June 27, 2025
Last month, I watched a client burn through $15,000 on what looked like a "perfectly targeted" campaign. They had the right audience (busy professionals aged 25-45), the right channels (LinkedIn, Instagram, email), and decent creative.
The result? A conversion rate that barely hit 0.2%.
Here's what went wrong: They sent summer productivity tips to people buried under Q4 deadlines. They promoted "quick morning routines" to parents dealing with back-to-school chaos. They had the who figured out, but completely missed the when, where, and what's happening right now.
After we shifted focus from reaching more people to reaching people at the right moment, that same budget delivered a 340% increase in conversions.
That's the difference between channel marketing and contextual marketing.
Here's what most marketers still believe: cast a wider net, catch more fish.
I used to think this way too. My early campaigns followed the standard playbook—identify your target audience, pick three or four channels, create variations of the same message, and blast away.
The results were frustratingly mediocre. Good enough to justify the spend, not good enough to get excited about.
Then I noticed something interesting in my campaign data. The same email sent to the same audience could perform wildly differently depending on when people received it. A productivity tip sent on Monday morning got 40% higher engagement than the same tip sent on Friday afternoon.
The audience hadn't changed. The context had.
That's when I realized we've been optimizing for the wrong thing entirely. In 2025, your customers don't need you to be everywhere—they need you to understand exactly where they are right now, mentally and emotionally.
Forget the textbook examples for a moment. Here's what contextual marketing looks like when you're actually doing it:
Instead of sending the same "new product launch" email to your entire list at 10 AM...
You send product updates to early adopters on Tuesday mornings, feature comparisons to researchers on Wednesday afternoons, and social proof to cautious buyers on Friday when they're planning weekend purchases.
Instead of running generic "summer sale" ads to everyone in your target demographic...
You show air conditioning deals to people in heatwave regions, outdoor gear to areas with perfect weather, and indoor activities to places getting unexpected rain.
Instead of posting the same content across all your social channels at the same time...
You adapt your LinkedIn posts for morning commuters, your Instagram stories for lunch-break scrollers, and your Twitter content for evening news checkers.
Notice the shift? Same audience, same budget—but you're working with their reality instead of against it.
Over the past year, I've run contextual tests across industries—from SaaS startups to e-commerce brands to consulting firms. Here are the patterns that actually move the needle:
Here's what works: A mediocre message at the perfect moment outperforms a brilliant message at the wrong time.
I tested this with a client's webinar promotion. Instead of sending one announcement to everyone, we sent:
Same webinar, same audience. Result: 67% higher registration rate.
Most people think location means: "Show snow boot ads to people in cold climates."
What actually works: Understanding micro-contexts within locations.
For a coffee client, we stopped targeting "urban professionals" and started targeting "people within 3 blocks of our store who just finished a meeting" (using LinkedIn activity data and location signals).
Sales increased 23% in the first month.
Here's what I mean: The same person has completely different needs when they're stressed versus relaxed, planning versus reacting, optimistic versus frustrated.
My most successful email campaigns now adjust tone and content based on contextual clues:
After analyzing what works across hundreds of campaigns, I've identified three context layers you need to master:
What's happening right now around your customer?
What's their current state of mind?
What just happened that changes their needs?
Pro tip: Most brands only use Layer 1. The real power comes from combining all three.
Ready to build this into your marketing? Here's exactly how I do it with every client:
Map your customer's reality beyond demographics:
✅ Track time-of-day engagement patterns across all channels✅ Identify location-specific behaviour differences
✅ Note seasonal shifts in messaging performance✅ Document emotional triggers that drive action
Tool I use: Create a simple spreadsheet tracking campaign performance by day/time/weather/events.
Stop sending the same thing to everyone:
✅ Set up email send-time optimization (most platforms have this built-in)✅ Create location-based website experiences✅ Build weather-triggered email sequences✅ Develop device-specific landing pages
Quick win: Start with email subject lines that change based on send time. "Your Monday morning productivity boost" vs. "End your week strong" for the same content.
Respond to what people actually do:
✅ Set up abandoned cart emails that reference browsing context✅ Create re-engagement sequences triggered by inactivity length✅ Build competitor mention response campaigns✅ Develop crisis/opportunity response templates
Track context performance separately from audience performance:
✅ Compare same message performance across different contexts✅ Identify your highest-converting time/location/trigger combinations✅ Test new contextual variables monthly✅ Build context insights into your standard reporting
You don't need a massive budget to get started. Here's my recommended tech stack for contextual marketing:
Foundation Level (Budget: $200-500/month):
Growth Level (Budget: $500-2000/month):
Scale Level (Budget: $2000+/month):
Start simple. I've seen $50/month tools deliver better results than $5,000/month platforms when used strategically.
Let me share some specific wins from clients who made this shift:
SaaS Client (Project Management Software):
E-commerce Client (Outdoor Gear):
Consulting Client (Business Strategy):
The pattern: Same audiences, same budgets, dramatically different results.
I've made these mistakes myself, so you don't have to:
What I used to do: "Hi [Name], based on your purchase of [Product]..."What actually works: Understanding their current situation and immediate needs
What I used to do: Build complex AI systems before understanding basic patternsWhat actually works: Start with simple time/location/weather triggers, then scale
What I used to do: Use every data point availableWhat actually works: Be transparent about data use and focus on publicly available context signals
What I used to do: Build context rules once and leave themWhat actually works: Continuously test and update context triggers based on performance
Want to see immediate results? Here's what you can implement this week:
Day 1: Audit your last 10 email campaigns. Note which days/times performed best.Day 2: Set up send-time optimization in your email platform.Day 3: Create two versions of your homepage—one for mobile, one for desktop.Day 4: Build a simple weather-triggered email sequence.Day 5: Test time-specific social media posting.Day 6: Set up Google Alerts for industry triggers that should prompt outreach.Day 7: Measure performance differences and plan your next test.
The brands that dominate 2025 won't be the ones with the biggest reach—they'll be the ones with the most relevant timing.
This shift is already happening:
Here's my prediction: By Q4 2025, context-blind marketing will feel as outdated as mass newspaper ads feel today.
The question isn't whether you'll need to make this shift—it's how quickly you can implement it before your competitors figure it out.
You don't need to revolutionize your entire marketing stack overnight. Pick one campaign, add one contextual trigger, and measure the difference.
My favorite starting point: Take your best-performing email and create three versions:
Send the same core message with contextual adjustments. Watch what happens.
Then expand from there.
Because in 2025, the marketers who understand context won't just outperform the competition—they'll make reach-based marketing look amateur by comparison.
Ready to test your first contextual campaign? Start with my [7-Day Context Challenge](mailto:hello@askgv.com?subject=Context%20Challenge) and I'll send you the exact templates and tracking sheets I use with clients. No fluff, just the framework that's working right now.
