How Data Collection is Redefining Marketing Strategies

Ever since goods and services have been sold or exchanged, businesses have used creative ways to market their products. Many successful marketing strategies have not just succeeded at selling but often have re-defined entire industries. Successful marketing makes diamonds, essentially just shiny rocks, the huge icon they are. Or why Nike is the holy grail of endurance and athletic strength, unlike most other shoe manufacturers.  

The advancement of e-commerce meant new variables in how we market our products and package our services. Data is one of the most dynamic factors that can make or break any marketing strategy today. How companies collect it, and what they do with it. Let’s look at how Big Data is changing the art of selling. And how your brand can leverage data to stand out among its competitors.

The transition from content marketing to context marketing

What’s essential for brands to understand is that fluidity and variability in marketing are the only constants. A little more than a decade ago, Google gave rise to the use of content as a marketing strategy. As more and more consumers began to research product reviews online, content marketing gave brands a way to control their brand image and target consumers.

Today, over 70% of brands use content marketing, but it’s no longer as effective as it was a few short years ago. Context marketing is quickly replacing other marketing strategies because it serves the needs of the current consumer base.

Today’s consumer is better informed than consumers at any other time in history. They have excessive information at their disposal and are constantly over-exposed to relentless marketing efforts. That’s why most consumers no longer trust advertisements and tune out marketing attempts.

You have a great product that solves your consumer’s common pain points and delivers value. Educating your customer about all the pros your unique product or service offers is no longer enough. It’s the how, when, and where of how you sell something that converts potential customers into brand patrons.

Context marketing is a mix of behavioral marketing and native advertising that use data-driven analytics to tailor any advertising campaign for different buyer demographics. Content marketing is like casting a wider net and attempting to harvest leads by creating content and awareness. Context marketing is more like a targeted surgical strike for a narrower audience. 

Content marketing aims to add value by providing information. Contextual marketing is personalized and resonates with specific customers.

5 Reasons why context marketing is important 

Content marketing and Search Engine Optimization are still pivotal to getting consumers to your website or page. But what helps keep them there, increase engagement and ultimately help you sell more is context marketing.

Here are five ways context marketing helps you reach corporate goals and keep your brand relevant:

1. Personalization

The main difference between content marketing and context marketing is personalization. Context marketing is all about tailoring the different elements of your sales funnel for each customer or smaller groups of customers. By understanding consumer needs and preferences, businesses can use content more effectively and align advertisements with their interests.

Here’s how context marketing lets you personalize the sales process: Promotions aren’t always a great marketing strategy and are no longer the only way to persuade consumers to buy more. 

Context marketing lets you add value where specific consumers most appreciate it. For example, some love a good deal, some prefer the latest offerings, and some are persuaded by free shipping. That helps preserve resources for you and makes the buying decision easier for your customers.

2. Improves consumer engagement and experience

Context marketing’s consumer-centric approach prioritizes the consumer’s experience with your brand. It means meeting consumers where they are regardless of what usually works well for your brand. So instead of following a set email schedule, it’s based on evolving consumer preferences.

Suppose a new customer is browsing your website after searching for healthy low-carb recipes. Showing a pop-up for a limited-time discount on your latest cookbook would improve engagement more than showing an ad for fitness gear. 

Tailoring how you sell to customers helps ensure positive consumer experiences. Context marketing allows you to sell more and harvests opportunities to engage the customer.

3. More accurate data collection is its by-product

Context marketing personalizes the sales experience and increases customer engagement. More customer interactions are the best way to harvest more relevant consumer data. Delivering value-added content means learning more about your customers. This data helps shape future marketing strategies, improve SEO, and set you up for success.

Content and context marketing are a lethal combination for collecting data and building more accurate buyer personas. The best part? Data collection is just the by-product you can harvest to leverage great insight into how your consumer thinks and buys.

4. It’s great for customer retention rates

Imagine buying bread from a supermarket, then compare that experience to purchasing bread from the corner family-run bakery you stop by twice a week. That’s the difference context marketing can make for your brand. 

Delivering long-term customer value leads to better customer retention rates. Personalizing your marketing efforts makes each buyer feel heard and valued by your organization. That’s precisely why customers prefer mom-and-pop stores over larger super stores.

It lets you deliver the brand experience that turns consumers into loyal brand patrons. Upselling is easier when you know your consumer’s preferences and how to personalize your marketing to make it relevant.

5. It's adaptable with almost any marketing campaign

Context marketing uses consumer data to guide marketing practices and personalize the experience for consumers. For example, context marketing can be an additional discount code when new customers log on for the first time or an email informing registered customers of an upcoming sale. Or even a re-stock alert about a product a customer previously checked out on your website.

It can make content marketing more effective by including CTAs for consumers based on how far they read down a blog post or FAQ section. The great thing about context marketing is that it’s not stagnant and can easily be fused with your current marketing plan to increase ROI and conversion rates.

The role of data collection in context marketing 

Data plays a central role in shaping all contextual and content marketing strategies. Data collected throughout your sales funnel and the after-sales process is how you learn about your consumers. This data then helps you design increasingly accurate buyer personas and automate parts of your marketing strategy without compromising on personalization.

Data and context marketing are mutually beneficial to each other. Data helps laser focus and personalize your content marketing efforts.  Context marketing increases customer engagement and harvests trust in your brand, so consumers feel safer sharing their information. 

That allows you to gather more consumer data and refine all aspects of your business, from product design to most effective communication and advertising.

Think of it this way: Data provides the marketing equation's what, why, and whom. Contextual marketing puts this information into the relevant context and determines the following:

Which potential and current customers to target?

What content to show each consumer?

The optimal timing for a particular marketing attempt.

Customizing these three elements for each specific consumer or smaller groups of customers is how data makes context marketing possible. Here are some ways the two work together to maximize results and improve the brand experience for every customer:

More precise customer segmentation is another way data helps make contextual marketing more successful. It’s impossible to tailor your approach for everyone who lands on your website. Accurate grouping of potential prospects helps automate marketing and preserve the brand’s resources.

Predictive Analytics is another data-driven approach that makes context marketing possible. By collecting data on customer behavior, companies can identify patterns in customer preferences and create targeted campaigns to serve them better. Companies can then take a proactive approach and prepare to generate hype around upcoming sales seasons beforehand.

Another critical role of data collection in contextual marketing is optimizing marketing campaigns. Better data collection leads to better insight into what marketing efforts are performing well and which aren’t.

Increasing operational efficiency is a crucial positive of data in context marketing since it focuses on customer connections. These insights make your brand budget resources and time better.

Data is how you learn the latest industry trends and who’s most likely to make a purchase and hence, a worthy candidate to target marketing efforts on. Data tells you what your consumers want, and the social media channels most effectively resonate with them. Context marketing is how you fuse this data into your advertising efforts to sell more.

With Layerise, data is always in your corner

Bombarding your customers with irrelevant messages or drowning important information in a sea of content no longer works. Content marketing, along with contextual marketing, is how you can continue to rank high in search engine results and stay relevant to your consumers.

For businesses striving to stay profitable today, the stakes are high. Having the right tools in your digital marketing toolkit is elementary to achieving and surpassing your business goals. 

Layerise does the hard work for you by harvesting consumer data, improving after-sale processes, and using automation to serve consumers where they’re at. Want to check all these features out for yourself? Head over to Layerise now and contact us to see how your brand can benefit from the power of data.