The new location based marketing strategy

Location is everything. The growing hype around location-based marketing has marketers leveraging real-time data to target consumers on-the-go. The location intelligence we have on people drives a large amount of consumer insight that can be used to affect decision-making processes. It is used to target the mobile customer, particularly if you know they are near a brick-and-mortar store.

But changes in smartphone behavior has created a new location that marketers need to be aware of - one that is not based on where the consumer is physically standing. People increasingly open up their smartphones with no application in mind - almost half the time according to new research. Direct marketers will likely be hearing more and more about carriers and OEMs intersecting the smartphone journey by utilizing the first screen people see on unlock. So, how can they take advantage?

Mobile Sleepwalking

The trend of mindlessly consuming media is nothing new, and advertising methods have always had to adapt. For example, think of how people rapidly flip through magazines looking for something that piques their interest, or they zip through channels to find something better on TV. Marketers have continuously adapted to this “sleepwalking” in media by creating things with high impact through intelligence and timing. Smartphones are no different.

Today, people dig through their phones, jumping from app to app to browse different news feeds until something of interest catches their eye. While marketers have long focused on finding the right time and location to target users with ads when they have a specific task in mind, what about the times when the user is simply just looking for something to do? At these moments, customers are not mid-task and, therefore, more open to content offers. Having a smart way to direct their eyeballs to your content can have a significant impact on engagement.

If Content is King, Timing is Queen

Direct marketers focus on optimizing for timing in all of their efforts. For example, in email marketing, they figure out the perfect day and time to reach their target audience. So, as people sit in an Uber or wait in line for their Starbucks, why not optimize efforts there to your advantage?

When people unlock their phones in those scenarios today, the first screen they see has little to no value to them more often than not. They either see the last app they engaged with or a sea of icons. Neither of these are particularly useful, and the first thing they see is quickly dismissed. What’s more, these sort of sessions can be predictable! When a user engages in one “idle” session - defined as short and non-task or non-social - typically other idle sessions follow.

The Content Awakening

This is why wireless carriers and device manufacturers are looking for new solutions for content discovery that leverage the first screen after unlock. New solutions are constantly emerging in which the smart direct marketer can reach and engage their customers in a whole new way. During these times, the ideal piece of content would be “snackable,” something that is quickly consumed on-the-go.

With the shift to mobile marketing intensifying, marketers should take what they know about location intelligence and use it to better understand the mobile journey. Because of their vast distribution and subscriber bases, carriers have a real opportunity to influence the mobile journey in very meaningful ways such as engaging users on the first screen. Marketers should keep their eyes peeled, as this could reap huge rewards for conversion flows as well.

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