How can predictive mobility data and audience targeting help retail brands draw in more customers? 

How can retail brands draw even more consumers to their locations?

Brands have traditionally relied on first-party data about their existing customers plus third-party data from partners, search engines, social media networks, and elsewhere. However, another type of data can bring consumers further into relief, allowing brands to better understand, reach, and engage with them. 

That’s where predictive mobility data comes in. 

What is predictive mobility data? 

Predictive mobility data is comprised of signals about where and when consumers are likely to go, based on where and when we know they’ve gone in the past.  

In an Arity study, 75% of participants said they appreciate when apps use their data to provide personalized experiences, And when customers opt-in to data sharing in exchange for benefits, marketers have an opportunity to go beyond location data and instead focus on predictive mobility data. 

In the retail industry and beyond, predictive mobility data can be used to anticipate a consumer’s likely driving patterns and personalize advertising at scale by displaying offers most likely to resonate at the right place and time. 

What can predictive mobility data do for retail brands?  

The main use cases for predictive mobility data for retailers are: 

1. Precision targeting: Power high-performance ad campaigns with audience targeting 

1. Enhanced customer engagement: Personalize the customer experience with relevant messaging 

1. Competitor insights: Identify and engage with drive-by traffic that also visits competitive stores

Precision targeting 

What if you could reach your best customers across the entire customer journey based on how, when, and where they drive?  

Predictive mobility data can help brands do just that. In addition to demographic and behavioral targeting, brands can target consumers based on their driving habits. 

Here are some examples of ways retailers might target audiences based on how consumers drive: 

• A clothing retailer wants to reach parents à Target drivers who take regular weekday trips to and from schools and parks.  

• A QSR wants to reach early-morning commuters à Target drivers with regular morning commute patterns. 

• A fuel and convenience chain wants to connect with road-trippers à Target drivers with high annual mileage. 

With the availability of predictive mobility data, brands can partner with data providers like Arity to reach specific consumer segments based on real driving behavior, including driving risk, mileage, commuting habits, and more. With predictive mobility data and targeted audiences, retailers now have a new way to target the ideal customers in their campaigns.

Enhanced customer engagement 

Using driving behavior data to reach the most relevant drivers is a great start. But once you know how to reach your target audience, you need to display a relevant and timely message to get them to stop into your location. 

Here are some examples of how smart retailers can do this today: 

• Retail marketers can display a coupon to drivers who frequently pass by their locations. 

• QSR marketers can promote specific drinks and meals to frequent drive-by customers depending on time of day. 

• Fuel and convenience marketers can offer a deal to drivers they know will be driving by at a certain time of day. 

Competitor insights 

Location, location, location: it’s as important in retail as it is in real estate. 

Sometimes consumers decide which brand to buy based on where they prefer to buy. That is, consumers might only purchase their morning coffee in the vicinity of their offices. But what if a coffee brand is one of several in that vicinity? How could this brand nudge consumers away from a competitor’s retail café and into their nearby location? 

With predictive mobility data, marketers can understand common driving patterns, such as common commutes — and serve offers to entice commuters to visit their location – not a nearby competitor’s.  

This mobility data might also help the brand understand why consumers are reluctant to stop in. Maybe a nearby competitor’s location is slightly more convenient, which implies that a brand could consider improving its location strategy. 

These three use cases confirm what smart marketers already know: Their customers appreciate convenience and deals – especially when it’s offered at the right time and the right place. And with consumers opting in to share their mobility data, brands have an opportunity to reach customer segments based on how, when, and where they drive.  

This phenomenon presents an opportunity for marketers to reach their target customers in innovative ways – and gain an edge over competitors. And with the Arity Marketing Platform, marketers can do just that. 

The next frontier of personalization and customer engagement is here. Are you ready for it?