D.R.E.A.M. ( Data Rules Everything Around Me)

Consumer data market consideration 

The recent data breaches at some big box retailers have had plenty of time in the spotlight. These security failures have garnered even more mistrust for data collection practices than ever. Consumers should be very cautious to protect their personal information, such as social security number, DOB, and other details critical for identity thieves to obtain. Customer education about data collection processes and the value data collection can produce for them need to be transparent and understandable or we risk losing access to real time data.

I believe the public has been misinformed and caught up in the "hoopla" of data security. Most of the data collected today is of an impersonal nature with no name or SSN tied directly to it. This information that is collected has to do mainly with buyer behavior designed to eventually "predict" what advertisement you may benefit from the most. Many corporations and small business alike are collecting this data from mobile applications, mobile web browsing, GPS positioning, and consumer surveys. None of these data collection methods are "cheap". Big data is big money and targeted well defined data is even bigger money.

As the internet of things came on the scene, I began to contemplate possible business ideas. The undying appetite for data collection shifted my mind to the idea that, companies with large, accurate, well defined data sets would be the victors in this arena. I originally started where everybody has begun, the mobile application. I was gonna create an idea so valuable that not only would people use my mobile app but they wouldn't be able to live without it. Yea right. I soon found out that creating an application with functionality is easy however creating an app that not only functions well but creates an immense value exchange is rare and expensive. I saw how the IoT would forever change advertising and marketing. The next question was, How do I deliver that message? The multi-channel strategy, with a focus in mobile, was the only way to effectively reach any consumer. The mobile medium is a no-brainer for the direct response marketing, however for top-funnel strategies the that created exceptional user experience were limited. How do you deliver personalized content on the mobile device that will keep you "top of mind"? The only solution was proximity.

The importance of granular filters. 

Proximity as defined is "nearness in space, time, or relationship". At the time when I was researching this in late 2013- mid 2014 only a couple of mobile "ad networks" seemed to be able to deliver the actual granular results I was seeking. One of these was Xad, they have a platform that has experienced exponential growth over the last couple of years and they seem to be making all the right moves. They call themselves a "private marketplace". They have accumulated data from multiple sources and also through their proprietary methods and technology can utilize that data to serve ads in-app based on customer query measuring intent, along with geo-fencing capabilities. So not only do they offer the granular results in location (.0001 lat/long), Xad is able to offer granular data in regards to purchase intent.The CTR rates with these campaigns are better than average. You can check out an Adweek article here about their new developments.

What we see is the platforms that have access to purchase intent data while offering granular location targeting are experiencing huge growth because of effectiveness. The need for real-time ad serving to the most effective segment comes from a network model that doesn't have to go across multiple silos. Well we already know this to be true, but the problem was how to make the data fluid. The answer to that lies in a lot of technical language and software implementations that I cannot even begin to explain because I'm not a programmer. However another answer is to create and collect your own data and build from there.

Indoors proximity solutions

Mobile ad networks only help your campaigns if your customer is outside in view of the satellites. What about indoors? How was a small business owner going to access his customer in his store? The current solutions, although not all fully developed, are wifi, QR codes, NFC, PW (physical web) and beacons. I will only discuss about these as far as using actionable data, proximity and small local business implementation is concerned. These in-store access points are desperately seeking for a way to be used by small business owners. 

First, wifi offers probably the best solution in regards to implementation immediately. The cost involved to accurately track customers and the layers to serve the ad are the biggest factors impeding this technology. To use wifi effectively in proximity, you must be able to triangulate the user indoors, this requires more hardware than most business are willing to invest in and a data aggregation business model in the US would be extremely capital intensive. Qr codes for the most part are inexpensive, however they have passed their point in adoption and effectiveness, rendering them useless. No data owning requirements with QR codes. The NFC technology shows promise with interactive capability however opt-in processes and the requirement of the customer to initiate the action are the downfalls of this technology. NFC also shows little ability to track outside of customer initiation areas.
Physical web (pw) technology is basically a blue tooth device that emits a signal referencing a specific URL. This technology is being pioneered by google as what I believe is a way to keep search query and browser usage relevant. There is not a lot information available about the limits and capabilities of PW devices. It seems that interactive value exchange would be limited with this option because of the specific URL programming of each device. Also the Bluetooth device does not collect any data to be utilized for personalization outside of maybe responsive web design, but that's not personal.
Beacons are currently being used by some of the biggest retailers in the nation and in Europe. Beacons, if properly installed offer more in-store proximity data than any of the other options. These devices allow retailers/brands a gateway to a rich customer experience. Doug Thompson of Beekn.net calls beacons the "gateway drug to the internet of things". Beacons require the user to have specific mobile app on their phone to receive notifications. Some marketers see this as a problem, although I believe it will be the catalyst for rich customer experience. Beacons are "app specific" the hardware and message is deliverable through each app that beacon links to, which means if publishers/retailers/brands want to continue to reach their audience they must provide value; not only for customer acquisition but also to avoid customers deleting the app because of constant messages that provide no value to them. The cons of beacon deployment by businesses are deciding which mobile app to use. Most small businesses do not have a mobile app. Most large retailers have their own app, but that doesn't help with new customer acquisition. Beacons provide the best solution for proximity marketing and tracking. Beacon technology will also give marketers access to new customer metrics such as dwell time and opportunities for digital nudge marketing. 

 This year we should see more major retailers adopt this strategy. Businesses and marketers who keep the customers needs, desires and interest foremost will have an advantage over the companies that want to push coupons. 

Targeted data can come from permission. 

A collection of targeted and permissive customer data will be vital to location based and proximity marketing. Ignore this at your peril. The marketing mind must go to one of true value, not only monetary but one of time, information, mental, and entertainment value. For those of you who are thinking that providing this type of value, outside of just a company mention, will be a waste of time and money with no customer acquisition value; I will leave you one of my favorite quotes that helped me move past that mind frame and is universally true.

"You can have everything in life that you want, if you will just help enough other people get what they want" -Zig Ziglar

Please feel free to comment or add to anything I missed or may have wrong.
Thanks for reading.

Location/Proximity based contextual content is king

The main problems marketers face today from a mobile perspective can be solved with Ibeacons. Companies must realize that not only "content is king" but location/proximity based contextual content is king. Beacons offer the ability to push contextual content from a location/proximity based filter. Marketers face problems with data that is fragmented across multiple platforms. Which inhibits fluidity and real time actions to some degree. Customer profiling and data collection of purchase history and consumer behavior are becoming ever more critical to effective campaigns. Consumers are demanding value from company's and expect to get it on their mobile devices. Beacons not only provide a gateway for contextual ad service, but as more retailers adopt this tech data tagging of physical space will produce even more effective marketing campaigns.

To produce predictive marketing campaigns on a local/proximity level, marketers will need to embrace beacons for data mining of said spaces. This data will be a collection of all behaviors, purchases, social media interactions, and browsing info relevant to that space. If you know what content has the most engagement and conversion in a given space along with customer profiles then ROI has no choice but to increase. This concept is already being utilized well by a couple of mobile networks, however proximity is left out. Analytics is a science of probabilities that has proven to be effective. Adding proximity based metrics to data sets helps to define the probabilities and inferences of that physical space. Beacons are the vessel by which physical space blends with digital information. The road to this solution will take time and patience however it is the only road for "location/proximity based contextual content marketing".