Guest comment: The Geotargeting Bonus- A Multi-Application, Multi-Benefit Technology

We all like to be pleasantly surprised, especially when it comes to the unexpected impact, usefulness and relevance of technology. For marketers, who often deploy and administer multiple technologies to support their online initiatives, that rings especially true. They’ve been told they need a separate technology to target ads. Then one to manage geographic rights. And, yet another to perform detailed web analytics.

Unfortunately, marketers can quickly find themselves managing an online environment that’s grown quite complex from multiple technologies that work in silos, instead of in tandem. Marketers need more cross-functional technologies to make it easier for them to attract and engage online audiences.  

Geotargeting is an Online Marketers’ Dream

To address this issue, marketers need not look any further than geotargeting or geolocation technology—the method of automatically determining the location of website visitors.

Early forms of geotargeting technology initially proved unreliable and somewhat invasive, returning questionable data (at best) at a country level. Today’s geotargeting technology allows any type of online business—from online advertisers to analytics companies to online retailers—to identify the location of online visitors down to a post-code level, without invading user privacy. This new generation of technology called IP Intelligence, which is based on user IP addresses, can also uncover other valuable information about an online user such as connection speed, Internet Service Provider (ISP) and domain name, providing a more accurate picture of online traffic. 

Whether the goal is to create an instant connection with a first-time site visitor; to drive revenue for online marketing campaigns; or to ensure content is in the right hands, today’s geotargeting technology provides the type of all-in-one tool to take online interactions in the right direction—toward a closer relationship with your online audience.

Geolocation technology can be used in a number of ways, for instance:

Targeted Online Advertising - Enables online advertisers and marketers to increase advertising’s reach, relevance and response. New IP parameters allow for more pinpointed targeting and flexibility.

Content Localisation - Provides online entities with the tools to move away from “one-size-fits-all” web content and instead deliver relevant content, language, currency, products and promotions—creating an instant connection with website visitors—that helps reduce website and transaction abandonment, resulting in increased sales and revenue.

Geographic Rights Management – Allows online content distributors to adhere to licensing and copyright agreements surrounding usage of online audio and video content. Additionally, geotargeting can be used to restrict downloads in certain geographic locations where content needs to be legally restricted.

Analytics – Offers companies a new way to view, and analyse online data to improve web performance and site effectiveness. It also provides a real-time mechanism that allows customers to analyse data and to take immediate action.

Case Study: UK’s Leading Music Site Manages Digital Rights and Targets Ads with One Solution

we7, the online music streaming service co-founded by ex-Genesis front man Peter Gabriel, offers free, unlimited access to millions of music tracks across all genres from all four major record labels as well as independents. The company’s innovative advertising platform ensures artists and labels receive royalties for making their songs available, while consumers receive streamed legal music free of charge.

When providing streaming music, we7 has contractual obligations with music owners to abide by certain distribution restrictions attached to each song in its library. As such, the company needed technology that would allow it to continue providing a free service to users, while protecting the geographical rights associated with each song in its library. Additionally, the company was looking to create an advantageous situation for its advertisers, artists and listeners by ensuring that the ads it delivered were appropriate for its audience.

To address these two issues simultaneously, we7 turned to IP intelligence and geolocation technology, which allowed the company to abide by the geographic restrictions placed on songs by rights owners, while also delivering true value to site visitors, advertisers, artists and labels. This approach has proven successful, given we7 announced earlier this year that its ad revenues didn’t just cover its running costs, they now also covered the costs of royalties it pays to the artists whose music it streams.

As demonstrated by we7, the capabilities of today’s geotargeting technology can bring amazing value to companies. Savvy online marketers recognise the bonus geotargeting brings to their online initiatives. Through a single technology, they can address multiple business needs and succeed in meeting a wide array of distinct online goals.

By Frank Bobo

Vice President

Digital Element

www.digital-element.net

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