#contentconsumption

Two factors will continue to drive transformation in the media landscape in 2025, as we see it. Both factors will contribute almost equally to these variations. The ever-evolving technology and the ever-mutating consumer preferences! In this write-up, we will attempt to envisage the future of Media Consumption basing our conclusions on comparative analysis.

We shall draw upon the intelligence that two separate services provide, intel that will help us create a picture of the near future of Media Consumption. On the one hand, market intelligence reporting services provide us with data about the overall environment of the market, encompassing industry trends, customer behavior, market dynamics, and potential opportunities or threats.

On the other hand, competitive intelligence reporting services give us access to information on specific businesses, their strategies, strengths, weaknesses, and market positioning. Based on the insights these two provide, let us draw a vision of tomorrow’s Media Consumption.

A safe prediction to make at this juncture seems to be that a drastic rise in consumption of genuine, social issues-based content will be observed. Real people and communities, highlighting their true experiences and challenges will take center stage. According to a report by ‘We Are Social’, the process of creation of media content will display major decentralization. This will grant individual creators more control over their content. Also, due to the direct interaction between producers and buyers, e-commerce will flourish.

An obvious, high-impact game changer is going to be Artificial Intelligence. AI is going to bring great changes in both the nature of content as well as the way it’s created. Consumers can expect highly customized experiences and unprecedented efficiency in content creation. Of course, during the initiation phase as well as later, we will have to prepare for concerns related to intellectual property making regulatory frameworks a primary necessity.

Strangely, it is also being predicted that ‘linear video’, where the programs are scheduled to be broadcast at a fixed time will continue to go strong. According to a report, more than 90% of media gurus opined that linear video will continue to be significant in the media business mix.

Further, a word of caution can be sent out to the market that these and other changes that are expected can be dealt with by the businesses by including market and competitive intelligence reporting in their panoply, helping them to maximize gains and mitigate risks. For instance, the potential intellectual property threats from content creation with AI can be understood by media companies based on these reports.

Also, as I said, consumers will prefer meaningful and personalized content, and hence, businesses will have to create strategies that create outcomes catering to these altered requirements. Here also, media market and competitive intelligence reporting services will provide the vital input these businesses will need.

In a nutshell, the media landscape in 2025 will show an inclination toward well-created content with social impact making content creators highly significant. Also, technology will be in the driving seat which would alter the picture drastically. Further, I specifically mentioned the rise in importance of market and competitive intelligence reporting solutions in helping businesses deal with the changing scenario.

Digital advertisers have traditionally relied heavily on behavioral targeting, using browser cookies to display ads. However, this method often neglects real-time content relevance and user resonance, leading to irrelevant ad displays that can hinder performance marketing campaign results.

According to a SurveyMonkey report, about 74% of users believe there are too many ads on digital platforms, with 44% finding these ads irrelevant to their needs. Marketing leaders are now exploring contextual targeting as a more effective advertising strategy, especially as the era of cookie-based targeting wanes. Contextual marketing is seen as a key method to ensure privacy and enhance ad relevance.

In this article, we will explore the definition of contextual targeting, its benefits, and how it compares to behavioral targeting.

What is Contextual Targeting?

Contextual targeting is an advertising strategy where marketers place ads based on the content of a specific web page. For example, if a company sells AI products, its ads would appear on pages featuring content about AI and its applications. This strategy ensures that ads are relevant to the content being consumed, thereby increasing engagement.

Types of Contextual Targeting

There are several types of contextual targeting that marketers can utilize:

Category Contextual Targeting: This type involves displaying ads based on broad categories such as automotive, finance, or beauty. It targets a wide audience but may lack precision.

Keyword Contextual Targeting: Marketers select specific keywords to target their audience more accurately. This method provides greater flexibility and precision in ad placement.

Semantic Contextual Targeting: Using advanced machine learning, semantic targeting analyzes the context of a web page to determine ad relevance. This method offers a more sophisticated and accurate targeting approach.

Contextual Targeting vs. Behavioral Targeting

While contextual targeting focuses on displaying ads based on the content of a web page, behavioral targeting relies on the user's online activities. Behavioral targeting tracks user behavior such as clicks, time spent on pages, and search history to serve ads relevant to past actions.

For instance, behavioral targeting might show ads for AI chatbots to a user who has previously searched for them. In contrast, contextual targeting would display similar ads on a web page discussing AI-driven chatbots.

Advantages of Contextual Targeting

Contextual targeting offers several benefits that can help marketers reach their audience more effectively:

Reaching the Right Audience: This method allows marketers to quickly engage with a receptive audience by displaying ads on relevant web pages, prompting users to take action.

Cost-effective Strategy: Contextual targeting is generally more affordable than behavioral marketing campaigns, making it ideal for businesses with limited budgets.

Easy Implementation: This strategy is straightforward to implement, requiring minimal time and data. Tools like Google Display Network facilitate quick campaign setups.

Customized Ad Experiences: Delivering personalized experiences is crucial in digital marketing. Contextual targeting enables tailored interactions, fostering trust and engagement with the target audience.

Increased Sales: By displaying relevant ads to interested users, contextual targeting can drive higher website traffic and conversion rates, ultimately boosting sales and business growth.

Compliance with Privacy Laws: Unlike cookie-based targeting, contextual targeting does not rely on user data collection, ensuring compliance with regulations like the GDPR.

Conclusion

Understanding where your own audience is in terms of these trends is important. You can use Google Analytics to find out what devices your audience is using to consume your content. If you’ve had a drop in visitors the last year, consider whether or not it could be because your content is not useful, relevant, or available in all formats.

Mobile Consumption Is on the Rise — It’s been said many times in many places. If your website isn’t mobile friendly now, you’re going to lose out big time. More people are consuming content via mobile devices today than they are via PCs. Many work places have blocked certain types of websites from their workers, so they’ve moved to their mobile devices during the day, and may use their home PCs in the evening — when they have time.

Content Must Be Original — Gone are the days of the spreading the same content throughout the web in the form of reused guest posts, article marketing sites and so forth. You can still participate in guest blogging, article marketing and so forth, but all the content that you contribute needs to be unique and not used again elsewhere — not even on your own website. If you want to attract people to consume your content, make it new, make it original, and make it frequent.

Content Needs to Be Targeted — You probably knew this before and it’s not really a “trend” as such. However, it needs to be repeated. Making original content that has nothing to do with your target audience is an exercise in futility. Make unique content that puts your target audience first and you’ll be more successful.

Content Needs to Be Useful — If you are spitting out content without any thought at all, then you’re not making useful content that will get your audience excited. Instead you’ve become nothing more than a content bot putting words together into word salad that makes no sense. Your content must put the audience first; remember it’s all about them, not you.

Content Needs to Be Multimedia — Video, infographics, images, audio, eBooks, articles, blog posts and more should all be used together to create a storm of new content that works together to promote the products and/or services that you want to promote. Content can still be repurposed into new forms, but you need to put a unique spin on it.

Responsive Content Is a Must — The comment earlier that content should be mobile doesn’t really do justice to what is happening. Creating a separate mobile website, and then a regular site, and then separate content and sites for each type of device is a waste of time and money. Instead, ensure that your content is consumable on all types of media.

Content Curation Requires Attention to Detail — Mobile devices offer apps to help deliver the type of content that your audience wants to see on their screen, often removing graphics and ads. How you deal with these apps and deliver your content to your audience your way will be up to you.

Capturing Attention Is Paramount — How you go about capturing the attention of those who may consume your content is changing. Your use of content, images, promoted posts, advertisements, video, audio, events and more all matter if you want your content to be seen.

It’s your job as an industry insider to understand what is happening in terms of content consumption. Read industry news so that you can get a better understanding of what your audience is consuming and expecting from you. If you’re not sure, poll your audience and ask them directly what they want. You might be surprised at the answers.