5 Reasons why contextual promotions benefit retail

When marketing, retailers often rely on the data collected from third-party cookies to track customers’ search history and clicks across different websites. However, in recent years, third-party cookies have begun to give way to a method called context marketing.

Contextual advertising uses AI to bring marketing content, like promotions, videos, blog posts, etc., to the shopper at a precise moment in the customer journey. As the name implies, relevance is central to context marketing, as it seeks to deliver content pertinent to the customer’s current brand interactions.

While the reasons for contextualizing one’s strategy are numerous, below are five drivers that are forcing retailers to consider integrated contextual promotions as part of their marketing strategy.  

1. Cookies are going the way of the land line 

With the ongoing passage of privacy legislation, like The General Data Protection act, which classifies cookies as personal information, it will be difficult for retailers to collect and use third-party data. Moreover, some search engines, including Apple’s Safari and Mozilla Firefox, block third-party cookies by default. Google Chrome intends to move away from cookies as well. In light of these trends, it is wise to begin establishing context marketing initiatives.    

2. Advertise in a less intrusive manner 

Everyone is familiar with the creepy realization that their phone is listening to conversations. Thankfully, contextual promotions are far less invasive than other forms of marketing, serving as helpful suggestions that point shoppers in the right direction rather than big brother peeking over their shoulder.  

3. Market at the right moments  

Through AI-powered automation, contextual promotions can get set up to go out at certain moments in the customer journey, such as after a satisfaction survey post-purchase, allowing retailers to connect with their customers in real time.

Typically, sending relevant and well-timed content to shoppers is more effective than marketing through historical search habits, which may not always correspond or align with the current web page. For example, a shopper may browse shoes for an hour, but they could get annoyed if they receive an ad for shoes while reading the clothing return policy.

4. Provide personalized experiences

A study of marketers using advanced personalization found that 70% saw a 200% ROI (KO Marketing, 2020). Likewise, another study found that 63% of marketers observed better conversation rates through personalization (Statista, 2020).

By marketing according to the consumer’s shopping experience, retailers will have more opportunities to personalize interactions, helping customers solve unique challenges. Likewise, in retail, customers are more likely and willing to engage with personalized content, ultimately increasing loyalty and satisfaction.  

5. Increase conversation rates 

Whether a retailer uses personalized content based on omnichannel engagement or reward deliveries after a completed survey, context marketing increases the conversion rate. Because contextual promotions are convenient, applicable, and timely, the customer is in an ideal state of mind to sign up for an email list, leave a review, and – most importantly – purchase a product.

Context marketing through Smart Automation 

As regulations gradually phase out third-party cookies and other invasive practices, it is paramount that retail brands deploy contextual promotions through IntelePeer’s SmartAutomation platform. SmartAutomation can empower retailers to enhance the customer experience and increase conversation rates without any time-consuming rip-and-replace development or complex implementation cycles.

Speak with an IntelePeer representative to find out more about SmartAutomation.