Destination-Based Marketing Adapts Location-Driven Strategies for Consumers on the Move
Brand marketers have been tailoring content to consumers based on their real-time, physical locations for years. It’s called location-based marketing, and if you’re a regular reader of Street Fight, you’ve probably heard the term quite a bit. But what happens when consumers are on the move, either driving or walking to their actual destinations? How effective is location-based marketing under those conditions?
Traditional location-based marketing strategies that utilize geo-fencing around physical locations aren’t always effective when consumers are in motion, potentially driving past targeted locations or through virtual geo-fences with no intention of stopping along the way. In these scenarios, a new strategy is needed. The team at Waze believes it has created the solution for which marketers are looking, and it’s calling that solution destination-based marketing.
Destination-based marketing refers to a way of targeting on-the-go consumers. Rather than targeting mobile ads based on consumer’s real-time, real-world locations, Waze will now be using its driver navigation data to help advertisers anticipate where consumers are going and ultimately influence their decision-making through mobile marketing.
“Destination-based marketing is about driving people to a store, curbside, drive thru. It is about getting them there. It is about impacting people on the go. Location-based marketing is about the consumer’s current geographic location, not their next one,” says Suzie Reider, managing director of Waze Ads. “Waze Ads is shifting to destination-based marketing as a newer industry term to describe the next step beyond location-based marketing, which is more common in the industry at the moment.”
When a driver puts his destination into Waze’s mobile navigation app, the company knows where that person is going and the route he is taking to get there. This data can be used to inform brands’ targeting decisions as they work to reach local customers on the road.
A driver who is headed to the Staples Center to watch a Laker’s game shouldn’t be seeing mobile offers for a concert at the Hollywood Bowl, or any other music venue, that happens that night, since the destination information he put into Waze’s navigation app indicates this person already has competing plans. However, a person who is going to watch a Laker’s game might want to grab a bite to eat afterward, so restaurants and bars located near the Staples Center could anticipate the customer’s needs based on his destination and target that driver to influence future decision-making.
With location-based marketing, the above scenario would likely turn out very differently. For example, the driver might pass by a concert venue en route to the Laker’s game. Without taking his destination into account, the concert venue would push out an ad or an offer that wouldn’t be used, resulting in wasted ad spend.
“We have a very clear vision of what we do for advertisers, and it is different than location-based marketing, which is more static and based on a user’s geo location,” Reider says.
Although the last few decades in digital marketing have been about online conversations and acquiring new customers online, Reider says Waze’s value proposition has always been relevant in a world where retailers, quick-service restaurants, and gas stations, in particular, are motivated to attract foot traffic and people. She says destination-based marketing is all about the physical world and turning a location into a destination.
“Waze users are uniquely engaged as Waze stays connected with these consumers for their entire journey, understanding the context of their drive: whether they’re commuting to work or taking a leisurely drive; fast moving or stuck in traffic; time of day; and what stores they’ll pass along the way,” Reider says. “Waze has the power to move people to our customers and turn their locations into one of these destinations.”
Stephanie Miles is a senior editor at Street Fight.
