Almost every person on this planet owns a cell phone, and it is believed that by 2029, over 8 billion people will have smartphones, which is somewhat good news for advertisers and marketers out there because they will be able to target their audience through geolocation.
Everyone having a smartphone means that everyone will have the geolocation feature in their phones, and this is a very big opportunity for marketers out there to target their customers. Geolocation trend became big in 2016 when Pokémon Go came out.
The game basically operated with the geolocation feature on smartphones. The game was not only something interesting for geek gamers, but it also attracted marketers and advertisers out there, as they thought of this feature as a golden ticket to attract more customers to their business.
Geolocation uses GPS to tell your location. We are pretty sure that most of you have used GPS in order to, let’s say, find a vape shop nearby. That’s how it happens: when you turn on the GPS on your phone, your location can then be easily tracked.
The technology of geolocation not only helps marketers target customers by location. It also helps them to know the context of their visit to a particular place. In simpler words, you can say that geolocation is having a big impact on online marketing as well as marketers and advertisers. In this article, we are going to show you what exactly this impact is and how it is changing marketing as a whole.
1. Augmented marketing and events
Augmented reality, also known as AR, can depend on a person’s actual location. This location is then used to create a virtual world of sorts. Currently, big brands like Sephora and L’Oreal are using this technique for their marketing and advertising.
2. Turbocharges predictive analysis
With the help of geolocation, marketers and advertisers can easily send you relevant adverts and promotions at the place where you are. With geolocation, your phone knows where you are.
Marketers can use this information to target geo-relevant ads at you. For example, while in a shopping mall, you could see adverts about deals offered by various stores and supermarkets within the mall.
3. Weather-based GEO advertising
Geolocation can actually help marketers and advertisers to send geo-based adverts. For example, if it is sunny and hot in a particular area, marketers of a beverage company can send their customers living in the area personalized messages and invite them to a refreshing iced tea.
On the other hand, if it is raining or the temperature outside is freezing cold, it can be a great opportunity for those brands that sell raincoats or sweaters, etc, and they can send personalized messages to their target customers.
4. Incentivizing Data Collection
Data collection is one of the most important things for marketers and advertisers, but customers don’t give in their personal information that easily, which is why data collectors can easily use geolocation to send different deals and offers to collect data from the customers locally.
These are the 4 major ways through which geolocation is changing marketing all around the world. There are a few drawbacks of geolocation, like privacy, but if we use it the right way for the right motives, then yes, this technology is no less than a blessing.
