Author: YI mobility
Normally people would love to receive a free iPhone as
promotional gift. If a person, however, had just spent the past several days
crawling through the desert without supplies; he or she would want a glass of
water, not an iPhone. This is a broad example that demonstrates a crucial rule
of marketing: context is important.
What is context marketing?
Wouldn't it be great if you could send food coupons to
customers as soon as they were hungry, or promote discounts on laptops the
second shoppers begin searching for new computers. Context marketing is the
process of delivering promotions and advertising materials to consumers based
on their current needs and resources.
Some people view contextual marketing as a way for companies
to form relationships with consumers as individuals. ZDnet described how better
audience data allows any business to operate like a small town
mom-and-pop shop
where the owner knows each customer by name and can recognize his or her needs
as soon as they walk through the door. Instead of talking with consumers
one-on-one, though, contextual marketers hope to create campaigns that send
messages through email communications, social media and mobile marketing that
feels just as personal as an in-person greeting.
When businesses deploy context marketing effectively,
marketers send promotions to the people who care about them the most at the
exact time consumers have motivation to act on them.
Important metrics of
contextualization
What does a business need to know about a customer to obtain
proper context? As much as they can.
Direct Marketing said contextual metrics go way beyond what CRM software
traditionally captures. Real-time data is most important. It's crucial marketers gain
visibility of how consumers perform and when. If an organization just collects
data from online platforms at the end of certain time periods, it misses out on
a variety of relevant factors that led to buying decisions.
The first thing companies can do to achieve a better view of
customer context is to integrate data from all business departments that
interact with consumers. Forrester suggested businesses will combine customer
service and marketing data over the next few years to gain visibility of a consumer's complete
inbound journey.
The second way businesses will try to understand context is
by investing in new technology solutions. Better business software can take a
closer look at online interactions with social media postings or business
websites. Physical stores will probably invest in solutions that collect data
from real-world shopping interactions.
How to put context to use
Once an organization believes it has enough information to
gain proper insight on certain audiences, it needs to deliver the target
information when the consumer will most value it.
Online promotions can use past performance from previous
consumers to find the best time to deliver promotions. It's a matter of finding
the right call to action for the digital material. Should white papers provide
phone numbers to contact sales agents, or should they link to further
educational materials? Business must determine what their consumers look for in
each stage of their marketing funnel.
Thanks to technology, physical stores recently received a
very effective solution for contextual marketing. My Customer said beacon
technology allows businesses to deliver promotions to
consumers as soon as
they visit a business location. The company can provide deals and discounts to
customers in the perfect context, when they're in-store and ready to shop.
Beacon technology also helps businesses collect consumer data
as it works with mobile devices. When customers redeem discounts or sign up for
loyalty programs, the store can see what promotions or campaigns led to
conversion and the exact context that facilitated success.
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