Geo-location is a technique ad companies use to parse traffic by location. Marketers can specify a region, a town or even a neighborhood in some cases. This was most useful for deals that had higher payouts in different parts of the country, or deals that were location dependent. It didn’t allow for a lot of specificity. You had to bid on a region and hope for the best, which might not work out so well in an area that is heavily populated.
That’s changing with more precise forms of geo-location and geo-targeting.
Hyper Local Means “Hyper Local”
The term “hyper local” used to mean that a marketer could hone in on a very specific region or territory. Maybe a smaller section of a larger city. Certainly not a city block or location. That’s changed with the inclusion of lat/long targeting. Choosing coordinates on the map now lets marketers target individuals that are near that area within a specific time frame.
This has huge implications for real-time targeting. On a day like Black Friday, for instance, retail stores could compete amongst themselves with localized coupons for specific deals.
Hyper local also means that less wasted spend goes towards users disinterested in your product. Normally, location targeting in addition to demographic targeting (for instance) would shrink your audience dramatically. However, location targeting offers immediacy. It might not deter a die-hard fan from buying his favorite products, but it might persuade that fan’s friend or neighbor. This new geo-targeting offers a greater form of precision, turning location-specific ads into less guesswork.
Bio: Ted Dhanik is a passionate professional dedicated to digital advertising. Ted Dhanik guest blogs frequently, offering tips on lead generation and thoughts on the technology that drives advertising. Ted Dhanik is the CEO of engage:BDR, Los Angeles based digital advertising company.
