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Marketers are under immense pressure from executives and board members to deliver results. Metrics like impressions or traffic won’t cut it as performance metrics anymore. Instead, marketers focus on measuring real business results, like foot traffic.  As a performance metric, measuring foot traffic can influence everything from audience targeting strategies to your company’s media mix. If you’re new to measuring foot traffic from your ad campaigns, we’re here to help. Here is everything you need to know.  What Is Foot Traffic?  Foot traffic describes the people who walk through your door. Whether you have one location or multiple, if customers can visit a physical store, they are considered foot traffic. In marketing, specifically, foot traffic measures how many people visited your store after they were served one of your ads.  Despite the rise of online shopping, most retail purchases are made in physical locations. What’s more, people are more likely to make purchases once they are in your store. Marketers build ad campaigns around increasing foot traffic because it will also increase return-on-ad-spend (ROAS) and other important performance metrics.   Foot traffic also helps marketers understand who their audience is. Because the laws on consumer privacy continue to change, many online marketing metrics can be imprecise. Foot traffic is an accurate measurement of interest, customer loyalty, and purchase intent. No matter what industry your company is in, those are key indicators for growth.  Importance of Foot Traffic in Marketing Strategy To execute a true omnichannel marketing strategy, marketers must consider how their tactics drive foot traffic. Online traffic is helpful, but foot traffic helps create a better customer journey, build more precise audience segments, and increase purchases. Without campaigns specifically designed to bring customers into their locations, companies are leaving money on the table.  How to Boost Foot Traffic  To boost…

What is Foot Traffic Attribution? Foot traffic attribution, or footfall attribution, is the ability to attribute physical store traffic to your digital ads. Foot traffic attribution connects the real world behavior of consumers to the ad exposure they received. It is the ability to quantify how much the out-of-home or digital exposure influenced them to visit a physical store location. How Does Foot Traffic Attribution Work at GroundTruth? GroundTruth uses our powerful Blueprint technology to verify foot traffic for our customers. With over 5 million Blueprints, GroundTruth can verify when shoppers visit a retail block or a specific location. We use signal data from our Blueprinted locations and compare that with the people who saw one of the ads our customer placed. We can then show both Verified and Projected Visits. Verified Visits are those we know occurred after a shopper saw an ad. Projected Visits is the foot traffic we can assume occurred because of the customer’s ad campaigns, but we don’t have a verified signal. What Insights Can Companies Gain from Footfall Attribution? As more customers voice privacy concerns, digital, and specifically mobile identifiers, are less and less reliable. That means two things. First, media platforms need to work to create other identifiers to ensure the highest quality audience data. And second, companies need to prioritize foot traffic as a performance metric. With footfall data and verified footfall attribution, companies can make direct connections with their target customers. In-store visits show a higher level of intent and a deeper loyalty to your products and services than online visits. What companies learn about the people who visit their store is much more valuable, in terms of real business results, than online traffic. How Does Foot Traffic Attribution Help in the Marketing Funnel Foot traffic attribution can help the marketing…

What is First-Party Data? First-party data (1st party data) is the information that a company collects directly from its own customers and users. This data is obtained through various touchpoints, such as loyalty programs, email sign-ups, customer surveys, website interactions, and more. Since it is gathered directly from customers, first-party data is often the most accurate and relevant, providing invaluable insights into customer behaviors, preferences, and needs. 1st Party Data Definition 1st party data refers to information collected directly by a company from its audience. Whether it’s collected through digital channels like website interactions, mobile apps, or offline through in-store purchases, this data is proprietary to the business and offers the most direct view of customer engagement. Since it comes straight from the source, it is considered highly reliable. 1st Party Data vs 3rd Party Data The differences between first-party data and third-party data is significant. They include: 1st party data: Directly collected by a company from its customers, making it accurate, reliable, and relevant to the company’s target audience. It is often used for customer retention and personalized marketing campaigns. 3rd party data: Gathered by external companies and sold to businesses. Third-party data is typically less specific, covering a broad range of consumers from various sources. It lacks the personal connection and accuracy of 1st party data, often being used for broader, top-of-funnel marketing efforts. Examples of First-Party Data Businesses collect first-party data from numerous sources, including: Website interactions: Information about page visits, time on site, and product views. Loyalty programs: Data on purchase frequency, product preferences, and customer lifetime value. Email lists: Subscriber information collected through opt-ins or promotions. Surveys and feedback: Customer opinions, preferences, and experiences gathered through direct outreach. Social media interactions: Likes, shares, and comments on brand-owned channels. Point-of-Sale purchases: Products and services purchased in-store…