Mobile devices have a unique characteristic that sets them apart from laptop or desktop devices. Every single mobile device has a unique device ID that can be accessed by apps installed on them. This ability for every mobile device to be uniquely identified offers a new and effective means of marketing known as device ID marketing.
What is Device ID Marketing?
As the name suggests, device ID marketing uses individual device IDs to better improve engagement and conversion. A device ID allows businesses to better understand the marketing profile of an individual through tracking device usage. It also allows ads to better target individuals by grouping similar individuals.
Personalized Profiles
Creating personalized profiles isn't anything new. It has been a core tenet of online marketing almost since day one. However, device IDs offer a much more effective tool for creating these profiles.
Unlike laptop and desktop devices, mobile devices are rarely shared by multiple users. The majority of the time, only the owner is using the device. This means that tracked device usage for a device ID usually correlates to only a single person. The resulting usage profile is likely to be a lot more accurate than it is for a desktop computer that may have two or more different people using it regularly.
Marketing to Verified Devices
Another advantage of device IDs is that they only exist for verified, real devices. Thus, when an advertisement is presented to a device with a device ID, you can be certain that a real life person is viewing your ad. The same can't be said for non-mobile devices. Internet bots create millions of false impressions and waste billions of advertising dollars every year. If only a few hundred of those advertising dollars belong to your business, it's still wasted money that could be spent in better ways.
Targeted Advertising
Combining these two aspects of device ID marketing allows for targeted advertising. By creating a personal profile for every unique device ID, marketers can place them into groups based on interests. When those device IDs visit sites with advertising, they can then be presented with advertising customized to that specific group. Because a device ID is present, the marketer and business knows that a real person is watching the advertisement. If the advertisement is designed appropriately for that marketing segment, it should result in higher engagement and better conversion.
Making it Work
While device ID marketing is a powerful tool, it is still only a tool. Actually making it works requires two things: good profiling and engaging content.
Profiles need to be grouped in a way that actually takes advantage of the personalized information that has been gathered. For example, simply breaking up profiles by genders isn't specific enough to have a big effect on marketing efficiency. However, knowing that a group of device IDs represents women in their third trimester of pregnancy is the kind of specific information that's highly useful.
Additionally, just like with all other marketing, the content of the advertising has to be engaging. Targeting the correct demographic helps, but if the content is stale, it isn't enough. You can't skimp on quality content just because you are targeting the right demographic with the right product or service.
Start Device ID Marketing Today
As of the moment you are reading this, at least 90% of Internet time is spent on mobile devices. That is an enormous market segment. Device ID marketing is one of the best ways to engage and convert those individuals. It isn't only the marketing of the future, but also the marketing of today.