Hello mobile, how data is answering the call to reaching consumers.

Audiences, it is what marketing needs in order to get its message out and in the right hands at the right place and time at scale. But in the past being able to do this was more a game of finding the biggest audiences and hoping the customers you want to reach are part of those groups. Affectionately called spray and pray, mass marketing was the best way to reach the consumers you needed to reach. Yet some are still doing just that, even though mobile marketing and specifically location based and proximity marketing, have evolved by leaps and bounds over the last few years. The argument of the last meter has almost been closed, and now the focus has switched to marketing at the individual level. There are still some hurdles, but the arguments are less about marketing to specific consumers and more about transparency and privacy.

Location-based data for mobile - More than 65% of respondents said they would be willing to give up their location if it meant getting a better deal. But on the other hand, 62% said they didn't want to be tracked. This is why the belief that marketing will become more location based and transactional. Using POS systems and beacons to trigger notifications, e-mails and more will become more the norm. Unfortunately, this is where it ends for most marketers. The inability to match a mobile ID to an individual means that marketers have to find other ways to then expand their campaigns into an omnichannel campaign where their brand is able to stay top of mind. But there are ways of getting the information you need in order to have more of a complete view of your customer. Marketers are now tying rewards programs requiring the customer e-mails to continue to get offers and discounts which then allows them to add this information to the consumer record on an opt-in basis.

Not all mobile data is the same - As you would expect location accuracy is the biggest factor when it comes to determining the quality of the data. Mobile data comes in many types from GPS to Wifi to beacon, SDK and bidstream data. They all contain either latitude and longitude or IP as the location-based data point. From there, opinions vary widely as to the accuracy of the data point given. Most data analysts like to see a data point that will give a location to what is called a zip 11 at the very least if they cannot pinpoint the exact household or business. With businesses and residences often co-mingled in large cities like New York and Chicago, this approach can become difficult. Added to the complexity is workers who work from home. With the growing bring your own device culture (BYOD) in many companies, the line between mobile B2B and B2C marketing is becoming more and more blurred.So while it is not an exact science, location based data is still becoming one of the best ways to identify audiences based on their shopping and /or daily routines to help marketers understand which consumers they want to reach. An example, if I am Lowe's home improvement, building an audience around shoppers who visit a Home Depot more than once a month and trying to offer them better deals should be a no brainer. The same for a franchise like Dunkin Doughnuts vs. Starbucks.

The Bottom Line - Building audiences by where you visit and then serving mobile ads not only shows the consumer you know them but also adds value and can possibly make it easier to integrate into their daily routine. While most consumers do not like the idea of being tracked, they are willing to give up their location if it will get them a better deal or a discount. Many consumers also know that how often they frequent a location and their loyalty to a brand or business will also get them bigger discounts. So tracking a frequency of visits to a location should also be acceptable especially if it is part of a routine. The biggest factor for marketing is to check the accuracy of the locations given. You will find bidstream data to be the least accurate, and beacon and wifi data to typically be the most accurate, so choose wisely.

Looking for help with data? – Datastream Group, Inc. has over 400 million data records providing data for of companies who use the data for everything from e-mail campaigns, display campaigns, programmatic, mobile programmatic, as well as for TV and radio live transfer leads. Datastream provides consumer online and offline information for use in any number of different types of marketing campaigns. OneDB is derived from self-reported consumer data and compiled data.

Datastream’s OneDB records are all opted in, and consumers can be targeted offline by postal and telemarketing efforts, and online by keyword, interest, and intent. Audiences can be targeted by intent to purchase categories, IP Address (B2B & B2C), and by a device (desktop, tablet, and smartphone). Data can be licensed for append purposes, marketing purposes, and hygiene & verification uses. Datastream will also enhance and enrich a company’s existing records through their OneDB platform.

Datastream has a competitive edge licensing their data because there is a large appetite in the current market for a marriage of digital identities to households. The Consumer Master File is built from active online consumer and business audiences and can be traced back to a postal address. You can also find our data on platforms like LiveRamp datastore, Lotame, BDex, and others. For custom requests, contact us to build audiences for you using keyword and or location data. We specialize in that. ([email protected])