Over the past five years, we’ve seen radical transformation and growth of the Internet. With this growth however, came a number of pain points felt by both the consumer and advertiser, namely their mutual inability to successfully find one another online.
Without the appropriate tools and technology, the best online advertisements become irrelevant if they don’t find their way onto Web sites being browsed by an interested consumer. On the flipside, even the most motivated consumer won’t click on an ad and make a purchase if he believes his time is wasted by advertisements of products or services with little or no relevance.
Today, we are witness to the Internet’s next great transformation – its evolution from a common marketplace to a highly sophisticated venue for the most targeted marketing and selling imaginable.
In this latest chapter the transformation is twofold. First, the Web is rapidly evolving into an interactive market for building social communities of people with common interests. This has radical implications for marketers, who can now engage in behavioral analysis of these groups to help better target them with messages that reflect their common interests. Second, new technologies, combined with data and analytics, are enabling a level of customizable targeting unprecedented in the industry. It is against this backdrop that contextual advertising is evolving into one of the most vital technologies in Internet marketing.
In today’s marketplace, contextual advertising has become an indispensable tool to successfully attract consumers online. Its precision targeting is essential in an era of ongoing audience fragmentation and shorter attention spans. Today’s busy, technologically-savvy consumer demands a customized approach containing information about products and services they care about. Contextual advertising fulfills this need and is the solution to the marketer’s dilemma of accomplishing more with less.
But what exactly is contextual advertising and how does it help marketers meet their customer acquisition goals?
Contextual advertising and the Internet are a perfect match because they are both centered around content and information. Contextual advertising is a compelling offering for marketers because as the content of a Web page changes, so do the ads. Superior contextual advertising is real-time, dynamic and never static – just like the Internet. As an individual browses the Web and moves from page to page, they are presented with advertisements that are deeply relevant to what they are reading. Best of breed contextual advertising is smart – it knows the difference between heiress Paris Hilton, Paris, France and Paris, Texas – and will never deliver an ad about the “The Simple Life” when an individual is interested in learning about the savoir-vivre of the French.
This advertising approach is drastically different compared to those of the past and provides online marketers with a truly efficient, metric driven, ROI based capability to combat the diffusion and fragmentation of their audiences. The end result for the advertiser is the potential for a higher click through rate that generates an increase in sales and profitability. Businesses that don’t realize the benefits inherent in this type of marketing and incorporate it into their advertising and customer acquisition strategies will be left behind in the competitive dust.
Looking ahead, we can expect continued audience fragmentation, as more sophisticated media emerge. As an increasing number of communication forms turn digital, it is the belief of some that they will ultimately fuse into one. People read their news online instead of in print, listen to radio Webcasts rather than the ancient “boom box” and can tune into and catch up on their favorite TV shows online. As mediums continue to meld together online, the battle for the consumer’s attention will rage on and businesses will need to be increasingly creative to win the fight.
In the online world, contextual advertising will remain a part of the marketing landscape. The technology it brings to the table has only just begun to prove itself and we can expect more sophisticated forms to emerge. Advertisers and marketers are just beginning to reap the rewards, but are quickly catching on to the inherent value. Contextual advertising is here to stay and why not? It defies something many people have thought impossible – finding and successfully targeting the elusive consumer online. In essence, it’s turned the idea of “finding a needle in a haystack” into a reality.
Anand Subramanian is Chief Executive Officer of ContextWeb, Inc. Mr. Subramanian has 15 years of experience building and leading successful businesses and has deep domain knowledge in the Internet, product development, technology sales and consulting. Prior to ContextWeb, Mr. Subramanian was the Vice President of Product Development at Gobi, Inc., a home computing and Internet connectivity company. Before joining Gobi, Mr. Subramanian managed a team of technology consultants and sales staff for Mastech Systems Corporation and was responsible for national accounts such as AT&T, Bellcore and MCI. Mr. Subramanian also built a healthcare software company in Bombay, India which he successfully ran for several years. He holds a Bachelor of Technology degree from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT).
