Andy Ashley, International Marketing Director at Digital Element, explains how geolocation data can open possibilities for creative marketing campaigns.
There’s no shortage of advice on how businesses should innovate their marketing strategies. With 72 per cent of consumers having changed brands, stores or how they shop due to the global pandemic, sustaining audience engagement and loyalty is no easy feat. To address this, marketers are looking for ways to maximise the creativity, personalisation, and effectiveness of their campaigns.
The fast-approaching cookieless ecosystem, however, is adding further challenges to the mix. The conversations around post-cookie advertising instinctively veer toward future-gazing and innovation, but marketers now risk losing sight of existing tools’ true value – such as that of location-based targeting.
Using IP intelligence including geolocation data opens a stream of possibilities for creative marketing campaigns. By utilising this data and combining it with other data parameters, marketers can map out customer routines, shape personalisation around relevance and context, and ultimately make the most of their budgets.
Marketers don’t necessarily need to innovate – they need to optimise
With Apple’s recent iOS update transforming in-app tracking to be explicitly opt-in – and of course, Google Chrome’s pivot away from third-party cookies in 2022 – there’s a lot of chatter around the next phase of marketing evolution. When looking to progress, the industry must keep in mind that these developments won’t minimise the use cases for all established tools.
IP geolocation data enables marketers to learn the physical location of their audiences on a postcode level, which enables targeting at scale without using personally identifiable information. When digital consumers access the web, IP intelligence offers a highly accurate and privacy-conscious way to target them. Marketers can learn the proxy type, connection type, and preferred device of users, which can shape how businesses engage with them, and can also be used for analytics. For example, users with a faster internet connection can be targeted with video advertising, whereas in areas with a slower connection they would benefit more from display ads. Using location-based context in this way helps to create a quality advertising experience for consumers that strengthens brand interactions.
Consumer routine mapping supports effective personalisation
From the moment a consumer sees an ad to the moment they make a transaction, marketers need to understand their decision-making process. Customer journeys are more varied than ever, thanks to the multitude of channels and touchpoints now integrated into their everyday lives. For the consumers who have adopted new digital shopping methods throughout the pandemic, over 80% per cent of them intend to continue using them. For marketers, this increases the variability of the online journey.
By providing insight into how and where consumers are most receptive to ads, IP geolocation data helps to make sense of this. As the world emerges from the pandemic, both lifestyles and purchasing behaviours will be subject to ongoing shifts – but businesses can plan ahead. Mapping online customer journeys across both physical locations and devices enables marketers to tailor ad campaigns and pinpoint the most beneficial touchpoints for driving actions.
To offer audiences a truly valuable and personalised experience, marketers can form an in-depth view of how and where consumers spend their time, then leverage this to engage them at the best moment, in the ideal place – even in out-of-home (OOH) placements – and with the most relevant ad creative, guiding them along the path to purchase.
Realising the creative value of IP intelligence
With IP data, businesses can tap extensive knowledge about their customer bases. It’s important not to overlook the advantages of understanding where audiences are, where they have been, and where they are going. Recent research has uncovered 47 per cent of consumers plan to increase their spending in 2021 – and IP intelligence can support marketers in seizing this opportunity.
Knowing whether a consumer is at home or in the office, for example, and how they are connecting to the internet allows marketers to tailor ad content and brand messaging, effectively connecting with audiences wherever they are. In addition, owning a view of which geographical regions are engaging with ad campaigns means marketers can adjust elements such as language and currency, further heightening relevance. By applying IP intelligence to personalisation, businesses can ensure their marketing spend achieves greater results while upholding data privacy regulations.
To get closer to consumers, creativity is still king in the marketing industry. As a result of cookie deprecation, however, the current sentiment toward building creative, relevant campaigns is to start from scratch. When leveraged alongside a privacy-conscious approach to marketing, tried and tested targeting alternatives will continue to be viable in the post-cookie era. IP intelligence is one such tool that provides secure, compliant, and accurate data, which can significantly boost the effectiveness of ad creative and personalisation. By fully exploring the potential of location-based targeting, marketers can dedicate their time and resources to successful optimisation rather than investing in the unknown.