A person’s location can provide much more insight about who they are based on demographic and other lifestyle contextual assumptions.

Myth #1: I can only target mobile users who have opted-in to location-based services (LBS).

The Truth

In most instances, in order for marketers to take advantage of LBS to deliver targeted ads, promotions and content, mobile users must opt-in to GPS tracking applications on their devices. But many users refuse to optin, citing reasons such as privacy or battery-life concerns. And, once they turn LBS services off, it’s often hard to get them to turn them back on.

Businesses can successfully target those users who elect to turn off location services through IP-based geolocation technology. This solution helps to fill the mobile gap by allowing companies to target mobile users by location and connection type as they increasingly take advantage of the ever-growing population of rate- and speed-friendly Wi-Fi networks.

The technology leverages the “living network” of IP-location information derived from mobile devices and billions of on-device location transactions to deliver precise, yet privacy-sensitive, global online targeting. With 80 percent of mobile traffic coming via some type of Wi-Fi connection (meaning there is a locatable IP address associated with it), more precise targeting can occur based on where a user is located and connected at a specific point in time, regardless of device type.

Myth #2 IP-based mobile targeting isn’t accurate or very granular.

The most accurate IP geolocation technology identifies the location of online visitors down to a ZIP code or postcode-level worldwide―without invading user privacy. Digital Element’s mobile-centric IP targeting solution, NetAcuity Pulse, expands the coverage reach of global geolocation data by leveraging new insights derived from Wi-Fi-connected mobile traffic and infrastructure analysis.

Let’s assume that a company is using a global IP geolocation solution that returns responses for 39,000 postal codes in Canada. With the Pulse mobile solution, the company now gets returned responses for 270,000 unique postcodes (i.e. by incorporating the Wi-Fi data points). As demonstrated, this provides more seen IP addresses, thus enhancing the reach of existing geolocation data.

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Myth #3 Mobile device data only provides location information.

Companies not only have to deal with device and connectivity diversity, they also have to understand that consumers engage differently in certain environments. As mobile and connected devices continue to proliferate, it is increasingly important to have intelligence on the array of different devices that customers use to engage with a brand in order to deliver advertising, messages and promotions that are relevant to a specific point in time. Having this information allows companies to adapt their content at a granular level, in order to maximize engagement and conversion rates.

In addition to a user’s point-in-time geographic location, Digital Element’s “living network” of mobile IP location information can include whether the user is in fact coming through a Wi-Fi connection point and whether someone is on a home or business hotspot (which may call for traffic to be handled differently).

The ability to report carrier data provides further information on the context of the user, as well as accurate information about the device. This is particularly useful for advertisers wanting to deliver their messages to a specific network to fulfill geographic and demographic targeting criteria. Furthermore, the ability to distinguish between Wi-Fi and a cellular network is useful for delivering optimized content based on a user’s connection type.

By using this type of information with location data as well as demographics, often referred to as geotextual data or proximity intelligence, companies can gain a better understanding of customers’ context around their current locations―which in turn helps them develop and deliver more relevant, timely messages as a result.

Myth #4: I already get GPS-generated latitude/longitude coordinates when mobile users opt-in to LBS. What more do I need?

On their own, GPS coordinates mean little to companies, but the wealth of geolocation information that can be gleaned from that data is very beneficial for marketing and other business purposes.

Reverse geocoding is the process of taking GPS-obtained latitude/ longitude coordinates and converting them into more readable and understandable geolocation information. Without reverse geocoding, when mobile users opt in to location-based services (in app) or share their locations (mobile web), the latitude/longitude coordinates are the only pieces of information returned which essentially amount to numbers and decimals.

Digital Element’s reverse geocoding solution automatically converts those coordinates into more expanded, understandable, and useful geolocation data that can be applied to targeted advertising, content localization, geographic rights management, fraud prevention, and more. Unlike other solutions, it does not involve any contingencies that require a map to be used in tandem with the geolocation data output, or restrict the number of queries.

Myth #5 There’s no point in targeting by connection type when mobile users could be there five minutes then gone.

While people may not linger at specific Wi-Fi hotspots (i.e. cafes, stores, doctor’s offices), their locations can still give companies valuable insights. For example, if a person logged into airplane/airport Wi-Fi one instance, followed by a log-in to a hotel Wi-Fi in another instance, then one could assume them to be a business traveler.

Delivering location- or context-aware content enables businesses to have smarter, more personalized interactions with these mobile audiences. It’s important to remember that today’s Internet traffic is a combination of both mobile and connected users. In order to be competitive in an increasingly digital marketplace, companies need a comprehensive, multi-pronged targeting strategy that provides consistency in geographic responses across devices and includes both fixed IP traffic (desktop and Wi-Fi) and non-fixed, IP-based mobile device traffic in order to reach more consumers in relevant ways.