Content & Context

Creating relevant and valuable content is essential, but it's not the only part of the puzzle when it comes to getting your customer's attention. Combining the right content and the right time is increasingly important. The context the customer is inserted in, makes a big difference at the time of purchase and this happens on a small or large scale.

In other words, we have to think of context as conjuncture, moment, situation and circumstance. In other words, the customer can be inserted in a context of, for example, heat. Someone who is walking home from work, sweating, sees a snack bar and buys cold water. This is a one-time context, it will not be with him forever, it is something temporary and makes him pay attention to one-time opportunities. On the other hand, there are larger contexts, such as being male or female, Chinese or Argentinean, young or old, white or black.

The client's personality also comes into play, his worldview, preferences, hobbies, interests, values, and so on. And all this makes the task of winning the customer much more difficult, for sure. Each person is unique and you can't create unique strategies, no matter how hard you try. Then, the big challenge is to combine all the elements (and that's where the magic of data comes in) and approach them as closely as possible.

That is why it is necessary to pay attention to what is known as the "customer journey". Understand the path to purchase and anticipate the desires. A 24-year-old young man traveling to Ibiza, for example. You can probably imagine that he is looking for bars and parties. Of course, this may be a mistaken assumption, that this young man likes museums, cafes, and bookstores. However, it is more likely that the first option, nightclubs, is the correct one. In this case, if someone offers him discounts, shuttles, or travel tips when he arrives at the airport, it is reasonable that he will get the right approach, considering the context.

The customer's life cycle is generalized, but it is anchored in reality. Someone who is 80 years old, for example, generally consumes a lot more medication than someone who is 18. Making this conversation between the customer's life cycle and the context in which he or she is inserted is a smart way for companies. In this way, it is possible to make products more personal and relevant.

This research, of course, will only happen in a positive way if it is allied to appropriate content and knowledge about the customer. Structuring an environment in which you can understand the consumer's characteristics, preferences, habits and behaviors, map their journey and capture their context, seems more like a magic formula, but it goes beyond empiricism. To offer a more relevant and assertive content (or offer) is a great challenge. In this sense, every effort is worth it, because besides establishing a closer relationship between your brand and your customer, it generates financial profits for your company.

By Christiano Ranoya, CEO of Indico & Geisa Bonfiette, Marketing Director of Indico.

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