U.S. Marketers Think Location Data Is Important, But Don't Trust It
- by Ben Frederick @mp_benfred, March 14, 2016
Some 75% of marketers say they think location-based marketing is important for their business, but only 65% of them think it’s accurate. Marketers plan to spend 3.3% more in 2016 on location,
but data needs to be standardized, made anonymous, and verified before it can truly be useable. The findings are per the Location Based Marketing Association’s (LBMA) Global Location Trends Report.
Location-targeted mobile ad revenues are expected to grow from to $18.2 billion in 2019, according to BIA/Kelsey. Location targeted ads accounted for 40% of spending in in 2015, and many expect 2016 to be a pivotal year as growth in the sector continues.
“[Location is] the only piece of data that enables us to see the effectiveness of mobile, DOOH, TV, radio and IoT all at once,” stated Asif Khan, president of LBMA.
One of the biggest issues with using location data so far, stated Thomas Walle, CEO of Unacast, a proximity data network, has been the fragmentation of the proximity industry. Some analysts predict that 2016 will see an increased number of ad-tech mergers and acquisitions — 54% of respondents said they would consider selling this year, according to a recent survey from AdMedia Partners.
Also, 66% of marketers plan on using location services in areas unrelated to marketing, like customer services, public safety, and asset tracking.
NFC, GPS and WiFi are all expected to grow by double digits in 2016, with more than 50% of marketers saying that they plan to invest in WiFi.
