What is contextual targeting? How to build awareness with hyper-relevant ad placements   

Imagine you had a crystal ball that showed exactly when a prospective buyer was thinking about the business needs your product solves, and the ability to pitch them on your solution then and there. That’s what contextual targeting is all about: putting your ads alongside content that’s relevant to your audience, right when they’re primed to engage. 

What is contextual targeting?

Contextual targeting is a method of placing ads on web pages with related content, ensuring the ad are relevant in context and align with your audience’s interests. This strategy ensures your ads show up when and where they’re truly relevant to the people you want to reach. 

For example, you might advertise a vacation rental platform on a travel-focused blog, a project management tool on a business operations article, or an investing app on a market analysis report. The product you’re advertising should closely align with the page's content and the readers’ concerns.

Common types of contextual targeting

While contextual targeting always focuses on placing ads alongside relevant content, platforms may approach it in different ways.

Category-based contextual targeting

Advertisers select broad content categories, such as finance, healthcare, or technology. Ads appear across sites that fall into those categories. This method offers a wide reach but less precision.

Keyword-based contextual targeting

Advertisers choose specific keywords and phrases related to their audience’s interests. Ads appear on pages where those keywords are present. This approach offers greater control and precision, especially for B2B marketers targeting niche topics or high-intent research.

Some platforms also use machine learning to evaluate page meaning and sentiment, but at its core, contextual targeting works by aligning your campaign keywords with relevant content.

How contextual targeting works

Contextual targeting works by understanding a page’s keywords, topics, and overall meaning, and then matching ads that naturally fit that context. 

The ad platform analyzes page content to determine its topics and themes. Then it displays relevant ads based on the keywords you include in your campaign. Your goal: define campaign keywords that fit seamlessly into the right content, so users always see ads aligned with their current interests. 

What are contextual advertising keywords? 

In contextual targeting, keywords are the words and phrases that appear on the web pages where your ad will appear. Your ads don't have to contain those keywords, but your copy should reflect the same topics and themes so readers clearly see the connection between what they're reading and what your ad promises. 

You’ll need to identify two types of keywords for your contextual targeting campaign:

• In-context (aka, positive) keywords: The words and phrases in page content where you want your ads to be displayed
• Out-of-context (aka, negative) keywords: Any words or phrases that, if they appear on a page, you don’t want your ad to be displayed

Contextual targeting vs. behavioral targeting

Both contextual targeting and behavioral targeting surface programmatic ads based on user actions. The primary difference is that behavioral ads rely on tracking users’ historical behavior over time. Contextual targeting only relates to the content someone is viewing in the moment. 

This gives contextual advertising a couple of advantages:

• Privacy: Contextual targeting doesn’t rely on cookies, so you can reach people regardless of privacy settings.
• Timeliness: Contextual targeting aligns your ads with whatever’s top-of-mind for buyers as they’re browsing.

How to choose keywords for contextual targeting 

Try this thought experiment: picture the main decision-maker at your best-performing account. They’ve just left a strategy meeting and are looking for something useful to read while they eat lunch. What business concerns are on their mind right now? What do they type into the search bar? What kind of articles are they reading? 

Those answers will guide you to keywords that drive successful contextual campaigns.

In-context keywords for contextual targeting 

Successful contextual targeting requires in-context keywords that accurately reflect the topics you want to be associated with. 

Picture that existing customer again. They’re browsing content that helps them address business needs—ones that your business solves. Consider the specific keywords that best reflect the topics they’re about to read for that purpose. 

Other promising leads share the same needs as your existing customers and are looking at the same kind of content. In-context keywords put your ads in front of people as they’re considering issues relevant to both their business and your solutions.

Ask yourself:

• What problems are my customers—and people like them—trying to solve?
• What topics do top-of-funnel buyers research before contacting sales?
• What industry-specific issues are on their radar?
• What related topics do they read about? 

Exploring those questions reveals the context where your ads are most relevant to your target audience. Tip: If you’re having trouble coming up with in-context keywords, compare several pages about the same topic and look for commonalities. 

Out-of-context keywords for contextual targeting 

Contextual targeting hinges on knowing the keywords and phrases that will get your ads onto relevant pages. But it’s just as important to identify the terms you don’t want in the mix when placing your ads. 

Certain terms could create an accidental mismatch between your ad and a page’s content. These are the out-of-context keywords you’ll use to avoid having your ads show up where you don’t want them.

Think big-picture about your in-context keywords and consider if they have unintended associations like:

• Ambiguous words: Many words have more than one meaning. For instance, a “crane” could be a lovely bird or a piece of machinery. If your company rents construction equipment, you don’t want your ads to appear on pages about bird-watching.
• Sensitive associations: Sometimes, keywords can be relevant but carry negative associations you want to avoid. For example, if you offer a platform that finds the best airfare prices, you don’t want your ads to appear with articles about airline disasters. Exclude keywords like “plane crash” or “air accidents” from your campaign. 
• Off-brand implications: Some terms may seem relevant to your product, but could weaken your brand positioning or business context. For example, if you’re aiming at enterprise-level companies for IT services, consider excluding terms like “free data governance software” or “cybersecurity for start-ups.” 

Benefits of contextual targeting

Targeted brand awareness 

Contextual targeting is an effective way to bring new users into your marketing funnel. Instead of casting a wide net, you can target high-value prospects in a moment when they’re actively receptive to your message. This gives you access to a previously unknown audience. And you don’t need historical or demographic information to reach them, so you can expand your brand awareness to people you wouldn't otherwise identify. 

Reaching relevant buyers without third-party cookies

Most types of ad targeting rely on cookies, leveraging a user’s historical behavior to gauge their interests and show ads that align. Contextual advertising, on the other hand, allows you to show appropriate ads based on someone’s current behavior, even if you don't have third-party cookie data. The fact that they’re looking at relevant content right now reveals their interest in topics associated with your brand. 

Control and brand safety 

With contextual advertising, brands can better control the placement of their ads. By carefully choosing specific in-context keywords, you align your ads with the topics and sentiment of the pages where your ads appear. And smart use of out-of-context keywords keeps your ads off pages that don't belong with your brand or messaging. 

Omnichannel reach 

Contextual advertising is an ideal way to beef up your omnichannel strategy. You can target relevant content across channels, including display, native, video, social media, and even connected TV. Your buyers are consuming content across a vast digital landscape; contextual targeting allows you to show up everywhere they are, exactly when they’re interested in topics that matter for your brand. 

Full-funnel strategies

Contextual targeting isn’t just for brand awareness campaigns. It supports every stage of the funnel, from awareness to conversion. You can use educational content to drive top-of-funnel engagement, mid-funnel content (such as product comparisons) to capture consideration-stage users, and conversion-focused messaging on high-intent pages. This allows you to develop a unified strategy across the funnel.

You can also combine contextual targeting with account-based marketing (ABM) campaigns to reach, nurture, and convert your audience throughout their entire lifecycle. Contextual targeting fills the crucial top-of-funnel awareness stage of the buyer journey, driving new prospects into your ABM campaigns. 

It’s time to put contextual targeting to work for you

What is contextual advertising’s place in your marketing strategy? Whether you’re focused on building brand awareness or filling your ABM pipeline, contextual targeting campaigns are a powerful tool in any marketing toolkit.

With Propensity, you can build successful contextual targeting campaigns, plus easily integrate them with ABM and other tactics for a full-funnel strategy. Book a demo to see it in action!