In the dynamic landscape of digital marketing and advertising, the continuous evolution of technologies and strategies is the only certainty and, therefore, the models and techniques that have been established in the past are now back in fashion.
This is precisely the case of contextual targeting , the targeting model at the basis of contextual advertising, a cayman islands phone number data fundamental element of the marketing mix for decades that, as we have already explored in our previous article, is now experiencing a “second youth” thanks to the most recent technological developments and, above all, following the growing interest of brands and operators in the sector for privacy-friendly solutions.
Contextual targeting has been considered an alternative to behavioral targeting for many years, but is it really necessary to consider these two targeting strategies as alternatives to each other?
Before answering this how to evaluate a speech analytics solution question, let’s look at the main characteristics of each model in order to fully understand the interest of adopting a hybrid approach.
Contextual Targeting: What It Is and How It Works
Contextual targeting is a bf leads targeting strategy that allows you to create vertical target audiences based on specific content. Unlike traditional methods that rely on user data and cookies, contextual targeting allows you to evaluate the context and topic of a web page to determine the most relevant ads to display .
So, for example, if a user views an article on a cooking blog, contextual targeting will allow the blog to display ads for related products or services, such as utensils or appliances, rather than cooking classes.
Contextual targeting has several methods and can be easily adapted to different aspects of content, however, three main models are identified for convenience.
- Contextual keyword targeting : This involves targeting ads based on specific keywords in content or search queries.
- Category Contextual Targeting : In this case, ads are displayed based on the content category itself. Advertisers define topic categories that are relevant to their products and services, and then ads appear on pages that fall into the categories you choose.
- Semantic Contextual Targeting : This is the most sophisticated contextual targeting model that uses natural language processing (NLP) algorithms to understand the context and meaning of words and sentences.
To simplify, a contextual targeting process therefore involves several steps. The first of these is, without a doubt, the scanning of the content of the page that allows the system to analyze in detail the texts and images that constitute what is called the context. In this way, the main keywords are identified, which allows the content to be identified and then associated with categories and topics.
Once the content has been associated with the categories, the ads are associated with the categories themselves, and then the first ones are placed on the most relevant pages.
Behavioral Targeting: The Importance of Knowing Your Audience Deeply
Collecting data and information about users and customers across company properties is the first step in an effective behavioral targeting strategy, which, as the name suggests, involves profiling and segmenting your audience based on browsing and purchasing behavior data.
Unlike demographic targeting, which is based on static user characteristics such as age or gender, behavioral targeting focuses on dynamic user actions and behaviors, allowing brands and businesses to tailor messages and offers based on individual behavior.