner, you’ll know all too well, how important it is to establish a strong online presence, even if your business isn’t based solely online.

By utilising the weird and wonderful creation that is the World Wide Web you can expand your reach, advertise your business, advertise your services, grow your fan base and clientele, and much more besides. In terms of digital marketing, social media campaigns, or any other online campaigns for that matter, context is most certainly one of the first things to consider when you create your content. Your viewers need to not only see and engage with your content; they also need to understand the context behind it.

“Consumers v/s advertisers: Ad blockers”

Ad blockers are a digital marketer’s worst nightmare, and they have been causing no end of headaches for such people as of late. Currently, more than 80% of mobile users are using some form of ad blocking software on their smart devices, not to mention on their regular computers at home. In terms of advertising, it is clear that there needs to be a viable and mutually beneficial solution in order for advertisers to get around ad blocking software, without being intrusive and coming across as annoying, to their prospective audiences. Experts believe that contextual marketing could be the secret weapon in the ongoing battle against ad blockers.

“Understanding context marketing”

We know that the general consensus behind advertising is that it is intrusive and annoying, but that is not always the case, it simply requires a little extra knowledge and preparation on the advertiser’s part. If any business wishes to be successful, it needs to embrace advertising with open arms, as it is the advertising that will help to get their name out there into the big wide world.

The problem, however, is that many ads can be seen as annoyances and pretty intrusive, and they could even have the opposite effects and could potentially alienate the business from their potential customer. Studies have found that around 60% of people actually prefer ads which are relevant to their location, and to what it is that they’re doing. Put simply, if you’re interested in, say, cookery, you would be much more interested in ads that were advertising cooking utensils and accessories, as opposed to ads that were offering, say, hair care treatments.

This means that advertisers must take the time to ensure that the relevant ads are placed beside the relevant pages, and are targeted for the correct audience. If an ad is eye-catching, relevant, and professional, there is a much stronger chance of it not being blocked.

Advanced contextual targeting, for example, is proving highly effective, as this technology functions by analysing the content of each page, where it will then select appropriate and relevant ads, before placing them. So, if a page is, again, cooking-orientated, the ads placed would also be relevant to cooking.

Engaging the audience in the right way

One of the key priorities should be meaningful interactions and not just offload of the content.  Also, a public twitter conversation is definitely not the right place for the brands to market their products as shown in John Oliver segment below:

Getting creative

It does not always have to be people talking about serious issues making their viewing experience downright depressing, especially if they are trying to watch the new episode of Modern Family or IT crowd. It would be nice to get more creative once in a while and keep it light.

Marketing has been a constant change for some years now since the internet boom, with which traditional education obviously can’t keep it. It is indeed a very exciting time to be in the marketing due to the dominance of the consumer and the advertising platforms which are focused on their needs. In order to keep pace with that organisations have to actually focus on what they want. If the content you are offering is not according to the proper context and DNA of the platform then you will be left behind in the race.