MNI Blog  /  5 minute read

The Future Of Data With Wearables & Connected Technology

In the ever-evolving digital space, there can be a direct connection made between advances in technology and advances in data collection. As we continue to incorporate technology into our everyday

 
 

By: Jeff DeSimone, Digital Media Specialist

In the ever-evolving digital space, there can be a direct connection made between advances in technology and advances in data collection. As we continue to incorporate technology into our everyday lives at faster and faster intervals, the future of data collection and utilization can be both enticing and frightening. To fully understand the scope of data being collected and how that may be repurposed for advertising campaigns, there are three growing trends that are expected to see rapid growth over the next few years.

The Future With New Wearable Technology

Wearables are poised to change the way consumers shop, capture information, share data, and more. The wearable tech market is expected to be worth $34 billion by 2020, based on the rapid growth of consumers purchasing these devices, with Apple Watches and FitBits leading the charge. This would equate to over 411 million devices being worn across the globe. With these devices essentially tethered to your body through all hours of the day, the potential for data capturing is virtually limitless. By being able to access data on your whereabouts at all times, your sleep patterns, and your heart rate just to name a few, this data can eventually
lead advertisers to access segments they either haven’t tapped into before or have only uncovered the tip of the iceberg. The information on sleep patterns and heart rate seem to be the most unique information that can be collected on a user that we have yet to really see be utilized. In a market like pharma, this knowledge can help tremendously, with unique and timely messaging targeting those who may benefit from healthcare information and advice.

Connected Vehicle Technology

 
 

Consumers are giving up more control to automated systems and assistants, paving the way for self-driving vehicles. With many new car models having options like auto-park, auto-steering, and auto-breaking, while simultaneously syncing their mobile devices, the transportation experience is changing rapidly. Apple CarPlay and other mobile integrations are starting to become far more prevalent in affordable vehicles and with this integration, more data can be collected on the user. On top of some of the GPS tracking that can be done by wearable tech, connected vehicles can collect data that can then be used to potentially track mileage, locations, gas station preference, and more. This information can be very useful to car dealerships, to gauge when someone’s car may be approaching high mileage that would suggest they may be ready for a new car, or something more routine like oil changes and gasoline fill-ups.

Future Home Technology

Consumer familiarity with smart home technology is low due to barriers of price, security, and lack of standardization. But with new competitors entering the market at a rapid pace, these price points are becoming more and more affordable and the products are beginning to feel more practical. Although the classification is fairly broad for Smart Home Technology, the most common products are smart listening devices like Alexa by Amazon, as well as smart thermostats like Nest. With the ability to collect data not only through tendencies and usage but also now through listening, you might notice that you’re served ads for products/services that you recently had a conversation about, without ever researching online. With technology now able to pick up fragments of sentences looking for key phrases or buzzwords, the ability to collect such micro-data and deliver ads has never been more precise. Learn more about micro-data.

These are just three of the many ways brands are using connected technology to gather information about consumers. This data collection helps brands, as it enables them to really pinpoint specific consumers and deliver appropriate messaging to them. And it’s valuable to consumers, who are served ads that are personal, custom, and relevant. Collecting and using data to develop more efficient and successful campaigns is a crucial part of marketing which will only increase as connected technologies evolve.

Personalized Retargeting Becomes More Accurate As Technology is Refined

The digital landscape is an ever-evolving form of advertising that allows brands to continually get smarter with their online targeted advertising. One aspect that has continued to evolve is personalized retargeting, from both visitors to your site as well as new opportunities with CRM. The goal of retargeting is to drive an already interested or informed consumer back to your site to convert into an action. This can be a process that, depending on the industry, can be both short-term as well as a long-term commitment that takes both testing as well as optimization to perfect.

Evolution of Personalized Retargeting

 
 

Over the years, many innovations have enhanced this process, such as personalized dynamic retargeting with messages of recent products you have viewed on a brand’s site. When it first came out, this technology changed the way many in the industry utilized retargeting, but there were watch outs as well. Hiccups, such as targeting those who may have already made a purchase on your site, or not setting correct frequency caps (which could lead to someone seeing an ad upwards of 200+ times), turned a positive form of messaging into one that just annoyed the consumer.

Adhering to an Omnichannel Strategy

As programmatic ad buying and multi-screen advertising capabilities have continued to evolve, the need to segment out these remarketing tactics has become more and more important. Things like recency to the client site, the behaviors taken on site, past purchasers, and the length of time before you should be following up, have become more and more important.

Tools to Optimize a Personalized Retargeting Strategy

One thing that has helped build out these segments is the ability to utilize CRM data in a digital environment, outside of just your typical email marketing. This has allowed advertisers to break out certain audiences, like those who just downloaded a white paper or filled out a form for more information vs. those made a purchase two days ago or sixty days ago. All of these users should be marketed to, but also the messaging to each of them should be different. This is where segmentation is really more important than ever before.

Things like recency allow you to serve a different message to someone who looked at a product three hours ago than to someone who looked ninety days ago. An example of this would be someone looking for baby clothes. Within that three-hour window, remarketing this user could focus heavily on what they were looking for in terms of the specific product, but also potentially similar products or coupon codes. Ninety days later, this audience is still very important, but now their retargeted messaging should focus on the future, and potentially show them ads for products for babies in the 6-9 month age range, to drive conversion.

Retargeting Based on Shopper Persona

Advertisers have also started to look at behavior on site, as well as past purchasers, to allow them to make smarter decisions. Behaviors on site—such as putting something in a shopping cart vs. someone who just showed some interest and clicked on a social button—are very different, and that personalized retargeting message needs to align with that consumer. Past purchasers are also a key audience, as consumer retention is just as important as growth. With new products and technology expanding, there is consistently a new shiny object being shown to consumers. Keeping a customer long term should be the goal of every company. The idea of past purchasers allows you to potentially send an ad with accessories for the product they just purchased, or message the user again in six months, when they may need to upgrade the product they had purchased previously.

As you can see, the digital advertising space is something that is still constantly evolving. With this evolution comes the need for segmentation, and delivery of a personalized message to your key audiences is something that is becoming more and more realistic. However, the need to be smart with the messaging and think about this long term is more important than ever.

Read more about how marketers use big data in our whitepaper.

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