Ushering In A New Era Of Personalization With Location Intelligence

The average consumer today has a lot going on in their life. Their work hours are long, their commutes even longer. When they are not making important decisions at work, they are making them at home, in the mall, on the street – what to buy, where to travel, what to do this weekend, and much more. Their notifications are constantly buzzing, reminding them to check out their friends’ vacation photos, the latest offers from at their neighbourhood mall, salon, grocery, online marketplace and more. Their attention is flitting between multiple screens and multiple demands. Getting the attention of this busy yet hyper-connected consumer is no mean task. It is little surprise then that organisations see this attention as one of their biggest marketing challenges – and consider it the biggest metric of success. This is the reason why they are increasingly focusing on personalisation as a crucial consumer connection strategy.

To say that personalisation is crucial is an understatement. But are brands doing all that they need to deliver personalisation in the hyperconnected age?

Understanding broad triggers and barriers through market research dates back to the 1930s and was at the time sufficient because consumers’ media exposure was limited. Today, the art and science of personalisation has come a long way with digital media, devices, and the sheer amount of data it now takes to holistically understand a single consumer, their purchase triggers and barriers. But are brands doing this as well as they need to? Clearly not. It is apparent when only 22 per cent of shoppers today are satisfied with the level of personalisation they receive. 81 per cent of shoppers want brands to understand them better and know not only when to approach them but also, when not to. While consumers’ desire for personalised communication has evolved – as have marketing platforms and data sources – many brands continue to have a very basic and tactical approach to this. Marketers need to go beyond simply using first names in SMS and email communication, birthday emails, etc. to really tap into the power of personalisation.

What personalisation really means in 2019

Simply put, it means gaining a deep understanding of real-world consumers and their purchase journeys to fill data gaps and deliver personalised marketing experiences across the entire spectrum. Inspiring a store visit or purchase – not merely clicks and views – needs to be the end goal.

Today, the art and science of personalisation has come a long way with digital media, devices, and the sheer amount of data it now takes to holistically understand a single consumer, their purchase triggers and barriers.

It is imperative to understand the right target audience – the ones that actually want to hear from your brand, product, or service and not just a broad demographic segment. It is equally important to view this audience as individuals with specific behavioural patterns, affinities, aspirations, lifestyle needs and very individualistic purchase triggers and barriers. Segmentation is a great start, but there is a lot more to it. Brands are starting to take into account consumers’ offline and online behaviors – their brand affinities, real world interests, frequency and recency of the places they visit, etc. This reveals far more conclusive evidence about who these customers really are, what their purchase journey looks like, etc. This is the first step in ensuring that brands create meaningful interactions with the right customer, at the right time, and at the right place.
Location intelligence is proving to be a goldmine in giving brands access to deep consumer insights and filling the data gaps in the consumer journey. By combining these audience’s digital and social behaviour data with location data, marketers have a fresh opportunity to usher in a new era of personalisation that goes beyond online data and dives deep into consumers’ real-world behaviour, brand affinities, and much more.
This location-led era of personalisation will see brand communications thrive amidst new challenges of a hyper-connected world. The time to elevate your brand’s approach to personalisation is here – are you ready?

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