Location Data: The Next Logical Step For Remarketing

Your customers are all carrying around a GPS in their pockets. So Shobhit Shukla, co-founder of NearWhy, wants to know: Why aren’t you using all that data to sell to them?

You’re shopping for sneakers online, but you bail on the sale. The next day, you’re walking past the sneaker shop when you get a text. It’s a personalised discount offer you can’t refuse for those exact shoes.

This is the future envisioned by Shobhit Shukla, co-founder of Near, who sees the integration of real-world location data as the next logical step for remarketing.

Shukla is looking to track consumers before they even step onto your premises. The idea builds on the legacy of geomarketing trends such as geofencing and beacon-based in-store activations from providers including Swirl and InMarket.

Piggybacking onto the GPS functionality of your customers’ smartphones enables you to gather two of digital marketing’s most valuable data points: where your customer came from and where they go to next.

The true value of these permissions, Shukla predicted, is marrying the data in real time with your existing digital data about customers. You can then use artificial intelligence to deploy personalised messages to individuals as they’re strolling past your store, checking apps on their phone.

This use of data challenges our traditional understanding of its value. A huge database with more historical context is no longer the ultimate goal of all data gathering.

“If I know that there [are] certain groups, people, or a segment of audiences that walked into a Coles right now, [that] is extremely valuable to me,” Shukla said.

But as time goes on and the user moves away from a purchasing sweet spot, the value of that data depreciates. According to Shukla, this is the lens we should be using for all data.

“The volume of data is exploding, the costs of storing and processing data are dropping, which means that there is going to be an overload of data,” he said. “You need to identify data that is useful and the one that probably is not contextually very relevant. … That’s why we believe [data] is going to be perishable.”

Tune in for an informative episode of The CMO Show, as hosts Mark Jones and Nicole Manktelow discuss locational data and the importance of context with Shukla.

The CMO Show is a podcast about brand storytelling and the future of marketing. To listen to previous episodes, visit the website or follow along on iTunes or SoundCloud.