What is Location Targeting?
Location targeting is the act of tailoring ad targeting to the user depending on the user location. It is just one of many tactics advertisers/agencies can use to create relevant and effective ads and target them towards consumers at the right time.
What Methods do Advertisers use to Determine a User’s Location?
Advertisers can determine a user’s location through the user’s wifi, ip address, or their lat/long location. On the mobile front, marketers can track these by by tapping into the user’s apps. Depending on whether or not the user has the app running in the background and if location tracking is enabled, the app may be able to pass along the device’s GPS coordinates to the marketer. Lastly, beacons can also be used to broadcast a device’s location through bluetooth over a short distance. If an app has a particular sdk registered to it, it can register that the device was at a certain location.
What Types of Location Targeting is there?
- Current vs historical targeting
- Marketers can choose between targeting current locations vs historical locations. Current locations refer to where the user is at the same moment in the time when the ad is served. Historical data refers to where the user has been in the past. For example, a car brand may decide to target users who have been to a car dealership in the US within the last 60 days.
- Political Boundaries
- Countries
- States
- Designated Market Area (DMA)
- Cities
- Counties
- Postal Codes
- Hyperlocal Targeting (GPS Coordinates/Latitude and Longitude)
- This is typically referred to as “geo-fencing”, where a certain GPS coordinate is chosen and given a radius. The chosen GPS coordinate would then be given a “fence” with the radius size. Any user who walks into this circle, assuming they are somehow able to give off their GPS coordinates, are susceptible to being targeted by the marketer. Hyperlocal targeting can be applied to both current and historical targeting.
- Stores and Places
- Any notable places such as McDonald’s, Kmart, Central Park in NYC, can all be targeted as well. Both the current and historical targeting methods are applicable for these places as well. Depending on the location partner, some places may or may not be available.
What are some Relevant Strategies for Location Targeting?
- Target languages to fit the target audience. In a spanish speaking area in the US, it may make sense to serve spanish creatives to users who can be tracked with location targeting.
- Experient with currency signs depending on where the ad is served.
- Serve ads that are relevant to local consumers.
- Test visual elements that may be appealing to consumers in a certain location.
- Appealing to the culture of a user in a certain country.
- Appealing to the interest of a user in a certain hobby store.
| Geo-targeting | Geofencing | Beaconing |
| Best used to reach users who: live or move about in a certain area, for whom you have other data like preferences or demographic info | Best used to find users who: are nearby your store, venue, or service; users who are in your parking lot, or entering a mall, for example | Best used to reach users who: are in a certain aisle of your store; who are on a certain bus or train; who are moving through a space like a museum |
| Users within a broad general range (within a zip code, for example) | Captures users within a 50 meter or so range | Captures users in a specific location or range (can determine almost to the inch of where you’re standing) |
| Can incorporate other preferences to narrow users down for greater specificity | Is more of a blunt object: other user preferences cannot be paired | Other user preferences cannot be incorporated |
| Relies most heavily on IP address | Relies most heavily on GPS (and WiFi, to some degree) | Relies most heavily on bluetooth technology |
| Location accuracy is not as important when using geo-targeting, as other preferences refine your segment Ex: Only people [in this town] who are [women], [over 50], who like [healthy stuff]. |
Offers some accuracy, though will likely capture users who are just passing through an area, in addition to folks who have come to a location purposefully (can be a plus or a minus, depending on your campaign) Ex: All of the people who walk by your organic health bar |
Beacons are highly specific, to the point that they can tell when users in a retail space go upstairs or downstairs or enter a certain aisle Ex: Anyone in your organic health bar who lingers in front of the matcha for 10 seconds or more. |
What are some Location Targeting Providers?
- Factual
- Placed
- NinthDecimal
- Grountruth
How can we Evaluate Location Targeting Providers?
- How does the provider define location?
- How do you prevent misleading and fraudulent data?
- How are exposed visits calculated and measured?
- How does media planning and placement affect measurement?
Sources
- https://searchengineland.com/10-practical-tips-using-geo-location-reach-target-audience-217301
- http://brillmedia.co/location-targeting-audience-targeting-work
- https://blog.justuno.com/5-ways-to-utilize-geotargeting-in-your-marketing-campaigns
- https://neilpatel.com/blog/geo-targeting/
- https://martechtoday.com/evaluating-location-data-measurement-providers-five-questions-ask-211246
- https://www.braze.com/blog/geofencing-geo-targeting-beaconing-when-to-use/
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