Placed Debuts Placed Attribution, A Way To Check If Your Mobile Ads Actually Drive Foot Traffic

Location-based analytics provider Placed today unveiled its latest product, Placed Attribution. Inspired by Placed Insights and feedback that came out of the launch of that comScore-style Analytics platform aimed at offline businesses, Placed Attribution is a way to finally see whether locally-served mobile ads really result in in-person store visits.

Just like online metrics measure things like click-through rates (CTRs) and follow-through in terms of paid conversions resulting from visitors driven by ads, real-world businesses can use Placed Attribution to see when mobile ads result not just in clicks, but in actual store visits (and sales, too, by combining the Placed data with in-store sales metrics).

This is something that will not only help mobile ad providers offer more value to its users, but could change the entire buying process around mobile ads for physical world businesses.

“When you look at it from a quick serve restaurant perspective, you don’t have the instant gratification normally associated with the web,” he said. “Very rarely will someone see a tiny ad, click on it, go to a mobile website and buy something in that market. What’s more likely to happen, but isn’t as measurable is they see an advertisement for a chicken sandwich, or for 10 percent off, and they actually go to that physical store and make a purchase. We can actually tie those things together now without a tag, special hardware or a survey.”

Reports from Placed Attribution can show when in-store visits are most likely attributable (or at least directly preceded by) a relevant mobile ad being shown a customer; the effect of ads on an audience vs. the baseline for the general population in terms of frequency and number of store visits; and demographics around the types of people who are shown ads and who actually visit as a result. All of which provides a much clearer picture of how mobile ads are working than has previously been available.

Placed Attribution_Screen Shot 2Launch partner xAd will be offering up Placed Attribution reports into its campaigns so that clients can access the above information, should they so choose, and Placed plans to partner with others soon to offer the same through those ad companies.

If this flies, it could potentially change the way brick-and-mortar businesses look at online ads, which is an area where many have been less willing to spend vs. print and other media. It makes logical sense that an ad a user sees on their phone for a McDonald’s hamburger for instance is more likely to send them to restaurant they happen to be walking past, versus a desktop ad they’re looking at on their iMac at home. Now Placed has the power to prove it.