Do consumers prefer contextually relevant ads more?

Today’s consumers increasingly know brands and advertisers use personal data to target them. Concerns regarding data collection and usage resulted in cookies being out of the scheme. While marketers prepare for a cookieless future, contextual targeting has emerged as the best alternative.

Contextual targeting has proven itself to be helpful in not only eliminating the need for cookies or customer data but also ensuring brand safety and suitability. Brands can safely avoid advertising faux pas’ like placing an ad for a new car on a news article about a gruesome car crash. The question remains, is contextual advertising as relevant to the consumer as we think it is?

There’s adequate evidence to show that contextual targeting strategies yield more substantial consumer attention. A variety of studies have shown that consumers pay more attention to contextually relevant ads, resulting in a significant increase in brand favorability and purchase intent. Consumers need to see clear intent by brands when it comes to embracing context-based targeting rather than behavior-based targeting.  A study by Seedtag showed that 82% of the people surveyed look favorably upon those brands who have decided to stop using cookies. For consumers, contextual ads are much more than just the creativity or relevance of the ad.

Consumers today are frustrated with over-targeting and hyper-targeting from irrelevant ads. They demand a significantly better online experience, with ads relatable and aligned to the content consumed at that time. Seedtag partnered with Nielsen to conduct in-depth research that showed contextually engaged consumers were 2.5x more interested in the category when not targeted. With almost every website popping up windows to get consent from consumers to use cookies, studies show that consumers continue to reject cookies when browsing actively. The Seedtag survey indicated that nearly a third of respondents deny cookies on all sites they visit. With this number going, contextual advertising is the best option forward.

Both marketers and consumers have endorsed the revival of interest in contextual advertising. Statistics predict that spending on contextual advertising will be around USD 297.68 billion in 2023. According to an eMarketer survey, about 50% of US and 33.33% of UK marketers currently favor contextual advertising as their preferred targeting format. Various technologies like AI, machine learning, natural language processing, and more are helping boost the popularity of contextual advertising by making it simple and effective to execute.

We at Seedtag have been helping customers understand and adopt contextual advertising. We’re helping clients like Pedigree and LG adopt a future-proof advertising approach that’s helping drive positive brand awareness and ultimately boosting purchase intent. Consumers also have a positive bias towards contextual advertising as it can balance privacy and personalization without relying on cookies.

Do write to Seedtag to understand how we can help ensure you adopt the right strategies to maximize returns on your advertising investments.