Whether you’re just starting with location or have worked with it for years, this guide is here to demystify everything about location-based advertising.
The personalized advertising revolution is here. And there’s something new in town – it’s called location-based advertising.
But you’ll need to have your wits about you if you’re going to get ahead in the game. So, let’s take a look at how this new form of marketing works – and why it’s so important that businesses get it right.
Why Is It Important
The goal of location-based advertising is to deliver targeted ads relevant to consumers’ interests by using their current location to determine what ads should be served by marketers – reaching consumers at the right time and place for maximum effectiveness and results.
What Is Location-Based Advertising?
Location-based advertising is targeting ads to users based on their location. It means that brands and advertisers can now target consumers based on where they are, rather than just focusing on their demographic or what they like.
Imagine a person walking around New York City who visits the Empire State Building, Times Square, and Rockefeller Center. If this person were to use an app like Yelp or Google Maps, he would receive several notifications about nearby restaurants and tourist attractions. These notifications would be based on their current location in the city and would be determined by the apps he’s using at the time.
That’s essentially what location-based advertising is all about: leveraging data collected from your device’s/smartphone’s location services to deliver relevant ads to you while you move around town.
The possibilities are endless. With location-based advertising, you can target consumers close to your store and send them coupons for special offers or even remind them that you’re there by showing them an ad for your store when they’re close.
How Does Location-Based Advertising Work?
The premise is simple:
The technology works by tracking your phone’s location and sending data back to a third party, who will then use this information to send you relevant ads.
It’s important to note that this process doesn’t track you. Your movements aren’t recorded by any company or agency. All they can see is that your phone was at one location at a specific time – they don’t know who you are or where you live.
Types Of Location-Based Advertising Strategies
There are many different types of location-based advertising, each with its strengths and weaknesses. Below are the main types:
Geo-Aware Targeting (Geo-Targeting)
Geo-aware targeting is a location-based advertising method that allows you to deliver ads based on your prospect’s current physical location based on the data supplied by the mobile service provider.
Geofencing
Geofencing is when a business creates a virtual “fence” around a physical location such as a store or office building using Global Positioning System (GPS) and Radio-frequency Identification (RFID) technologies. So, when a user enters one of these areas, an ad for that business will be displayed on their mobile device. For example, if you want to run an ad campaign for your store at lunchtime, you can set up geofencing so that only people near your store will see the ad.
Geo Conquesting
You know when you’re standing in line to buy a pair of shoes, and someone comes up to you and says, “If you buy these shoes from our store, we’ll give you free shipping?”
Yeah. That’s what this marketing tactic is about in a nutshell.
This type of advertising is based on the idea that people who visit a particular place or area will be more likely to buy something similar. So, when people are in your competitors’ stores, they’ll see your ads on their phones or tablets.
Pros And Cons Of Location-Based Advertising
Pros:
Higher ROI – Because it’s targeted and relevant, you know your ads will be seen by people interested in your product or service. This means you’ll see a higher return on investment (ROI) compared to other forms of advertising.
Better targeting – Location-based advertising can help marketers target customers more accurately than other forms of mobile ads by leveraging real-time information about where consumers are located at any given time. It allows marketers to deliver relevant ads that speak directly to their target audience, resulting in higher engagement rates and conversions.
Increased relevance – In addition to being able to target customers with location-based ads better, marketers can also use them as part of an omnichannel approach that provides a seamless experience across every channel with which customers interact (e.g., websites, social media channels, etc.). This approach helps ensure that messages remain consistent across all channels so that they feel more relevant to consumers.
Quick Tip:
API like IP Geolocation by Whoisxmlapi can help you accurately identify your users’ geographical location with a large number of geolocation attributes through just one API call based on their IP address.
Faster ad delivery – You can get your message in front of your audience in real-time, which means they’re more likely to respond.
Cons:
Privacy concerns – Location-based ads can come across as creepy if misused.
Tips To Make Your Location-based Advertising More Effective
Use Data To Target The Right Audience
Before creating any campaign, you must understand your target audience and how they behave online. You want your ads to be relevant to your audience, so it’s important to know what kind of people are likely to respond well to your message before you launch any campaigns.
Optimize for a mobile-first experience
It stands to reason that if you reach out to customers on their smartphones, they will look at their phones while walking around town. That means your text message ads should be short, sweet, and easy to read on a phone screen. Additionally, we recommend using responsive design so your landing pages look good on any device and running A/B tests to find out what works best for your audience. Also, ensure you build and incorporate digital assets like mobile apps into your location-based advertising strategy.
Provide Personalized Content
The more relevant your content is, the more likely someone will engage with it. For example, if you’re selling real estate in New York City and know that most people in that area are renters rather than homeowners, then focus on messages related to renting rather than buying a home.
Include Call-to-Action Buttons
You can also increase engagement by including call-to-action buttons within your location-based ad creative. These buttons let people know precisely what action you want them to take (e.g., download an app). The more specific you can be about what people should do next, the better your chance of converting them into customers.
Conclusion
We hope that this guide has helped get you started with location-based advertising. Location-based advertising is a great way to reach your customers when they are most likely to be interested in your products or services. We encourage you to consider using it as part of your marketing strategy.