Human insights and great storytelling have always been at the core of advertising, but the industry has become infinitely more dynamic and complex. Not only that but the volume of data now at our fingertips is massive. Consider the fact that 90% of the world’s data was created in the last 2 years. The data we’re producing as a whole is doubling every year and will continue to grow 40% YoY for the next 10 years.
So how can agencies make sense of the depth and complexity presented by mountains of data and then create compelling stories with the insights? We luckily have access to one data source that presents the truest reflection of who someone is: mobile location data. “Many agencies are focused on harnessing mobile data to understand the consumer journey in a new way,” said JJ Schmuckler, CMO of Y&R.
Mobile Location's Place in Advertising
Mobile location can serve as the core of the modern advertising campaign, it can refine targeting, deliver behavioral insights and measure in-store foot traffic. After offline behavior is assessed and defined, such as what venues a person visits and the patterns shown by their historical behavior, agencies have a much more precise means of targeting consumers with messages that resonate. Data that supports the other pieces of the story - a user’s app usage, their purchase history - all fall into place once person’s behavior is understood.
Apps and devices have been relying on our location services for experiences or features to monetize, and the resulting database of known locations can be used by campaign managers and media buyers to target messaging to mobile users based on their movement through time and space. Using locations visited to define an audience has shown incredible results - our work with brand campaigns see mobile users visiting stores at exponentially higher rates than traditional advertising.
Using Location Data Pre and Post Campaign
What’s possible when you drive the customer experience with mobile? Agencies can create engaging campaigns that endear users to a brand in the moments it counts. A national coffee brand, for example, can message consumers based on their historical presence at competitor location or their past in-store visits to their own chain.
Post-campaign, the brand can quantify how many people visited their locations and the subsequent lift versus a control group based on real-world foot traffic data. Take that a step further, and brands can view what other stores their audience visited during the time of the campaign, answering questions like “did my campaign drive attendance to my venue? Competitor stores? Was there a noticeable difference after my message was sent? What other stores are my audience members interested in?
Next Steps: Try Location Targeting in Your Next Campaign
All of these insights can be used to further tune brand messaging for future campaigns. You can explore what’s possible with targeting by checking out Skyhook Personas, and stay tuned for more on our attribution solution.
