4 days ago
Intention-based contextual AI: from awareness to action
Contextual advertising has become a widely used strategy in digital marketing. This innovative technology targets users based on their current interests without relying on personal data. Reflecting this rising adoption, contextual advertising spending is projected to grow by 13.8 per cent year-on-year from 2022 to 2030, highlighting its importance in a privacy-first world.
Up until now, contextual strategies have been linked to upper funnel branding campaigns focused on key performance indicators (KPIs) such as viewability and attention. But now, pioneering ad tech companies are using advanced contextual AI to reach consumers further down the marketing funnel.
By training contextual AIs on intent-labeled datasets, advertisers can engage high-intent audiences ready to act – boosting conversion KPIs such as cost per quality visit (CPQV) and cost per lead (CPL) and, ultimately, delivering more qualified traffic and on-site actions.
This next generation of intention-based contextual AI enables marketers to strike the right balance between performance and branding, making it an effective tool across the marketing funnel.
Why identifying intent matters
Traditional targeting methods often fail to distinguish between casual curiosity and genuine purchase intent. For example, a user's likelihood to engage with an ad can vary greatly depending on the context of the webpage they're interacting with. Someone browsing general information about travel destinations has much lower intent than someone actively searching for the best hotels in each area.
Failing to differentiate between these levels of intent can result in wasted impressions and budgets, with ads shown to users who are not yet in a decision-making mindset. In contrast, advanced contextual AIs can leverage deep content analysis to place ads on articles that align with the intent level outlined in a campaign's specific brief.
By analysing intent signals – such as sentiment, engagement depth, and contextual nuance – they can distinguish between casual browsing and transactional readiness. For instance, these technologies can tell the difference between someone researching car options through content like 'The Benefits of Leasing vs. Buying a Car' and someone actively looking to make a purchase, with content like 'Top 10 Electric Cars to Buy Today'.
In a performance-driven world, visibility alone is no longer enough
In today's privacy-first landscape, regulations such as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), and Saudi Arabia's and the UAE's Personal Data Protection Laws (PDPLs) are reshaping how brands approach targeting. Relying solely on third-party data or behavioural tracking is no longer a sustainable strategy.
At the same time, visibility alone no longer guarantees results. Serving ads to users who quickly scroll past or disengage adds little value. Instead, advertisers need to shift their focus to intent-based strategies that connect with the right audiences at the right moment.
This is where intention-based contextual AI provides a new advantage by taking traditional branding strategies further down the marketing funnel. Instead of stopping at awareness and attention, it allows advertisers to engage users, showing real intent, effectively bridging the gap between branding and performance.
The benefits of intention-based targeting
By integrating advanced contextual AI in intention-focused campaigns, advertisers can:
Show up in the moments that matter, when buyers are most open to influence
Show up in the moments that matter, when buyers are most open to influence Align ads with content that reflects real interest, not just broad auto categories
Align ads with content that reflects real interest, not just broad auto categories
Reach people actively comparing products, or reading reviews
Almost 90 per cent of consumers prefer personalised ads, and 87 per cent are more likely to click on ads for products they're interested in or shopping for, highlighting the growing demand for relevant and tailored advertising experiences.
At Seedtag, we recently announced our latest innovation: AI Intention Models. Powered by our contextual AI, Liz, this solution enables effective engagement of action-ready consumers. For a leading automotive brand in Spain, Seedtag's Intention Models delivered impactful results, reducing the cost per quality visit by 68 per cent and the cost per lead by 35 per cent compared with the target.
Also, although test drives weren't a primary KPI, the high-intensity traffic still boosted test rates. These results underscore the power of contextual AI in reaching consumers in a decision-making mindset.
As the industry shifts toward privacy-first solutions, embracing intent-driven contextual targeting will be key to optimising ad spend and driving real engagement.
Advanced contextual AI has the transformative potential to reshape digital advertising as we know it. By combining complex, intent-labeled datasets with open web intelligence, it proves we don't need to know a person's browsing behaviour to predict their next move.
As the industry shifts toward privacy-first solutions, embracing intent-driven contextual targeting will be key to optimising ad spend and driving real engagement.
By Sherry Mansour, Managing Director, Seedtag MENA.
