How marketers can leverage the semantic web

Via imediaconnection.

If you think semantic is the same as contextual, think again. Here's what you need to know about harnessing the power of words online.

Online advertising is all about relevance -- being in the right place, at the right time, when consumers are most receptive to your message. But as any marketer who's been around the block can attest, that's easier said than done. Keywords are one thing; piecing them together to infer meaning and context is quite another. In this interview, Lori Xeller, senior director of sales for Kontera, discusses the opportunities offered by in-text advertising, as well as the misconceptions and market climate surrounding the technology.

iMedia: At the summit, you'll be discussing the importance of leveraging the semantic web. Can you give me one or two simple examples of how you help clients do this?

Lori Xeller: Our semantic technology enables us to make the most relevant associations between and among the user, the content he or she is consuming, and our advertisers. The key phrases that we highlight in an article can be thought of as predicting what the user would type into a search engine to get to that page. By associating this phrase with a relevant ad, we deliver a very high level of engagement and an extremely qualified user to the advertiser.

There are a few different companies talking about the semantic web today, with networks, for example, amplifying certain takes on relevance and directing search queries to their clients' products. But delivering the most relevant results that anticipate what a given user's query will be within the in-text segment narrows the purchase funnel in ways that no other segment can.

iMedia: What's the biggest danger in neglecting the semantic web and focusing exclusively on keywords when it comes to searches and ad placement?

Xeller: The danger is that you are missing a valuable opportunity to engage with your audience at the moment when they are most engaged -- within the content. In-text provides an additional opportunity to capture your audience further down the consideration cycle, after they've performed a search query, possibly, and landed on the page of interest. Upon user mouse-over, the ad is delivered in the content that they're reading, or where they're doing research -- wherever the user is engaged. Sometimes that can occur in a nonintuitive or hard-to-reach place, and with in-text, you're not competing with banners that are on the side of the page.

Leveraging the semantic web is smart because it anticipates what the user is thinking and will consider. Our campaign data show how powerful this can be.

iMedia: What's the most common misconception you hear from marketers when it comes to leveraging the semantic web? What do these people need to know?

Xeller: The most common misconception is that semantic is the same as contextual. Semantic does not just target keywords -- semantic infers meaning and context. Semantic technologies can then anticipate what the user is thinking and deliver appropriate ads accordingly.

iMedia: On a more general note, how has the recent downturn affected the marketing needs of your clients? What are the most common questions or issues that clients are coming to you with right now?

Xeller: All marketers are more and more accountable for every dollar they spend. They want to know how they can continue to drive toward their engagement, consideration, and revenue goals with either reduced budgets or higher expectations. We provide them with a great solution because our units are user initiated, which requires the user to engage. At the point they see it; the high level of relevancy of the ad to the page encourages their consideration or brand involvement. The result benefits the advertiser, providing them with an extremely cost effective and engaging solution

Our business is doing well, so perhaps the marketing downturn has driven dollars to more accountable segments. Clients are asking about the brand effects of in-text when they're buying clicks. We know they exist because once a user mouses-over and the unit launches, it's impossible to not have a brand experience with in-text. An advertiser receives the brand engagement for no additional charge -- and we're talking about some of the best engagement rates in all of interactive.

iMedia: Beyond the semantic web, where do you see the greatest untapped opportunity for digital marketers? And what is your high-level advice for breaking into this opportunity?

Xeller: One thing that in-text does is enable publishers to leverage the newest technologies, while being unobtrusive to users and performing extremely well for performance and brand marketers. It's one of the few new marketing technologies that maintains the triangle of benefit for buyers, sellers, and users, and we expect it to continue growing indefinitely.

There are a lot of new great opportunities out there for digital marketers today. These would range from in-text to mobile, content integration, and so on. My advice to the marketers would be this: Don't be afraid to test them and see the results for yourself, but make sure to have a clear understanding of the vendor's history and experience before signing on.

Lori Luechtefeld is editor of iMedia Connection.