Location, location, location. While this catch-phrase is often applied to real estate, for today’s Marketer, it can just as easily be applied to data. From segmentation and targeting, to measurement and analytics, location data informs Marketers on consumer behavior, ad effectiveness and retail performance. But does location data deliver on these promises? And with so many data resources, where does location data reside in the Marketer’s toolkit?
Foursquare commissioned Advertiser Perceptions to survey brand advertising decision makers across the US to examine who owns location data within a marketing organization, how it is used and the benefits it provides, and what’s to come as the industry continues to evolve. Some key findings include:
The majority of marketers consider location data very important for acheiving their goals and appreciate the myriad of benefits it provides.
- The most common uses are identifying new consumer markets, ad serving, ROI measurement and creating personalized content and ad experiences for customers. These experiences span the funnel, from driving awareness and consideration to conversion and loyalty.
- Key benefits include improved engagement and receptiveness (48%), improved ROI (48%), relevant content for consumers (37%) and measurement (35%)
Location data delivers on performance, whether Marketers measure attribution, purchase or brand lift, or seek deeper customer insights.
- The majority of marketers responded that location data delivered excellent performance when it comes to digital campaign attribution (62%), advanced metrics (55%), retail layout (53%) and KPI forecasting (50%).
- Location attribution applied to TV is particularly notable, with 55% of those surveyed saying it provides value.
Location data will only be more important as we shift to a post-COVID-19 world.
- We surveyed Marketers in the early days of the COVID-19 crisis, and most were bullish on 2020. 51% of marketers expect digital ad spend allocation to increase, and 51% expect the importance of location data to increase, with another 47% stating it will remain as important as it is now. Beyond dollars, Marketers predicted the number of location-based campaigns for 2020 would represent double-digit increases over 2019. This was true across small and large overall digital ad budgets.
- While the crisis may put a damper on what was expected to be a sharp growth year, location data will be critical as consumers return to normal and Marketers seek to understand and engage customers in a changed world.
Post COVID-19, it will be critical for advertisers and retailers to evolve their brand and store experiences to align with changing consumer attitudes, preferences and behaviors. Location data will be paramount to informing these changes and measuring success.
Access the full the Location Data in a Marketing Lifecycle report here, and contact us at hi@foursquare.com to learn more about how Foursquare can help activate location in your strategic planning and campaigns.
