Opera Mediaworks, the mobile marketing and advertising platform under the umbrella of Opera Software, announced a partnership with Unacast to extend beacon and proximity data to
advertisers. Unacast aggregates offline consumer data through beacons.
The partnership will allow Opera Mediaworks clients to access Unacast’s aggregate data, which is built on a network
of proximity companies around the world, and segment consumers based on store, department, or product level.
"With this partnership, marketers can extend the life of beacon data beyond the
confines of the store and, with a detailed understanding of a shopper's interests, apply it in other contexts, such as audience targeting and even ROAS (return on ad spend) measurement,” stated
Andrew Dubatowka, director of product strategy at Opera Mediaworks.
Beacons are an interesting conundrum in marketing circles—they provide accurate location and behavioral data within a
small geo-fenced area. They also present sometimes-prohibitive infrastructural installation and maintenance costs to have networks at scale.
Many large retailers and malls are still
experimenting with the technology to see if the benefits outweigh the costs.
On the other hand, 85% of the top 100 retailers will have deployed beacon networks by the end of 2016, according to
a Business Insider Intelligence report.
Most consumers don’t have their noses in their phones all day long, and the ability to gain insights into their behavior when they
aren’t directly engaged with their devices is much-coveted by mobile marketers. Up to 70% of every consumer’s day is spent offline.
As more businesses start to integrate beacons
into their strategies, tracking consumer offline behavior and connecting it with purchases and online behavior will be more convenient and simple for marketers and advertisers.