Location-based advertising is still in its infancy, but according to a new study from ABI Research, businesses are primed to spend $US1.8 billion on it in 2015 as part of their overall mobile marketing budgets.

Location-based ads are enabled by three sets of technologies: GPS, wi-fi, and Cell-ID (location determined relative to mobile phone transmitters.) The most successful campaigns use a mix of some or all of these, depending on the product or service, the region, the consumers, and the location accuracy required.

Some location-based services are ‘check-ins’ such as foursquare (see page 12), and Facebook with its Places, for consumers who are willing to ‘self-identify’. Others, such as Shopkick, use an iPhone app to reward shoppers just for visiting certain stores.

ABI offers the following tips for would-be locationbased advertisers:

• Establish your marketing goals, as with any other marketing campaign

• Analyse your customers’ mobile and location habits and develop your location approach

• Choose location partner(s) and determine the best technologies for your brand

• Execute your geo-targeted campaign, measure the results, and refine.