Cross device strategies need smarter tracking
As technology develops and the number of devices consumers use continues to grow brands need to think about how they are gathering insight across devices.
The proliferation of devices is well documented. According to research from Deloitte 72 per cent of the UK are smartphone owners.
Last month researchers at Garter claimed that 2015 is set to be the year of the tablet as sales could overtake PC sales for the first time.
However, it’s no longer enough to know how many consumers own smartphones, or how many people use tablets to research brands, products and services.
Being able to track behaviour across these devices is becoming increasingly important to understand what content to share with people, where and when.
Facebook has recently announced a new reporting tool that lets brands see how people move between devices before they purchase.
The tool tells advertisers which device a consumer has seen their ad on and on which device they performed an action, such as making a purchase or signing up to receive newsletters.
Microsoft Advertising is also launching a new set of tools this autumn that allows brands to deliver creative work sequentially across all Microsoft platforms.
It will allow the brand to target a consumer at different points in the day, for example on Outlook during the day or on Xbox in the evening.
Research companies need to look at gathering insight into how people use these devices, for what reason and crucially at what point in the customer journey.
Without that insight the holy grail of reaching a customer at the right moment will become increasingly difficult as the number of devices available to people continues to grow.
