Why Mobile Device ID is Blowing Our Minds

Posted on Oct 29, 2024 by Imaginal Marketing

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Mobile device ID targeting is based on a technology you may have heard of: Geofencing. Launched for marketing around 2009, geofencing is the idea that you can draw a fence around an area and you can target the devices or the cell phones that go into that area. So with geofencing, or the way it used to work is, that the cell phones would see your ad when they were in that fence.

Now with mobile device ID targeting, it's so much better because it's not just when the phones are there, but when the phones leave, they also see your ads. The other aspect that's made it so exciting is that the location can get so much more specific. So we can actually target a small business like a restaurant or a salon, or we can even target a business within a business.

So for example, your can target the color section within an Ulta or the Ulta within a Target. So we can get really specific on where we are targeting.

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HOW DEVICE ID TARGETING WORKS

Let's explain more about how the process works for device ID. First, you start off by identifying the businesses that you want to target — locations that have customers like yours. (We usually recommend starting with five target locations.)

Let's say you pick your top three competitor salons in your area. Maybe you want to also add the Saks Fifth Avenue because you share a similar clientele, and the trendy new restaurant down the street that everybody's talking about. That's your 5 target businesses. So the phones that go into those locations are the customers who will see your ads.

How do they see your ads? Maybe not immediately, but starting when the phone goes into the location, your ad follows them home and they see the ads on the top 5000 websites and apps. Not only do they see your ad, but their cell phone learns what other cell phones it spends a lot of time around and it starts targeting the other members of the family as well. (You can even expand your campaign to include a TV commercial buy, and reach the household on their smart TV).

ACCURATE, EASIER MEASUREMENT

One of the things that's so exciting about mobile device ID targeting is how accurate the measurement is. Previously with online advertising — if you were to run an online social media campaign, for example — the tracking would be still pretty manual.

Say you had an offer in your social media ad, your offer would get redeemed in the salon, and there would be a discount code that has to be entered manually by a person, which of course leaves room for human error. That kind of code tracking takes a lot of training, it takes a lot of supervision, it just takes a lot of energy. It's never really all that perfect, despite the best intentions.

FOOT TRAFFIC REPORTING = FEET THROUGH THE DOOR

However with device ID targeting, that all gets so much easier and more accurate, thanks to something called a foot traffic report. The foot traffic report can actually track the cell phones that have never been in your location before but have been at your competitors and seen your ads and then came to your location.

YES, you can actually track the cell phones that have:

• been at one of your competitors
• seen your ad
• then come to YOUR location
• never before been to your business

It's mind-blowing what this can report on from a new guest measurement place!

TEST CAMPAIGNS' INITIAL RESULTS ARE HUGE

(Campaigns below are all running budgets of $760/ month).

HOW DOES DEVICE ID STACK UP TO SOCIAL?

How does this compare to what was our leading best practice recommendation for attracting new guests, social media advertising? Typically, for a similar spend ($750), we would expect to see about 50 new guests in a month. That would be a very successful campaign.

If you compare the 50 social media redemptions to the 58-137 new people for Mobile Device ID, we’re seeing up to 30% more bodies in the door with device ID.

Now, these are not apples to apples. With social media, those are tracked conversions (people who redeemed the offer).

That's different than what we have with Device ID, where they're physically coming into the location. Are they coming in for an appointment? Maybe to make one? Are they buying retail? Are they stylists from a competitor, just sticking their head in the door because they want to see what the vibe is like?

It's a different animal, but they are coming in and they have never been there before. So in the world of advertising, that's a big win — getting people through the doors of your business.

Both strategies are working, so if you can, we’d recommend you try both and see what delivers the best results for your business.

For more information on starting a Mobile Device ID Campaign for your salon or business, contact Imaginal.