Using data to locate customers is not a new idea. Marketers have been doing this for years, typically purchasing lists from companies that specialize in gathering names and addresses, sometimes with some added demographic information. If you’ve have run a campaign like this in the past, you know that the response rates can be hit or miss. That’s because having a list of addresses simply isn’t enough in this modern age. Two addresses right next to each other can have very different demographics, needs, and buying cycles. Furthermore, merely letting a recipient know that you exist is often not enough. Modern marketers are obligated to create an easy path to purchase, especially in an age where brick-and-mortar stores must compete with easy online purchases. The most visual approach is to provide a map that guides the marketing target to the product, and maps driven by smart location services can create opportunities for marketers as well as the communication service providers who deliver print and mobile solutions.

According to an Adobe-sponsored study conducted in 2016, 53% of respondents said that data-driven marketing was a strategic priority in 2016, but turning their strategy into executable plans required data they didn’t have. A similar Verve study from June 2017 highlighted that targeting and finding ways to use data can present major obstacles for today’s marketers. Many marketers give up because they believe that without access to big data (deep profile data that is context-sensitive), there is no hope for creating campaigns that are data-driven, personalized, and cost-effective. In cases like these, service providers miss out on opportunities because their marketers lack the required tools. Fortunately, both of these conditions can be solved!

The solution lies in a bit of education and investigation, followed by some integration and programming. The starting point is in the world of Geoservices. These services frame the marketing practices that take advantage of the same location data used by cartographers and GPS systems to identify specific points on the ground. These points include locations on both sides of the buyer/seller equation, and they can be used in a variety of ways to bring location intelligence to the marketing plan. Geoservices tools can enable you to guide people to products by defining clear targeted areas for marketing campaigns. When Geoservices are paired with Geoanalytics, you can build a fence around where to target campaigns, optimizing your spend and connecting customers with products more efficiently.