The added convergence of brands' growing presence on mapping apps, mobile marketing, and social media makes geomarketing more powerful than ever before. Geomarketing describes any form of marketing that incorporates location intelligence to improve the odds of a message reaching the right consumer at the right time. To put this in perspective, a local business is any sized business dependent on the local consumer for its revenue. This means you could be a national company like Sears or Denny's, an international company like Marriott or you could be an independent restaurant like Paola's only known to the local geography.
Geomarketing is also sometimes known as geotargeting, which is defined as delivering content to users (commonly via mobile, but cross-device as well) based on where they are or what locations they have previously visited. A study by the Local Search Association found that 70% of consumers are willing to share their location information if they believe they are getting something of value in return. These customers are key to proving in-store attribution, the process of understanding which consumers actually made a visit to a physical location as a result of seeing an ad. For example, a consumer who has visited several car dealerships over the past few days is probably shopping for a car. Dealers who can deliver a relevant ad or offer on a new car to this interested person are more likely to make a sale.
Geomarketing often comes down to measuring ad effectiveness based on location visits, not just on click-through rates of ads. Various companies are now working to develop effective tactics for proving that mobile ads drove (or didn't drive) particular store visits. Some players use a combination of Wi-Fi, GPS, and specialized store maps to track visits within or to a store. Since today's consumers have their mobile devices with them at almost every point, it's easy to map patterns though mobile location sharing. Examples of some particularly effective geomarketing efforts include xAd's location ads for Denny's that generated a 34% rise in visits at the fast casual restaurant chain, while the geomarketing provider's campaign for Goodwill resulted in 13,000 additional visits to donation centers nationwide for a 43 percent lift in in-store action.
Marketers geo-target people on mobile because each person's physical location says something about their environment and mindset at a given time. When geo-targeting efforts are related to gathering information about a consumer's current, recent or past locations, it achieves a more in-depth understanding of who the consumer is and what they are likely to purchase. This location-based marketing strategy makes it easier for businesses to deliver the right message at the right time to the right audience, which is critical for the business's bottom line. Used frequently by brick-and-mortar businesses, geo-targeting ultimately helps drive foot traffic to physical locations.
In terms of what marketers should be considering when it comes to advancing their store foot traffic, check out this in-depth blog on Geomarketing.com. Make sure to also explore the Yext Knowledge Graph to ensure that you're powering knowledge about your business across location-based and other intelligent services to drive internal efficiencies, great brand experiences, and rich customer interactions everywhere online.