Blog skyhook logo LSA's Place 2017 Conference Highlights and Insights

Sep 22, 2017 12:15:00 PM

LSA's Place 2017 Conference Highlights and Insights

Posted by Melissa Burke

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Do the words “precise” and “accurate” come to mind when thinking about the data that top location companies say they can provide to customers?  It’s hard for them not to, with every company in the space currently touting themselves as having the best of both. This was one of the main discussions at LSA's Place Conference in New York City this week.

The question posed to attendees was that if every company says they have both precision and accuracy, does anyone truly have either? Discussions also centered around location data and the various benefits brands can continue to gain from incorporating it into their strategies.

“Data Confidence” is the new “Data Accuracy”

The push for more transparency from location companies came from Thomas Walle, CEO of Unacast as he encouraged location data providers to open the “black box” and discuss their data practices. As we’ve seen in the programmatic space, buyers are demanding more transparency around how providers do what they do, and Walle anticipates the location space facing the same questions in the years to come. Touting “data confidence” and providing insight into how location data is collected and scrubbed will provide companies with a leg up in establishing themselves as credible to brands moving forward.

A Brand’s Data and Creative Teams Need to be In Sync

Consumers today are conditioned to ignore standard mobile ads. Walt Geer, the VP and Creative Director at Verve, reminded the audience that in order for a brand to successfully engage consumers, their creative and data teams need to be on the same page. Location data also allows brands to understand where a person is when they are in an app and where they go on a daily basis. 80% of consumers expect that the ads they see will be tailored to their interests, habits, and location. Facebook discussed how they are taking that fact to heart, and my full recap of their session can be read here. They’ve developed new mobile ad formats that incorporate location data to include maps to nearest store locations.

The Cost-Per-Visit Model Could Become the Alternative to CPM

Earlier this year GroundTruth introduced a new performance model, the Cost-Per-Visit model, that only charges marketers when consumers actually visit a store. This new model has also been used by Retale and Blis and others are starting to follow suit because the model is customizable to a brand’s specific needs. The key to getting buy-in from brand marketers is education around how the model is foundational support for a brand’s bottom line and supports a brand’s key performance indicators. With 90% of shopping still occuring in-store, retailers can greatly benefit from this performance-driven metric that focuses more on in-store attribution and location plays a key role in powering the model.

Overall the main takeaway from the conference was that location data is now a necessary component of a brand’s marketing strategy and cannot be ignored. It will be interesting to see how the location space evolves in the coming year and what brands do to stay ahead of competitors in driving conversions and revenue.