It’s all about the context: three handy tips for context marketing.
Technology has undoubtedly played a huge role in the evolution of marketing. What was once a one-way street, is now a highway with lanes in both directions. As consumers now firmly grasp their mobile phones, so too do they hold brands in their palms, as their interest in and expectations of these brands have begun to shape the more common form of marketing we see today. Gone are the days when a company could rely entirely on ‘push’ marketing to sell a product, now consumers are far more savvy and have come to expect a personalised and non-invasive form of selling.
This is a both a good and bad thing for conventional marketing. Bad in the sense that it requires a definitive decision to change and implement strategies that they’ll put effort into following. Good in that, if successful in their endeavours, they will find they have a far more interactive and dedicated audience.
With mobile devices and constant connection comes the ability to keep track of everything. In real time, brands are able to monitor a customer’s interaction with their product, as well as watch their activity in real time. Scary stuff really, but a digital goldmine of information for brands, allowing them to create a personalised journey for them and the consumer.
This, in essence, is context marketing. Finding itself perched nicely within inbound marketing, it is the to and fro between the brand and consumer as they find themselves on a path to a product. Instead of being bombarded with ‘push’ techniques, context marketing aims to present the right content in the right place to the right people, when they need it. Despite being in an age where marketers have more access than ever to consumers, it’s important not to abuse this, as consumers are more informed, connected, and have far more choice. If you don’t make the right impression the first time round, you may not get another chance.
With that out of the way, here are the three important points to keep in mind when adopting a context marketing strategy.
1. Change your outlook
It is impossible to come across as genuine when you’re selling a product with only your results in mind. You need to prioritise the customers experience and put what they want first, centralising them instead of your own needs. Do this, and you’ll find yourself with a far more loyal audience.
2. Use the right amount and best tools for the job.
Whilst there is a plethora of tools out there that gather data or serve some other function, it’s important that you use only a few that do exactly what you would like. Treat it like you would marketing to your customer: Succinct, seamless and responsive. If you use different channels across different platforms, then you’re not providing a seamless experience to a customer that switches between them. If you’re recording the same information twice, then the customer may be receiving the same emails over and over again, causing them to switch off entirely. There are three types of tools that are required to run a fully-functioning context marketing strategy. They are:
WCM: Web Content Management systems are the body of your strategy, and are used to store an organisations online content in one place. It stores, manages and powers your website. It also collects small amounts of information about how customers may have interacted with your site. Previously, this was enough for brands, to simply display their information in the online sphere, now however, that is simply not enough.
Contextual Intelligence: The second piece of the context marketing puzzle is Contextual Intelligence, or the brain of the entire process. Contextual Intelligence works alongside your WCM to gather all the information about customer interactions across every platform with your brand. It’s what allows you to develop your tailored customer experience, as you are able to collect:
Names, email address’, industries, marital status’, locations, past behavioural trends, searches, device types and content consumed, just to name a few.
Utilising this information will benefit any organisation greatly, and being able to keep all the data in one accessible place is extremely important.
Omnichannel Automation: So you’ve got your body and your brain, now all you need is your arms to pass the information onto your customers. This is where Omnichannel Automation comes in. If you have a functioning WCM managing your content, combined with contextual intelligence tailored to each individual customer, then all you need is a tool to automatically interact with that customer, sending them information in real time and actively responding to how they react. Omnichannel Automation allows you to reach out and interact with your customer at the best time automatically, saving you loads of time and effort. You’re also ensured that each interaction will be personalised and accurately based on the data previously collected.
Again, if you can find one of each of these that does everything you require, then you’re already ahead.
3. Start Small
Rome wasn’t built in a day, and neither will your context marketing strategy. However, the three most important things to ensure you are aware of are:
• Know your systems.
• Know your ideal customer experience.
• Know your end game.
With this information, you’re well on your way to developing your own digital context marketing strategy. Good luck!
Author: Matthew Mortimer