But it’s also getting crowded. New, independent brands need to scale beyond their first, successful season, and established brands need to innovate to captivate – all against a backdrop of economic uncertainty. Identifying and engaging new performance drivers has never been more in fashion.

Successful fashion and beauty marketers are finding that contextual advertising not only cuts through to their target consumers, but also helps them to reach new ones. So, why is this vintage piece from the marketer’s playbook back in vogue now?

Context on the front row

As consumers increasingly disengage from brand intrusion, and as privacy regulations reshape the landscape, contextual is on trend in every sector: it’s set to grow by 13.3% year-on-year by 2030. Contextual advertising serves ads according to the setting where they appear rather than a consumer’s activity history. So, a consumer reading a piece about the latest fashion trends might see ads for new collections from top designers. Marketers can optimize budgets by targeting specific contexts where their ads are most likely to resonate, reducing waste and racking up a higher ROI.

Today’s contextual advertising is being turbo-charged with AI models which mean brands can understand the context of – and the relationship between – different content with more precision and scale than ever before. For example, Seedtag’s contextual AI tool ‘Liz’ processes the same amount of articles across 10 languages in one day, that would take a human 200 years to read.

Analyzing overlapping themes between content categories highlights areas of shared audience interests – for instance, whether ethical fashion buyers are also into luxury travel. And that’s the perfect fit for brands looking to widen their target demographic in today’s competitive marketplace.

Luxury consumers looking for better tailoring

Consumers across all sectors demand more personalized brand experiences these days. But fashion and beauty consumers are particularly getting used to a service tailored just to them. Beauty brands are increasingly using AI to serve personalized products, skincare analysis and routines, while fashion brands are opening virtual changing rooms. So, not surprisingly, one-size-fits-all ad experiences won’t wash.

Contextual strategies which look beyond identity-based approaches are a better fit: they focus on real-time user interests, learned from the content being consumed. Recent research shows that 69% of consumers are more likely to look at an ad if it’s aligned to the content that they’re reading. And 44% try a new brand after seeing a relevant ad.

As contextual targeting doesn’t rely on personal data, it’s also increasingly looking good for marketers navigating their way through the ever-shifting privacy landscape. Although cookie deprecation timelines keep changing, consumers still see them as off-trend: recent Seedtag research showed that 53% of users reject cookies on certain websites and 32% on all websites.

Inclusivity is fashion forward

Younger audiences’ need for sustainability, diversity, and inclusion is shaping the fashion and beauty sector, with brands increasingly showcasing more representative models while also parading their ethical values.

This need for inclusivity can be better met with contextual advertising, which can extend a brand’s reach beyond traditional demographics to reach a broader spectrum of potential customers who share common interests, regardless of their age, gender, or location.  

Marko Johns, Seedtag UK’s managing director, explains: “Contextual strategies not only allow for a more inclusive approach but also open doors to previously undiscovered audiences. For example, we recently worked with a luxury fashion brand whose target audience was fashionistas and ‘quiet luxury’ lovers. By analyzing overlapping themes between content categories, we highlighted areas of shared audience interests, allowing us to work together to expand the brand’s targeting strategy to include luxury travel and sports audiences. It’s really helped to differentiate them from competitors and strengthen their positioning across different markets.”  

Online shop till you drop

Ecommerce growth continues to outstrip bricks and mortar retail sales. Couple that with the indomitable rise of influencer marketing in the fashion and beauty market, and you have a captive online audience keen for more streamlined customer journeys.

The relevancy of contextual advertising is a powerful marketing tool on the open web, with leading brands using contextual in-article, in-image, and in-video creatives and dynamic placement optimization to win big in the attention economy.

To understand more about how contextual AI can help fashion and beauty marketers stay on trend, visit www.seedtag.com.