5 Platforms For Location Data Analysis

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Data digital flowLocation data analysis platforms are the next frontier for marketers looking for more intelligent ways to measure the performance of their mobile campaigns. Rather than tracking clicks or views, smartphone location data allows marketers to measure how many in-store visits are actually resulting from their mobile marketing efforts.

Location data analysis platforms track the spatial behavior of consumers based on previous ad exposures. Although competing platforms work slightly differently from one another, each with its own features and limitations, the overall effect is that marketers can finally determine whether mobile ad exposures are actually luring customers inside their physical stores.

Here are five examples of platforms that marketers can use for location data analysis.

1. PlaceIQ: Track the ROI of mobile ads, targeting, and messaging tools.
PlaceIQ’s Place Visit Rate (PVR) is a metric used to measure the ROI of mobile advertising, targeting, and messaging tools. Marketers define their own PlaceIQ audiences, and those audiences are sent relevant mobile ads meant to drive business to specific retail locations. PlaceIQ then aggregates the devices that were sent specific mobile ads and tracks the number of devices that were later seen at a targeted location. The result of this analysis is PlaceIQ’s PVR. PVR’s can be used in a number of verticals, including entertainment, CPG, travel, and auto.

2. JiWire: Understand how mobile ad spending influences in-store visits.
JiWire has developed what it calls a Location Conversion Index (LCI), a mobile ROI metric that marketers use to track how in-store visits are influenced by spending on mobile ads. Rather than tracking how many people viewed an ad or clicked on it, the LCI tracks how many people visited a geographic location after viewing an ad. JiWire builds its control group from “millions of look-alike profiles” based on demographics and location patterns. The company says its metric differs from competitors because it differentiates between customers who are actually inside a store, versus those who are just located nearby.

3. Placed: Directly measure store visits based on mobile campaigns.
Placed Attribution is used by advertisers, agencies, and publishing networks to directly link mobile ad exposures to in-store visits. Using a type of direct measurement, Placed tracks the location of panelists who have opted-in to its service and then incorporates marketers that represent exposure to mobile ads. Not only can Placed provide advertisers with metrics showing how many consumers visited their stores as a result of their mobile campaigns, but the company can also help marketers understand the characteristics of their mobile audiences.

4. Verve: View how mobile campaigns impact foot traffic.
Verve’s Foot Traffic Index is a proprietary method used to measure how effectively a mobile campaign is being used to drive foot traffic into particular retail stores or geographic locations. Verve’s method works by comparing the behavior of control groups with the behavior of consumers who have been exposed to or engaged with targeted mobile ads. The vendor then shows marketers whether a lift in foot traffic was the direct result of consumers being exposed to their mobile ad campaigns.

5. xAd: Get a clearer sense of campaign ROI.
In October of 2013, xAd launched its own metric for tracking the impact of mobile ad exposures. The Store Visitation Lift (SVL) is xAd’s proprietary metric used to track actual in-store visits after mobile ad exposures. xAd’s SmartFencing technology identifies consumers who have been exposed to mobile ad placements from Posterscope (xAd’s partner out-of-home communications agency) and retargets those users throughout the day with behaviorally triggered ads. Tracking the SVL allows xAd and Posterscope to provide clients with a more accurate measurement of mobile campaign ROI.

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Stephanie Miles is an associate editor at Street Fight.

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Stephanie Miles is a journalist who covers personal finance, technology, and real estate. As Street Fight’s senior editor, she is particularly interested in how local merchants and national brands are utilizing hyperlocal technology to reach consumers. She has written for FHM, the Daily News, Working World, Gawker, Cityfile, and Recessionwire.