It’s a wrap! Last week, Simpli.fi hosted our annual Local Programmatic Summit here in beautiful downtown Fort Worth. A big thank you to all of our clients and partners who attended a great day of in-depth educational sessions and interactive best-practice discussions.
 
Here are a few key takeaways from the event.

Overall Industry Movement Toward Localization and Personalization

Localized advertising, once overlooked by national advertisers, is now a valuable part of any marketer’s strategy. While historically advertisers focused most of their spend on national campaigns, today, however there is a growing need to make advertising more personal… more localized.

Advertisers at-large are evaluating how they most effectively identify and reach customers in the cities and locations where they live and play and as a result, they are adjusting their marketing spend. BIA/Kelsey forecasts that U.S. location-based ad spend will double in the next five years. In his opening session, Frost Prioleau, CEO of Simpli.fi, advised advertisers who are looking to invest more in local advertising to also make sure they are effectively localizing audiences, messages and budgets.
 

OTT/CTV is the Next Wave of Programmatic

OTT advertising, while in its infant stages, is already here in a big way — and it will only become more central to marketing initiatives in the coming years as consumer viewing habits continue the shift towards apps and internet-connected TVs.

Millions of consumers have already ditched their traditional cable subscriptions, so it should come as no surprise that online and multichannel advertising are expected to account for nearly a third of all TV spending by 2021. We believe that 2018 will be the year that programmatic over-the-top (OTT) and connected-TV advertising (CTV) comes of age. By pairing the increased adoption of OTT/CTV with programmatic, advertisers have an unprecedented opportunity to reach a precise audience with highly targeted video advertising that fits their businesses’ individualized marketing needs.

Find out more about the changing video consumption habits of consumers and what it means for advertisers.
 

Advancements in Location Intelligence and Insights

More than 50% of advertisers today are using location data to target customers, representing billions of dollars, according to a recent survey of 500 marketers by the Local Search Association. Advertisers are getting more comfortable with adding location data into their marketing mix and we expect the growth numbers to continue the upward trajectory

According to eMarketer’s 2018 Location Intelligence Study, a “clear majority of mobile users allow their devices to track their location—many of their favorite apps depend on it.” Younger consumers still opt in to consumer tracking at high rates. Additionally, “marketers have much better tools to vet and verify data, and there are high-quality sources of data, including GPS directly from publishers and data service providers that filter out much of the poor-quality data.”

Location data is such an important resource for marketers because it’s a highly targeted way to reach the right consumer at the right time through the ubiquitous use of mobile data and location services. Additionally, location intelligence is making the online-to-offline connection more transparent.

Learn more about Simpli.fi’s best-in-class location-based mobile advertising technology.

Thanks again to all our attendees and we look forward to seeing everyone at the 2019 Simpli.fi Local Programmatic Summit!