The importance of measuring your advertising dollars is key, but how do you know shoppers are coming into your location because of your latest ad campaign? Coupons and offers can assist in the process but very few know that with digital advertising specifically mobile advertising has a potential unuse tool, foot traffic tracking or offline conversions.

checking moble analytics

Thumbvista measures foot traffic using programmatic mobile advertising through geofencing and location-based analytics. Here’s how it works:

  1. Geofencing: Thumbvista sets up virtual boundaries (geofences) around specific physical locations, such as stores or event venues. When users with location-enabled mobile devices enter these geofenced areas, Thumbvista’s system can deliver targeted ads to them via apps and mobile websites. These ads aim to drive customer engagement and subsequent visits.
  2. Foot Traffic Attribution: To track whether mobile ads lead to actual store visits, Thumbvista uses location data from mobile devices. After someone views or clicks on an ad, their device can be tracked (with privacy measures) as it enters the geofenced area around a store. This allows Thumbvista to measure how many users who saw the ads later visited the targeted locations.
  3. Data Integration: Thumbvista integrates data from multiple sources, including mobile device IDs and third-party data providers, to provide detailed reports on foot traffic. This helps businesses understand the direct impact of mobile ads on in-store visits.

By combining location data with sophisticated programmatic advertising techniques, Thumbvista can measure the effectiveness of campaigns in driving physical foot traffic, giving advertisers insights into their return on investment (ROI) from mobile advertising campaigns.

Woman looking at mobile advertising

Measuring foot traffic from mobile advertising is important for several reasons:

  1. Assessing Campaign Effectiveness: By tracking how many people who saw or interacted with a mobile ad actually visit a physical store or location, businesses can directly measure the impact of their marketing efforts. This helps determine whether the ad is successfully driving real-world action, not just digital engagement.
  2. Return on Investment (ROI) Insights: Foot traffic measurement provides advertisers with tangible data on how their advertising dollars are translating into in-store visits. It helps determine the cost per store visit and the effectiveness of mobile ads in generating sales opportunities, which is crucial for calculating the overall ROI of a campaign​.
  3. Audience Targeting and Optimization: By understanding which ads are driving traffic, advertisers can refine their targeting strategies. They can focus more on the ad creatives, times, and locations that are generating the highest traffic, improving the overall efficiency of their ad spend​.
  4. Consumer Behavior Insights: Tracking foot traffic provides valuable insights into consumer behavior, such as how often people visit stores after seeing an ad, the times of day or days of the week with the most traffic, and which locations attract the most visitors. This data helps businesses tailor future marketing efforts to better meet customer preferences​.
  5. Competitive Advantage: Knowing which ads work and which don’t allows businesses to stay ahead of competitors. It provides a clearer understanding of how mobile ads are affecting physical sales, which is critical for maintaining a competitive edge in markets where digital and in-store experiences are closely linked.

Foot traffic measurement helps bridge the gap between digital advertising and physical sales outcomes, making it a powerful tool in omnichannel marketing strategies.