Internet of Place: Creating Clever Campaigns Using Location Data

The third entry in our series on location in social data looks at innovative and powerful campaigns that feature geotagging at their core.

Earlier entries in the Internet of Place series can be found here, and we’ll be continuing to explore the topic in the coming weeks.

• A primer on location for social data
• Location data for targeted advertising

Want to know how to use location data to create inventive, clever campaigns? Then read on.

What has geotagging ever done for us?

Geotagging and other geographic data taken from conversations posted online allow marketers to bring engagement back into physical spaces.

This can be by building campaigns or competitions that involve social posts from a specific city, neighbourhood or street – even a specific building.

It also adds the ability to create more omnichannel experiences for customers within these campaigns, connecting with them not only across social channels but on in-store screens, via devices and at the counter.

With more data comes more creativity

Location data is still very much in its infancy in terms of social media analytics, but it’s often brands that are responsible for pushing innovation in this space.

Those brands that can offer something a little different with their campaigns are more likely to stand out in a sea of brands vying for consumer attention.

Here are some ways we’re seeing marketers adopt location data into their campaigns, and ways you could consider embracing location data in your marketing efforts.

Put them on the map: Display the data from responses to campaigns in visually exciting ways: Build Twitter walls displaying Tweets at events or in stores, or even display messages on screens at transport hubs.

Let them get creative: Go one step further and collect user-generated content to create something truly eye-catching. Light up maps of the places where a campaign was most popular. Create collages of unique places with images and videos shared.

Create some competition: Offer some clues and launch a treasure hunt across a city – track the responses and reward the people who were closest to the prize. Offer a prize for the person who’s visited more of your locations than anyone else.

Put it to the vote: Generate anticipation by opening a pop-up shop wherever the demand is highest. Reward communities that create the most noise with special offers in their local store.

Make someone’s day: Discover people who are near one of your locations and surprise them with something nice. Notice someone at work in the same building complaining they have a bad back? Offer them a massage. Spot someone nearby who says it’s their birthday? Bring them a cake.

More data means more insights

Tracking your campaigns across the world can also provide some key insights to inform your business intelligence.

Where was it best received? Which part of the campaign resonated in specific areas? Did social chatter actually correlate to sales in the stores nearby?

The more people you’ve encouraged to get involved and share their location data, the richer these insights are going to be.

The creativity with which brands integrate ‘place’ into their campaigns may prove to be the key to unlocking the full potential of location data.

For, example, though only a small percentage of all tweets are geotagged at the moment, an engaging campaign that encourages people to share where they are could quickly provide a brand with a lot more geographic data than they had before.

Make it fun and offer control and they will share with you

Where customers and fans see location data adding value to their experiences they are much more likely to share theirs.

That might be real, economic value, entertainment value or just plain novelty value – whatever it is, it should aim to offer them a sense of ownership of their data through engagement with a brand they trust rather than a suspicion that someone is surveilling them with unclear motives.

This will also probably vary between different industries and different brands, at first anyway. We already know from location-sharing platforms that we’re biased: an alien visitor would think we spend most of our time on gorgeous beaches or in extremely cool bars if they were to use FourSquare as an accurate measure.

It’s likely to be easier, early on, to get people to share where they’re having a #cheekynandos than where they buy their underwear.

GUYS I’M AT NANDO’S FOR THE FIRST TIME IN MY LIFE

— marie (@ladmigvaere) May 16, 2015

According to Deloitte’s Data Nation survey in 2014, almost two thirds of consumers are happy to share their personal information when it leads to direct benefits such as special offers or a personalized service.

If you make it fun and offer them value and control over their data, your customers and fans will join in and share with you.

Location can add value for you and for your customers. It offers a new layer of intelligence to your campaign strategy and it offers those engaging with your campaigns the context that lets them say “that’s me, I was there”.

If you’re interested in learning more about the new location features in Brandwatch, click here.