As a founder considering paid media in your crypto marketing strategy, you’ve probably asked yourself, “Should I use contextual or targeted (behavioral) ads?”
Both have their own upsides, depending on your campaign goals and target audience.
This guide breaks down the key distinctions so you can make the right online advertising choice to promote your crypto project.
What Are Contextual Ads?
Contextual advertising is a way to show ads that match the content of the webpage you're looking at. Instead of using your personal data or browsing history, it focuses on what's on the page right now. Let's break it down for you:
When you visit a website, the contextual ad system quickly scans the page to figure out what it's about. It looks at things like:
- The words on the page
- The pictures
- The topic of the article
- Where you are in the world
Then, it quickly picks ads that fit what you're reading about. This happens in real-time, so the ads you see are always relevant to what's on your screen.
Key Attributes of Contextual Crypto Ads
- Ad choice based on page content
- No user targeting capabilities
- Text/display ads only
- Topic relevance in the moment
For example, if you're reading an article about crypto news, you'll probably see ads for various crypto exchanges or relevant tokens.
But if you then switch to reading the sports news, you'll suddenly get ads for sports tickets or merchandise instead.
So the key characteristic is that ads in contextual marketing change based on the content rather than tracking a specific individual across the internet like targeted ads do.
Read More: What Is a Web3 Marketing Funnel and How Does It Work?
Why It's Not Ideal for Crypto Advertising
While contextual advertising can be useful, it's not always the best choice for crypto campaigns. Here's why:
- Limited targeting: Contextual ads can only show up on crypto-related pages. This means you might miss out on reaching potential crypto enthusiasts when they're browsing other topics.
- Broad audience: Not everyone reading about crypto is necessarily interested in your specific product or service. You might end up showing ads to people who aren't really your target audience.
- Less personalization: Contextual ads can't use data about a user's past behavior or interests, which can make them less effective for niche crypto products.
- Potential for mismatches: Sometimes, the context of a page might not accurately reflect the user's true interests or intentions.
What Are Targeted Ads?
Targeted advertising is a smart way to show ads to specific people who are more likely to be interested in your offering. When you use targeted crypto ads, you're essentially zeroing in on people who are most likely to be interested in your crypto project.
Here’s how it works. When you use the internet, you leave digital footprints. Websites, apps, and social media platforms collect information about you, such as:
- What you search for
- Which websites you visit
- What you buy online
- Your age, gender, and location
- Your interests and hobbies
With targeted crypto ads, it goes a step further to collect nonsensitive information like:
- Which wallets you own
- Which tokens you hold
- Which blockchains or dApps you interact with
Advertisers use this information to create ads that are more likely to catch your attention. It's like if a store knew exactly what you liked and only showed you those items when you walked in.
Examples of Targeted Advertising
Let's look at some scenarios to help you understand how targeted ads can work for your crypto campaign:
- Wallet-Based Targeting: Imagine you're launching a new DeFi platform. You could target users who have interacted with other DeFi protocols or have a certain amount of cryptocurrency in their wallets. For example, you might show your ads to users who have over $1000 worth of ETH in their MetaMask wallet.
- Behavior-Based Targeting: If you're promoting an NFT marketplace, you could target users who have previously purchased NFTs or frequently visit NFT-related websites.
- Interest-Based Targeting: For a new crypto exchange, you might target users who follow cryptocurrency news sites or engage with trading-related content on social media.
Why Targeted Ads Are Great for Crypto Advertising
Targeted advertising is particularly effective for crypto campaigns because:
- Precision: You can reach people who are already interested in crypto, making your ad spend more efficient.
- Personalization: Ads can be tailored to match the viewer's level of crypto knowledge or specific interests within the crypto world.
- Wider reach: You can find crypto enthusiasts even when they're not on crypto-specific sites, expanding your potential audience.
- Better results: By showing your ads to the right people, you're more likely to get clicks, sign-ups, or whatever action you're aiming for.
- Data-driven decisions: You can see how your ads perform in real-time and adjust your strategy quickly.
For example, a targeted ad campaign could help promote a new gaming platform built on Polygon to “crypto gamers who hold $MATIC in their wallet.”
This was how SPACE got 75,000 new users and 11,000 NFT mints using Targeted ads to Matic holders specifically.
This kind of laser-focused ability to define and target your ideal user makes targeted crypto ads extremely appealing.
Read More: Blockchain-Ads Review: How to Target Crypto Users through Ads
Contextual and Behavioral Advertising: Top Platforms
Here’s a quick example of platforms serving contextual ads and those serving targeted ads:
Contextual ads:
Targeted Ads or Personalized Ads:
- Blockchain-Ads
- Google-Ads
- Taboola
- AdRoll
💡Only Blockchain-Ads supports crypto advertising.
Read More: 10+ Best Crypto Ad Networks for Project Growth in 2024
Main Differences Between Targeted & Contextual Ads
Examples of Targeted Ads vs Contextual Ads
Let's take a look at a real-life example to highlight the difference between seeing a targeted ad vs. a contextual ad as a user:
Scenario: Interacting with the AAVE smart contracts so your transaction is logged on-chain
Targeted ads you may see if you visit a random sports website:
- DeFi lending protocol ads
- Ads for a new EVM wallet based on your ether activity
The user's digital footprint has already saved their device ID, wallet address, and other on-chain/off-chain behavior.
So, advertisers can show them ads that are relevant to their previous activity, even on websites that are not crypto.
Contextual ads you may see if you visit the same random sports website:
- Ads for sports betting and fantasy sports leagues
- Ads for streaming services to watch live sports
With contextual ads, you'd likely see relevant sports-related ads because the content of the page doesn’t have anything crypto-related.
As soon as you change to a site about NFTs or finance, the ads will also change rather than follow you site-to-site.
Our Approach: Targeted Ads for Performance-Focused Blockchain Projects
Here at Blockchain-Ads, we offer advertisers the relevance of targeted ads based on user on-chain behavior.
Our proprietary Web3-Cookie tech allows you to display ads only to people who fall in your ideal Web3 user personas every time.
Key benefits our clients see include:
- 4-23x return on ad spend (ROAS)
- 3-5% conversion rate compared to 0.4% from contextual ad networks
- 60 billion+ ads impressions reaching 11 million+ active crypto users
Read our detailed review of how Blockchain-Ads work.
.avif)
