Taking Data to the Next Level with Location Intelligence

Marketers today are getting more data than ever. Location intelligence is the key element that turns existing data into actionable insights that add value to any marketing strategy, says Herve Utheza, Director and Head of Media, Advertising & Telco at HERE Technologies.

We have entered an era where enterprises and brands are receiving an inordinate amount of data to process and leverage about their consumers. Marketers today are getting more data than ever, and location is the key element that turns existing data into actionable insights that adds value to any marketing strategy.Not only is location the anchor for data-driven marketing, but it helps shape an intrinsic emotional bond between a consumer and their experience with a brand.The result is a mandate from senior marketers to their data science teams to make their data “do more.”

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Connecting consumer behaviors to their movements (going to work, shopping, to the movie theater, etc.) informs the understanding of a consumer’s habits and preferences, which can then be linked to their consumption of goods.But these connections cannot happen without location intelligence.

Location data adds a layer of insight into a consumer’s world which is extremely valuable to a marketer. Location intelligence enables the right message at the right time, but also the measurement of how a marketing message is received and ultimately optimized based on location context and determining what is resonating with the consumer.In the end, marketers must look at the consumer experience and how they are providing value to maintain and increase their customer base.

Data science combined with unique location-based algorithms are key to unlocking predictive behavior of a consumer. Currently, marketers are closing the gap between offline and online behavior of their consumers and they are using a variety of techniques and technologies to do so.In-store visitation has been a hot topic across brands for the last 24 – 36 months because they want to know who, when and where someone saw an advertisement, and whether or not that advertisement provoked an in-store visit and ultimately, a purchase.

Understanding past behavior is incredibly helpful to marketers, but the ability to predict what will happen in the future is the real game-changer. Location plays a key role in predictive behavior and there are multiple companies in the market that have already developed sophisticated algorithms- utilizing a location signal tied to a place of interest - to enable the ability to predict their consumer’s next action or reaction.

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With the advances of location intelligence, marketers are becoming more savvy and therefore more successful. Ears are starting to perk up across the ecosystem when location precision and accuracy positively effects insights and the ROI of marketing dollars. Marketers want to connect the dots of their consumers and get answers on simple questions:did my consumer see my ad? Where was the consumer at the time he/she saw my ad? Did he/she visit my retail location?

The evolution of location intelligence is constant and data science combined with unique algorithms are the key to unlocking predictive behavior of a consumer.It’s a hyper-connected world today and it will become even more connected in the future by location merging with IoT in almost every angle. Think of the changes of technology and the future of new mediums of entertainment and advertising such as voice, digital signage, connected / autonomous vehicles and augmented / mixed reality.With these emerging technologies, new ad formats will rise and new ways to leverage location insights, all set to enhance further the marketer’s channel strategies.