As we talk more about the concept of contextual marketing, the same words keep popping up. Read any articles on the subject, and it’s easy to see a new set of buzzwords that have emerged around the idea:

• Cross-platform
• Multi-channel
• Multi-screen
• Integrated
• One-to-one
• Relevancy
• Customer engagement
• Data
• Predictive analytics
• Personalization
• Customer-centricity

…and yes, even the word “context” itself

I think any marketer would agree that each of the above become increasingly important considerations. But what exactly are we trying to achieve with all of this for?

In short:

This is the question that was posed by Sean Classen of Maritz Loyalty Marketing a couple weeks ago at the Context Conference. According to Classen, the answer is simpler than you may think…and I tend to agree:

Human relationships.

That’s it. All of the effort that organizations put into the “Right Message/Right Time” approach is really about building deeper connections – relationships – with their customers. Because the bounty that is produced from these genuine relationships, is the holy grail that we’re all striving for. Customer loyalty.

So, let’s put it all together:

Once we achieve true loyalty with a customer, we have someone who is much more likely to return, virtually guaranteed to recommend us to their friends, and far less likely to switch to a competing brand. This customer relationship, and the resulting impact trumps even the most carefully crafted advertising campaign. No ad buy, no matter how extravagant, can hope to achieve what true customer loyalty delivers.

And how do we do this? Because digital platforms are fundamentally less personal than walking into a retail environment, we need to try to emulate these experiences online. The analogy of mom and pop stores aligns well with this thinking. Consider these examples:

• Sales people who recognize you as you walk through the front door
• Employee who know you, and what your interests/habits are
• An environment that feels more approachable
• A store owner who responds to your input and behaviours helpfully – whether that means providing us with detailed product information when we ask for it, or leaving us the hell alone and letting us browse the store independently

These are precisely the conditions we need to recreate when a customer interacts with us online. And it’s just another example of taking lessons from what we know to be most successful in the real world, and applying them to the digital world.

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