2014: The Year of Hyperlocal Mobile Advertising
By Jeremy Geiger, Retailigence
The headline is bold, but yes, 2014 is the year of hyperlocal mobile advertising, and there are three very important trends converging today to make this happen. The first is smartphone proliferation; according to eMarketer, smartphone users worldwide will total a record-breaking two billion in 2014. Now billions of people around the world have the devices needed to make hyperlocal ads possible.
The second trend is the current boom in consumer adoption (and increasing comfort level) of location-aware apps. A recent PuchTab survey of more than 1,000 consumers revealed 88% of survey participants said they would share their locations for coupons and offers; 72%, for shorter checkout times; and 69%, for targeted alerts about sales and products they like.
And finally, the third trend is the rise of programmatic advertising. Automated buying and selling of mobile ads via real-time bidding to match ads to an audience’s location has never been easier or more affordable.
We are already starting to see the power of this huge opportunity for retailers. Here’s a brief example. Severe winter weather had a huge impact on the economy this year when freezing temperatures and mounting snow deterred shoppers from stepping outdoors last winter. Many brick-and-mortar stores experienced steep traffic and sales declines.
But as soon as the snow hit the ground, one of our partners – a multinational department store chain – knew it needed a way to help guide its shoppers to items they needed during the storms.
Well acquainted with the happy convergence of the trends above and armed with a powerful database of local retail inventory and pricing data, the department store dynamically targeted mobile consumers in blanketed areas in real time with location-based product messages related to snow. The store promoted snow tires, car batteries, and snow blowers, and allowed the shopper to instantly see which products were actually in stock in these three categories at their nearest store. For added convenience, the store also offered shoppers the ability to buy online and pick-up in store (BOPIS), and had those items available for pickup within 15 minutes so shoppers could quickly head back indoors.
With hyperlocal ads and local inventory data, the store was not only able to increase foot traffic and drive in-store sales, but was also able to reach its customers at a challenging time with relevant information about the products they needed in that moment and where to find them nearby. Today, shoppers not only want to know where they can buy what they want, but also want product and store information readily available.
According to Robert Scoble and Shel Israel, co-authors of the “Age of Context,” contextual technologies like hyperlocal ads are the products of five major technology trends shaping today's age of context: mobile, social, local, wearable, and Big Data. Together, these trends will create personalized, predictive and assistive products. As depicted in the snowstorm example above, one unquestionable element driving the “Age of Context” is hyperlocal advertising. 2014 is the year brands and retailers are taking advantage of this massive opportunity to help them better engage with their customers and grow their bottom line.
Jeremy Geiger is the founder and CEO of Retailigence, a leading online-to-offline marketing platform for driving sales in stores. Before founding Retailigence in 2009, Jeremy was founder, managing director and chairman of Real-Time Technology Asia-Pacific.