Still think contextual targeting is just for brand awareness?
Then you’re missing one of the sharpest tools in the modern media planner’s toolkit.
In B2B, where decision-making is slow, distributed and increasingly anonymous, conventional targeting tactics are losing traction. Cookie deprecation, privacy laws and platform fragmentation are changing the rules and revealing just how much we’ve relied on trackable behaviour to reach the right buyers.
But here’s the truth: your next best customer might never click. They might never even hit your CRM.
And that’s where context comes in.
A tactic reborn, why B2B needs contextual targeting now
Contextual targeting isn’t new. But it’s being rediscovered for a reason.
Instead of targeting people based on past behaviour, it targets content: placing your message alongside relevant environments (articles, forums, videos) without relying on cookies or personal identifiers. It’s built on real-time relevance, not past clicks.
It’s long been used in consumer media. But in B2B, where buying signals are often hidden deep in the dark funnel, it’s becoming indispensable.
When someone’s reading about cloud compliance or watching an industry analyst’s take on cybersecurity policy, they’re showing intent, even if they’re not on your audience list.
That’s why 28% of U.S. advertisers’ targeting budgets in 2024 now go to contextual data, overtaking even first-party data at 27% (emarketer.com).
Context sharpens your media mix
Contextual targeting isn’t a replacement. It’s a refinement. It enhances the performance of brand and demand campaigns alike.
- Capture earlier signals: It reaches buyers long before they fill out a form or speak to sales
- Elevate engagement: A whitepaper on zero trust landing beside coverage of a major breach? That’s relevance you can’t fake
- Cut wasted spend: You stop paying for impressions that hit the wrong tone or environment
And it works. Contextual ads are 50% more likely to be clicked on and convert 30% more effectively than standard placements (jet-stream.com).
The data behind the shift
If contextual targeting sounds like a nice-to-have, consider this:
Sources: market.us, weatherads.io, cookieyes.com
This isn’t a trend. It’s a fundamental shift in how we approach digital media.
Context equals strategy
Media planning shouldn’t be about squeezing value from old tactics. It’s about staying one step ahead.
Contextual targeting helps marketers:
- Meet privacy expectations without sacrificing precision
- Respond to buyer needs in real time
- Spend smarter under pressure
The best part? It scales with intelligence. AI-powered platforms now allow for dynamic contextual matching, surfacing high-affinity placements based on tone, theme and sentiment.
The result is a media mix that doesn’t just reach. It resonates.
Let’s plan smarter, together
At onebite, we help digital teams rethink their media plans from a fresh, strategic angle. We bring together insight, creativity and commercial awareness to deliver campaigns that work harder, without working blindly.
If you’re still targeting based on who you think your buyer is, let’s talk about where they actually are.
Jamie MacDow, Head of Client Services
Jamie MacDow, Head of Client Services at onebite, is a strategic and creative problem solver with over 30 years agency-side experience in the marketing and creative industry. During this time, Jamie has won many awards for his client-focussed solutions across the B2Bs, ANAs, UK Content Awards…amongst others.
As well as being a Founding Member of MarketReach by Royal Mail, Jamie has given talks to British Ambassadors, spoken on webinars and podcasts, and created content around our beloved marketing landscape. Somehow, in between all of this, Jamie has also realised a life-long dream and written a fiction novel. Today, Jamie is as focussed on helping brands, big and yet-to-be-big, solve their challenges as he is on agency growth and team happiness.
