The IPG Media Lab partnered with location-based marketing platform Thinknear and Office Depot Inc. on a quantitative media trial examining how location-based audience targeting (LBA) compares to more traditional methods such as designated market area targeting (DMA) in mobile. Among the results: LBA targeting drove significantly higher foot traffic into stores as well as intent to visit stores.
The media trial findings indicated that foot traffic increased 29%, with LBA targeting with a standard ad, and 31% when the LBA targeting was paired with a dynamic location-aware advertisement, as measured by Placed Attribution. Among key audience segments, intent to visit the store increased 116% using the LBA and location-aware ad combination.
“It makes sense that the more we can refine our audience targeting to speak to the needs of individuals, not broad categories, the more positive impact we’ll see for advertisers, including both digital and brick-and-mortar businesses,” said Kara Manatt, SVP, Intelligence Solutions & Strategy at IPG Media Lab. “What’s highly encouraging is that we’re proving there are ways to both improve performance but to also do so at a much cheaper rate.”
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The research design included randomized control groups for each targeting method. The IPG Media Lab partnered with Placed to measure both brand impact as well as foot traffic.
Additional findings from the trial included:
- Consumers reached through LBA targeting were 10% more likely to fit into the brand’s key psychographic target.
- LBA targeting was more effective in reaching new potential customers -- those who purchase office supplies at competitive stores.
- Location-aware ads nearly doubled the impact in visitation intent. Using a location-aware creative combined with LBA targeting led to the best result.
- Only LBA targeting translated into actual foot traffic -- a 29% lift in store visits, which is much higher compared to the industry norm of only 3.1% lift in store visits.
- LBA targeting was also highly cost-effective, with a $1.02 cost per incremental store visit compared to $6.39 for the general industry benchmark.
A more detailed infographic can be accessed here.