instruction for those who are not deeply immersed in the question

Contextual advertising is perhaps the most obvious way to find customers for a business. But does everyone need it? So that your promotion does not turn into a senseless drain of the budget, we tell you in what situations it is necessary to take a closer look at this tool, and in what situations it is not worth spending resources on it.

Natalia Vyazigina, head of digital marketing agency Axioma Web, is in touch. Since 2017, we have been engaged in comprehensive promotion of business on the Internet, providing contextual and targeted advertising services, SMM, website development, SEO optimization, etc. We take 2nd place in the rating of St. Petersburg contextual advertising agencies and work in more than 30 regions of Russia. In this article, we will tell you what 5 points you need to check your business for before launching contextual advertising so that it brings the maximum result.

1. There is a stable demand for your goods/services in the market.

For contextual advertising, it is important that people “Yandex” something related to your product. For example, “order a pizza in St. Petersburg” – and then again, and an ad for a pizzeria with a delivery service. More abstract requests (“where to eat deliciously”, “restaurants in St. Petersburg”, …), and, of course, competitive ones, will also do. But if you are selling a specific product that is intended for a narrow audience or is just entering the market and is not yet well known, then contextual advertising will be meaningless. You can check if there is interest in your target queries using the Yandex Wordstat service. If the total number of requests per month does not exceed at least 100 (depending on the type of business, the figure may vary), then you should first pay attention to those tools that will generate demand for the product category. For example, media advertising. Without it, the further promotion of an unknown product will be long, expensive, difficult and, in general, meaningless.

2. Your lead process is well-organized and your sales team is ready for increased customer flow.

It makes no sense to launch contextual advertising if analytics is not configured, incoming requests are not tracked, and managers do not know how to work with a large number of requests. Yes, traffic will go to you, but what is the point of it if this traffic is not properly processed? You will just spend money and not get the desired result. Users will be converted into leads, but only a few will reach sales. That is why before starting such a promotion, you need to set up analytics, think over the sales funnel and conduct a thorough audit of the sales department. Launch only after you build a reliable system, eliminate all errors and the conversion of the sales department reaches at least 7%.

3. You have a product that is understandable to the audience (an advantage if it can be bought/booked online).

We have already talked about the demand for goods, but do not forget about its availability. If you have a complex, for example, technically, product, then they may be actively interested in the search engine, but not for the purpose of buying, but for the purpose of finding out what it is and how it works. In this case, contextual advertising will not help you find customers, and you need to pay attention to those tools that will first of all explain to users what you are selling. But for “everyday” niches, the context is extremely necessary. If you sell cars, doors, windows, medical services, furniture, cosmetics, clothes, accessories, massage services, food delivery, HoReCa business, etc., this tool will definitely help you to attract traffic in the right amount. But you should not forget about others either, because any promotion is more effective in the complex.

4. You need a steady flow of customers.

Contextual advertising is not a one-time story. If you need customers pointwise for a certain time period or for a specific promotion, then it makes sense to invest in crops, advertising with bloggers, or targeted targeting. Contextual advertising is needed for a continuous flow of customers today, tomorrow, in a month and in a year. Direct algorithms start to work most effectively when statistics are accumulated and a suitable strategy is selected, and the system needs time for this (at least 2 weeks from the start date). So, the longer advertising works (with competent optimization), the higher the results will be. However, this does not mean that customers will begin to arrive only months later. No, the first result will be noticeable within a day after launch, it will just improve over time. Perhaps, no digital tool can be compared with contextual advertising in terms of acquisition speed and lead volume.

5. Your company is new to a highly competitive market.

If no one knows you yet, affiliate networks are not established or are not provided for by the type of business, then contextual advertising is the easiest way to quickly stand out and find customers. Yes, it will be difficult to lure a loyal audience of competitors, but “undecided”, who need a product / service, but not a fundamental brand, can be converted into your customers and continue to work with them to increase loyalty and create a community. In order not to waste the budget, at the start it is better to entrust contextual advertising to professionals who know firsthand how to quickly and effectively “shoot” a new business.