Nichole Noel

Interesting post Nichole!
I didn’t realize the starts were that high for utilizing marketing location data. 84% is a pretty high number but putting that percentage over 90% just by next year is incredible. It could be that I’ve become so accustomed to much of the advertising being posted to me that I don’t notice that its all actually using my location to target me. (It could also be that I haven’t had time to go anywhere in the last few months so I’m just seeing all the same content as well). I was also surprised by Cindy’s post noting that 65% of location advertising is actually outside its target area.
What do you think is causing marketers to miss the mark? Clearly we have the technology to track these things but is it that developers haven’t fully vetted all of the issues yet? There is definitely a need for improvement since so many marketers are using this feature but if it is missing the mark is it really worth the investment?
I’m equally surprised as you are that more companies aren’t using offline attribution for the in store traffic. Again, the technology is out there so why not utilize it? With the millions of dollars being spent on digital marketing each year this seems like an obvious channel to reach its audience. I’d actually be happy if every time I walked into Shop Rite if my phone dinged with a notification of my favorite sales items. I usually try to avoid apps sharing my location but in some cases it just makes sense (plus I already know Google knows where I am all the time anyway haha). Great post and some really surprising statistics. Let me know what you think could be the cause for lack of engagement!

So a big reason is that third-party data is expensive and collecting first-party data is a massive operational undertaking.

I investigated just this on behalf of a client a few years back. The ask was if we could track the effectiveness of billboards by “counting” the number of people who drove past a board and subsequently (within ~30 mins) wound up in one of our client’s locations.

Securing the data wasn’t the issue, but the pricetag to “rent” the dataset was well into seven figures for just the one project.

Even still, the dataset came with tradeoffs. An active tracking effort like this requires some “always on” ability, so the fact GPS can be disabled limited it’s appeal. Cellular data on the other hand is always enabled and generally has a larger sample, but the precision of the user’s exact location is roughly within a half football field. That’s fine if you’re the only building on the lot, but for a retailer in a commercial district or a shopping center, that’s not very helpful.

We could improve upon the datasets accuracy by either switching our client’s in-store WiFi provider (never going to happen for an ad campaign!) or by installing beacons at every location (we had preliminary approval, but the process stalled out given the sheer scope).

So I’m wagering that the low adoption for attribution has more to do with the complexity involved rather than awareness of the opportunity.

I definitely don’t skip school nights. If I win on a Wednesday, I’m going. 😀

Hamilton’s app has made the lottery process easier than for other shows. Honestly, if you want a cheap ticket to any show that isn’t a huge hit, you’d normally go to the box offices for a rush ticket (these are generally people who didn’t pick up their tickets, or obstructed views, every theater has a different policy about when you can buy them). However, if you are generally interested in theater lotteries, I believe TodayTix (and maybe Goldstar) app. There, you can browse available lotteries, which mostly take place in New York. Hamilton is the only show I know of that’s such a draw that it needs lotteries in other cities. This is also likely to keep the show accessible, which is a goal of Lin Manuel and the producers. It would be a pretty negative customer experience if no one without $500+ could see the show.

Thanks for the post Nichole,

If you haven’t already, you should take a look at Kat’s post on Hamilton from earlier in the week. Tons to react to there plus a bit of back-and-forth in the comments.

Alyssa brought a ton of insider perspective as well, if you’re interested in how all this comes together.

Great minds think alike Nicole! I have been stalking this app and it’s lottery every day for me to try to win tickets (unsuccessfully, since August). But I keep trying! I like that the app provides me with some insight into the performance, since I haven’t been able to attend yet. The app is a great example of edutainment, the educational opportunities within the trivia, and gamification, the leader board and results of that trivia. It definitely helps to add to the excitement and anticipation of the general public!