Geolocation is rising up the digital advertising agenda and there’s one reason why: mobile.
So vital is mobile to everyday life that smartphone separation anxiety — nomophobia — is now a recognised condition. In the last four years, mobile usage has increased over 300% and marketers are starting to recognise the geotargeting possibilities of today’s ‘always-on’ consumers. While desktop sites have long been able to tailor content according to location, mobile devices – which do not use cookies in the same way — are now presenting marketers with a new challenge.
The ability to recognise a user’s device or connection type has become increasingly important in retaining consumer engagement. Determining whether a customer is connecting via wi-fi, fixed internet, 3G or 4G, for example, empowers brands to enhance a user’s viewing experience and generate additional revenue channels, while maintaining their loyalty. And this has made it a conundrum advertising tehcnology is determined to solve.
Consequently, innovations like IP geolocation have begun to emerge. Such techniques can now pinpoint a mobile user’s location down to postcode level using the IP address of the local publically-routable internet provider. In this way, marketers can benefit from IP geolocation technology without having to rely on consumers entering personal details or location identifiers. What’s more, there are no privacy or legal issues with IP geolocation as only the anonymous ISP infrastructure is targeted, not the individual.
So, as mobile takes its place as consumers’ preferred method of accessing the internet, what can marketers do to make geolocation the secret to their success?
Geolocation to enhance the user experience
Viewing experiences can be greatly enhanced by optimising the content format according to the user’s connection speed. In doing so they will not only provide a seamless brand experience, but also prevent the loss of subscribers and potential conversions through site abandonment.
More personalisation for browsing sessions
IP geolocation provides marketers with in-the-moment data that can help develop smarter digital strategy, and deliver relevant local content to target audiences on the move. For example, personalised local area content can be tailored to offer time-sensitive incentives for local restaurants, shops or bars when a user is in the vicinity. By making messages bespoke and contextually relevant, marketers can ensure they offer inspirational ads, instead of disruptive communications.
A closer watch on consumer privacy
IP data delivers a wealth consumer insights while remaining completely compliant with current EU privacy legislation — a key consideration for almost every global market. At its most granular level, the data enables brands to locate a user down to 1,000 to 2,000 households, without revealing any PII (Personally Identifiable Information). The use of IP geolocation also means the user does not need to opt in, allowing content to be automatically adapted to the consumers’ location without the need to repeatedly input data. So as they move from one place to another, be it New York, London or Berlin, advertising messages will shift to meet their changing needs.
With consumers never far from their mobile device, real-time information is an important and freely available currency for both consumers and brands. The provision of relevant local content — without the need for opt-in or sharing personal details while on the move — encourages more successful brand engagement with consumers. Understanding the role of mobile in the customer journey is vital to reach today’s consumers and embracing IP geolocation technology empowers marketers to decipher how customers are interacting with their brand and deliver content that is both effective and engaging, thus ensuring success.