Wired Innovation Insights - The Evolution of Location Marketing

Today, mobile devices proliferate, consumers are constantly connected and on the go, and traditional forms of advertising are failing. That has created a world where marketers are continually challenged to communicate with existing and prospective customers in an effective manner. As technologies and end-user behaviors and expectations have changed, so have techniques to target buyers.

The increasing complexity of the industry means that marketers must now be experts not only in marketing, but also in people, data, delivery platforms, and in mobile, location-based advertising. Consumers use multiple devices, browsers, apps, profiles, and more, to stay connected and visible. For both sides of the marketing equation, there is ample opportunity to be overwhelmed.

Location-based marketing using geo-fencing has provided unprecedented opportunities for businesses to target messaging based on time and location. Some examples include:

Cookies, stored in a user’s browser directory, help users navigate websites. It’s job is to notify the site when a user has returned and provides data on how often a user visits a page. Cookies are scalable for desktop applications (but not mobile)Inference-based targeting uses statistics to make an educated guess about a user’s identity
Device ID targeting presents a way to target specific users

While they have their strengths, each of these approaches has challenges when it comes to some specific factors like scalability, accuracy, and more.