定位技術是營銷界的下一個熱詞。

隨著各品牌紛紛意識到依托全球定位系統（GPS）的增強現實技術（例如Pokémon Go）的力量，他們就開始尋找接觸顧客的新方法。了解顧客位于哪里，又在關注什么，對他們而言意義重大，而這項技術使得這種想法成為了可能。

CrowdOptic的業務拓展副總裁吉姆?科瓦奇表示：“顧客的設備發送的特定GPS坐標，讓每個廣告商都能知道他們的位置。”這是一家增強現實技術公司，與歐萊雅（L’Oreal）、索尼（Sony）和IMG都建立了合作關系。

隨著定位功能風靡營銷和廣告界，有哪些趨勢值得關注？科瓦奇與我進行了探討。以下15種趨勢需要留意。

1. 增強現實活動

大獲成功的Pokémon Go正是利用了這種增強現實技術。它依靠定位，使用技術生成的精靈球改變了物理現實。利用同樣的技術，廣告商可以圍繞品牌或產品營造虛擬體驗。

科瓦奇表示：“歐萊雅很早就開始舉辦增強現實活動，我們會在2017年看到更多。”利用CrowdOptic技術，歐萊雅舉辦了虛擬藝術展覽。借助先進的定位技術，參展游客可以用移動設備觀看銀幕上展示的藝術作品，仿佛它們就在自己眼前。

2. 增強廣告

增強現實技術可以跨越廣告的限制，在特殊活動上播放廣告時增強觀看者的體驗。科瓦奇表示，增強現實廣告“在用戶觀看時‘栩栩如生’，能比之前的靜態廣告提供更多信息。”

3. 焦點聚集

廣告商一直在努力搞清哪些廣告能吸引人們的關注，為什么，以及吸引了哪類消費者。對此，焦點聚集可以提供前所未有的詳細信息。利用移動設備或可穿戴技術收集的高級定位數據，營銷商可以獲得消費者物理位置以外的許多其他信息。焦點聚集可以顯示出消費者在關注哪里。

焦點聚集意義重大，因為它能讓活動策劃方在未來量身打造專門滿足消費者喜好的活動。

4. 預測分析將改變根據地點的推送廣告

盡管根據地點來推送廣告不是什么新鮮事物，不過人工智能和預測分析將會把推送信息的個性化提高到一個新的層次。

利用人工智能增加企業生產力的技術公司Grok的首席執行官塔倫?剛瓦尼表示：“營銷商可以向任何擁有智能手機的用戶及時提供與情境相關的推送。預測分析算法可以預計用戶的位置，在用戶離家前進行推送，或是根據他們的路線進行每周推送。”

同樣的算法還可以根據用戶的購買趨勢進行推送，例如，跑步應用可以用人工智能分析消費者的位置歷史，如果他們可能要前往崎嶇不平的地區，就能推送廠商贊助的登山鞋廣告。關于行為模式的信息可以讓廣告商預測消費者的位置，并根據路線提供有意義的產品。

5. 消費者的觀看新體驗

CrowdOptic的技術可以讓用戶在現場活動中獲得多種視角。例如，人們可以通過觀看設備，在運動賽事中選擇不同的觀看點，并獲得那里的視角，從而以之前不可能實現的方式控制自己的觀賞體驗。

這會促使觀眾返回場館，為自己購買高度個性化的超大屏幕。

6. 在電子商務中使用定位將增加實體店人流

實體零售商正努力在電子商務的威脅下保持競爭力，而使用定位功能可以促使步行游客來到實體店面。

專注于線上到線下技術的公司ShareRails的創始人和首席執行官約瑟夫?奈曼表示：“目前，實體店存貨和網店存貨之間沒有什么聯系。把實體店的商品清單放到網上，消費者就能用谷歌（Google）輕松找到他們想在店內購買的產品，隨后根據指引來到擁有對應商品的當地店鋪。”

7. 根據地點對接網紅

迄今為止，許多網絡紅人的大規模營銷都是全國性的，這讓當地零售商很難通過這種相對新穎的營銷方式獲得預期的收益。

利用定位技術，廣告商可以無縫對接當地的網紅，從而與這些社交媒體紅人合作吸引當地受眾。

8. 無線電信標變得更加普遍

無線電信標是零售店內的小型感應器，通過追蹤人流量等指標，它們能給商店提供消費者購物的詳細情況。

零售店可以利用信標更好地掌握某個時刻消費者的位置，從而讓廣告商及時向顧客推送消息和廣告，并獲取關于消費者行為的寶貴數據。

9. 活動營銷得到改善

任何經歷過活動營銷的人，都會告訴你讓人們參加活動比看起來要難得多。

預計會有越來越多的商家使用定位技術，配合定向Facebook廣告等手段，在消費者附近有特別活動時提醒他們，并提供優惠來吸引他們參加。

10. 促進銷量的限時當地營銷

未來將會看到商家使用限時營銷吸引消費者。當地公司會提供短時間內有效的特別優惠，這種情況會在明年出現得更加頻繁。

11. 利用無人機進行趨勢追蹤

CrowdOptic已經與其他機構合作，通過與政府的試點項目，利用無人機關注人群的聚集點，從而掌握潮流。這項技術還可以用于研究消費者在大片區域內的移動和購物軌跡，從而更好地管理空間，并向他們投放特定廣告。

12. 促進數據收集

各大品牌很早以前就意識到消費者的購物數據在營銷上的各種用途，不過顧客并不總會輕易透露隱私。利用特別折扣、會員特權以及定位數據，公司可以更容易地獲得當地顧客的數據。我們可以把它看作大多數雜貨店提供的顧客回饋卡的升級版，其中滿是誘人的數據。

13. 立刻登錄

我們已經知道，登錄是一項很有用的營銷工具。但是消費者不愿意這么做，因為這讓他們在購物之前要多一項步驟。

越來越多的本地公司和分公司開始在應用內部植入立刻登錄功能，從而獲得了顧客消費習慣的寶貴數據。

14. 地理柵欄

地理柵欄可以讓公司劃定廣告投放的區域。例如，消費者可能會在一家店排隊付款的時候閱讀一篇文章，并看到一則隔壁店針對投放的廣告，因為他們位于隔壁店的地理柵欄區域內。這類廣告能獲得明顯的收益，也很容易實現。

15. 基于天氣的定位廣告

各品牌可以使用天氣數據，根據顧客經歷的天氣，推廣一些特別的產品和服務。“晴天？為什么不進來喝杯冰茶消消暑，買點防曬霜和遮陽帽”或“下雪了嗎？我們這里賣輪胎防滑鏈。”

自從廣告可以印刷以來，商家就希望能盡可能親自、快速地接觸消費者。利用上文提到的工具，各公司將著力打造前所未有的個性化即時顧客體驗。你的公司準備好了嗎。(財富中文網)

譯者：嚴匡正

Geolocation is the next buzzword in marketing.

As brands discover the power of GPS-fueled augmented reality (think Pokémon Go), they’re finding new ways to reach customers. For them, it’s meaningful not only to know not only where a consumer is, but also where that consumer’s attention is, and technology is making that possible.

"Every advertiser has an understanding of where consumers are located through their devices translated as specific GPS coordinates,” says Jim Kovach, vice president of business development at CrowdOptic, an augmented reality technology firm that has worked with L’Oreal, Sony and IMG.

Kovach sat down with me to talk about trends to watch as geolocation sweeps marketing and advertising. Here are 15 trends to watch.

1. Augmented reality events

Augmented reality, the technology behind the wildly successful Pokémon Go game, relies on geolocation to manipulate physical reality with tech-discoverable easter eggs. Using the same technology, advertisers can craft virtual experiences around a brand or product.

“L’Oreal was an early adopter of augmented reality events, and we’re going to see more of this in 2017,” Kovach says. Using CrowdOptic technology, L’Oreal created a virtual art exhibit. Thanks to advanced geolocation technology, exhibit attendees used their mobile devices to uncover works of art that appeared onscreen, as if they were physically present.

2. Augmented advertising

Pushing the limits of advertising, augmented reality technology can be used to enhance a viewer’s experience when an ad comes into view at a particular event. Kovach says that an augmented reality ad “can instantly ‘come alive’ in the user's view, giving them more information than previously possible with static advertisements.”

3. Focal clustering

Advertisers are vying to know which ads are attracting attention, why, and the types of consumers they draw. Focal clustering can provide that information in more detail than ever before. Marketers, using advanced geolocation data captured by mobile devices or wearable technology, can identify so much more than the physical location of the consumer. Focal clustering illuminates where the consumer is looking.

Focal clustering is meaningful because it allows event planners, for instance, to tailor events specifically to consumer desires in future visits.

4. Location-based offers will transform with predictive analysis

While location-based offers are nothing new, artificial intelligence and predictive analysis will take offer personalization to another level.

“Marketers can provide just-in-time, context aware offers to anyone with a smartphone,” says Tarun Gangwani, CEO of Grok, a tech company that leverages artificial intelligence to increase business productivity. “Predictive analytics algorithms can be used to forecast a user’s location, sending an offer before a user leaves the house, or during the week based on their routine.”

These same algorithms can be used to send offers based on overall trends of a user — a running application can use AI to analyze a customer’s location history to suggest a sponsored offer for hiking boots if they tend to visit areas with rough terrain. Information about behavioral patterns will allow advertisers to forecast a consumer’s location and serve meaningful deals based on routine.

5. New viewing experiences for the consumer

CrowdOptic’s technology also allows users to gain multiple perspectives at live events. People can, for example, aim their viewing device at a different vantage point at a sporting event, and receive that location's perspective, allowing them to control their viewing experience in ways never before possible.

This gives audiences an incentive to return to the venue and, have their own highly-personalized Jumbotron at their fingertips.

6. Using geolocation in e-commerce will drive traffic to brick-and-mortar stores

Physical retailers are vying to stay competitive amidst the threat of e-commerce, and using

geolocation can help drive foot traffic to brick-and-mortar storefronts.

“Right now, there’s a disconnect between physical retail inventory and digital retail inventory,” says Joseph Nejman, founder and CEO of ShareRails, a firm specializing in online to offline technology. “By making the inventory of physical retail locations available online, shoppers can conduct a simple Google search to find merchandise they’re likely to purchase in-store, and then be directed to the local retailers that have their items in stock.”

7. Digital influencers will be activated based on location

To date, most large-scale influencer marketing efforts have happened on a national level, which makes it difficult for local retailers to reap the word-of-mouth benefits offered by the relatively new marketing discipline.

Using geolocation will allow advertisers to seamlessly activate local influencers, enabling them to align with social media personalities that are likely to inspire action in local audiences.

8. Beacons will become commonplace

Beacons, which are small sensors placed throughout retail locations, can provide outlets with a detailed picture of how customers shop by tracking to tracking things such as foot traffic.

Retailers can use beacons to better understand precisely where a customer is located within the store at any given moment, enabling advertisers to push timely messages and offers to customers and providing invaluable data about that customer’s behavior.

9. Event marketing will improve

Anyone with experience in event marketing will tell you that getting people to attend events is much harder than it looks.

Expect to see more businesses using geolocation, such as with targeted Facebook ads, informing customers when nearby locations are having special events, and offering deals to get them through the doors.

10. Time-limit local marketing to drive sales

Expect to see business attract local customers through time-limit marketing. Local companies providing special coupons that are only available for a small window of time will become increasingly frequent in the next year.

11. Drone-based trend monitoring

In tandem with other organizations, CrowdOptic has already used its technology for understanding trends in crowd focus in drones through experimental work with the government. That technology can also be applied to see how customers move and shop in large areas to better manage space and to target specific types of ads to them.

12. Incentivizing data collection

Brands have long-since recognized how useful customer shopping data can be in all aspects of marketing, but customers will not always give privacy away easily. Using special deals and membership perks in conjunction with geolocation data will allow companies to more easily collect data from customers locally. Think of it as the updated version of those customer rewards cards most grocery stores have, filled with juicy metadata.

13. Instant check-in

We've already established that check-ins are an extremely useful marketing tool. But customers are reluctant to do so, because it adds an extra step to their experience.

More and more local businesses and business branches will begin incorporating instant check-in to their in-app purchasing experience, gaining valuable data on customer spending habits.

14. Geofencing

Geofencing creates a zone around a business for advertisement targeting. For example, a customer can be reading an article on their phone in the check-out line at a business, and see a specifically-targeted ad for the business next door, because they are within their Geofenced zone. The rewards for this type of advertising are clear, and easy to set up.

15. Weather-based geolocation advertising

Brands will use weather data to advertise specific products and services to customers based on the weather they're experiencing: “Sunny day? Why not come in and cool off with an iced tea, or come to our store for sunscreen and a hat” or “Snowy outside? We're offering a deal on tire

chains.”

Since advertisements began printing, businesses have sought to reach customers as personally and immediately as possible. With tools like the ones outlined above, companies will make the customer experience more individualized and instant than ever before. Is your company ready?