Mar 9 2020
Basis Technologies

Programmatic Advertising 101: Mobile Geo Targeted Ads

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Being at the right place at the right time can make all the difference in digital. It's especially important when you're running programmatic ad campaigns, because finding the exact audience you're looking for and meeting them where they're most likely to see and act on your ad means you won't waste impressions or ad dollars.

Mobile Advertising Requires Optimal Timing and Placement

Let's use an example: If you were to launch a campaign promoting lunch specials, and you ran it on desktops only, then you'd be targeting the right audience, because you're reaching the hungry masses at their desks. So, great, you've got your audience, and you're fishing in the right pond.

But have you caught them at the right time? Maybe your lunch special ad isn't as effective on desktops because people ate an early lunch, or they're sitting in a three-hour meeting and aren't able to leave the office.

What if you could show them the lunch special ad while they're walking through the food court – which is, of course, conveniently located right next to your business. You'd achieve the most important recipe to programmatic success: right place, right time, and no wasted impressions.

Why Geo Targeting Marketing Matters

Mobile and smartphone ownership and usage is extremely prevalent in our technologically driven world. According to eMarketer, mobile users spend over four hours on their smartphones each day, and most of that time is spent on mobile apps. In addition, comScore reports that "mobile apps account for 57% of all digital media usage, and smartphone apps alone capture more than half of digital media time spent."

Those are valuable views your ads could be getting, and taking advantage of the mobile space in programmatic advertising is critical. Luckily, programmatic opens up the option of precise location targeting or a mobile app campaign. When running a mobile app campaign, geotargeting – also known as hyperlocal targeting or mobile geo targeting – is a very commonly used campaign targeting tactic.

When an app is downloaded, it will ask permission to collect a user's location data. In many cases, the app provides filters or geospatial features that require location tracking to be on. Once enabled, the app knows the user's GPS coordinates at all times.

These coordinates are extremely useful to an advertiser buying in-app impressions. By utilizing mobile geotargeting and tapping into the GPS information on a user's mobile device, you can capture their exact location and target based on coordinates and radius.

And by pinpointing the exact consumer for your campaign needs, you can use real-time location information to target users in the exact moment where they are where you want them to be. You're no longer wasting lunch ads on the hungry woman at her desk. You're showing lunch ads to the hungry woman in the food court who's busy deciding what kind of food she's in the mood for.

What are Examples of Mobile Geo Targeting?

Using coordinates and a surrounding radius, you can create a geo-fence, allowing you to leverage location to target unique audiences for different digital strategies:

  • You're able to target users in the vicinity of your location
  • You can target a location that your desired prospects are visiting
  • You could target the location of a competitor, offering incentives to get these users into your store and use your product/service
  • You could target locations where you have a low fan base or support, to increase awareness

One other success tip: Use dynamic mobile creative that delivers a localized message to potential customers. This helps to deliver highly relevant ads to users in the right location.

Learn more about Programmatic Advertising with Basis.