With the growing popularity of smartphones and digital devices, location-based advertising is coming into its own as a way to reach target customers. The pandemic resulted in exponential growth of internet users, as the world got digitized at a speed that was not seen before. The total active internet population is likely to touch 900 million by 2025, from 622 million last year, as per a report by the Internet and Mobile Association of India. People are buying online, booking appointments online, and doing a host of commercial activities online. The buyer’s journey is also becoming more digitized, and so digitization of physical location presents an extensive zone of opportunity. Retailers and sellers can target vast segments of the population nearby at a given time, leading to significant store visits.
More and more customers have learned to swipe-search their shopping due to the pandemic. The purchase journey for a vast number of netizens now starts digitally. This has caused retailers to rethink how they can drive traffic to their stores, exciting customers with exciting offers in safe, healthy, and convenient ways. Location is one of the most significant conveniences that can be offered. Location-based advertising targets consumers who may reach the store immediately to check out the advertised product so that they may buy their products conveniently or as part of their routine outing for work or home tasks. This route of engagement is now part of an omnichannel strategy to create more sales conversions.
Geo-located ads convey hyper contextual data that’s meaningful to their target audience. Smartphones are now ubiquitous; therefore, increasing ad spend is now directed at digital media. The Asia Pacific Advertising Trends 2021 report by market advisory Media Partners Asia (MPA) says that ad spending on digital media will overtake television by 2024. The same report says that the internet, which was a significant beneficiary of the lockdown, will continue to grow steadily and expand its share of advertising from 36.6 percent in 2021 to 40.1 percent in 2025.
Many retailers have already taken the path of geotagging their marketing pitches and can trigger sales, nearby customers. Google, Facebook, and Instagram have leveraged location-based services, syncing it brilliantly towards brand and consumer advantage. For instance, Facebook provides users with the benefit of searching nearby locations and places that friends have visited, along with letting others know when they check-in to a business; Instagram has a useful geotagging feature that collates content and elevates brand experiences. The Foursquare app provides personalized recommendations of places to go near a user’s current location based on the user’s browsing and check-in history.
AI is trained to use location data to reach out to geotagged customers. Accurate data, a better understanding of customer behavior, and compelling creatives all combine to improve outcomes. Many people will likely visit a store just a block away that has an attractive offer. It’s so convenient, and the information is helpful.
Since location-based advertising involves knowledge of location data and customer behavior, advertisers can more effectively tap into customer habits and shopping patterns. Such data helps to attract more repeat customers and to reach out to new customers. It has proved effective through the retail journey, from discovery to purchase. Customer experience can be improved by offering deals that increase value. Location-based services provide massive convenience to the customer too. For instance, if I am looking for an overcoat in the sweltering summer heat, I can search a retail outlet selling winter clothes in summer instead of spending energy hopping around from one retail outlet to the other.
Brands can avail the advantages of geofencing target consumers based on their real-time location to reach consumers attending a particular event with geolocation advertising. Retailers, restaurants, or automobile dealers may leverage such geofencing to drive footfalls into their stores. Similarly, geo-conquesting targets customers who are physically in or around the competitor’s place. This is used to pull away from the competitor’s traffic by offering more attractive deals. Such information helps to build agile capabilities.
Given that it’s the era of hyper-personalization, brands across hospitality, clothing, financial services, and auto industries will use more and more of such data ecosystems to improve customer journeys, positioning businesses to play the winning game.
You must be logged in to post a comment.