Geo-Targeting, It's More than Foursquare

Geo-targeting isn't just about Foursquare. It isn't just about kitschy bargains, loyalty rewards or even becoming mayor of your local coffee shop. The big picture lies within tailoring marketing strategies on a national and international scale.

Just by knowing where someone lives, marketers can predict weather, culture, holidays, nationality, and ultimately, behavior effecting those consumers. Imagine going to Macy's website and before you can even shop, a pop-up says "It's supposed to snow tomorrow. Our store location three blocks from you has these three coats for sale." Or imagine you're a retailer located in different states and have different prices for each state. Now, those prices can change depending on the IP location. Seems simple right? Not exactly.

While it may be easy to obtain IP addresses and develop needs for this asset, to actually make it feasible is another matter. Right now, geo-targeting only identifies a site visitor's true location no more than 85% of the time (according to Geoffrey Hueter, chief technology officer at Certona Corp.). Also, geo-targeting is not the answer to everything. It should still be combined with other information companies have on their consumers to produce the most tailored results.

All-in-all, while geo-marketing isn't perfected, it is undeniably a tool for the future and retailers and marketers alike would be wise to watch its development.