The IAB states that £1 in every £5 spent on digital advertising is allocated towards mobile; but it’s still not matching consumer engagement on this channel. According to the IAB, the average Briton now spends one in six of their waking hours online, with mobiles and tablets accounting for over half (56%) of that. Media consumption on mobile is at an all-time high, but brands are not spending the equivalent of their marketing budget on mobile advertising. 

In this piece, Imran Khan, head of programmatic & partnerships, EMEA (pictured below), at global mobile location marketplace, xAd explains why location-based marketing allows mobile-first measurement and unlocks hidden sales opportunities.

The Challenge: Measuring mobile marketing effectively

Brands are overlooking mobile because of the lack of sophistication in targeting and accurate measurement tools. Cookies don’t work within apps. Recent data released by Yahoo-owned Flurry said that apps account for 90% of daily mobile device use, which is a stumbling block for even the most seasoned digital marketer trying to target mobile audiences and measure their campaigns. As a result, advertising spend has been driven by App & Game Install Advertisers, where the targeting and attribution model works. Facebook, a mobile success story, has been adept at driving exceptional results in this category. It recently killed a proposed user data policy after a backlash from these advertisers – highlighting their importance in the mobile ecosystem and reminding us of the dearth of brand targeting and measurement solutions available today.

Measurement across mobile is also complex because of the changing consumer purchase journey. For example, shoppers will often search for a product on their smartphone when on the go, but then visit a physical store to make the final purchase. The findings of our Mobile Path to Purchase report support this, showing that 31% of people visit a physical store during their search for a product, but that mobile devices are being used to search for store locations and business contact info. This proves increasing fluidity between consumer movements on and offline.

The consumer path-to-purchase is fundamentally changing. A cross-device approach will be essential to measure sales on each and every channel. How important that will be in years to come remains to be seen, as evidenced by Ofcom’s latest Communications Market report which shows that 40% of online retail sales at the end of 2014 were through mobile devices. Couple that with research from Deloitte’s Digital Influence in UK Retail Report, where 88% of retail sales still happen in-store, and it’s clear that targeting and attribution models built on desktop methodology ultimately provide a limited view of the consumer.

The Solution: Look to mobile for ROI solutions that connect online to offline

Because the purchase journey has become more complex across channels, and with mobile consumption increasing, brands don’t have context about the potential customers they are targeting. To solve this, brands should look to mobile device data, which contextualises their customers by offering real-time, relevant insights based on their location. This granular detail means brands can capture consumer attention at the right time, and in the right place, and ultimately drive purchases.

Location data is particularly powerful because mobile represents a mid-funnel marketing position – it bridges the physical and digital worlds to facilitate the path to purchase. Mobile is changing how people shop – and not just directly, but also as a facilitator of sales through other channels.

The Tactics: Brands need to use mobile location technology to boost mobile advertising for brands

Location data is the glue that connects online with offline and, coupled with programmatic’s real-time insights and audience profiling, it can be highly powerful. Brand advertisers in segments like retail, automotive, and FMCG are using location to inform targeting throughout the sales cycle and engage customers and prospects in the moment. For example, location measurement (where brands know if somebody has been in-store as a result of an ad) brings accountability to mobile advertising, which in turn drives ROI.

With the advent and proliferation of Apple Pay, Android Pay and myriad other payment solutions, we may potentially see a world where we’ll be able to measure the value of offline purchases from a mobile device. One could easily imagine in the not so distant future location targeting and measurement forming the bedrock of a marketer’s strategy to measure in-store sales.

The End-goal: Moving one step closer to a mobile-first world

At the moment, marketers understand mobile’s strategic value due to exponential smartphone user growth, but the lack of attribution and ROI for mobile is a challenge and has impacted spend.

Location can solve these challenges, and as a result will become a marketing channel in its own right, just like search or social. As search (epitomised by Google) became a measure of online intent, location, in years to come, will become the ultimate measure of offline intent.

We are moving into a mobile-first world, where marketers will need to live and breathe mobile. Understanding the context of your consumer will be critical and location will play a key role for marketers in achieving this.