Dive Brief:
- Nielsen and Foursquare have partnered to help marketers measure the impact of digital marketing to actual in-store visits based on Foursquare’s geolocation data as reported by the Wall Street Journal.
- Nielsen provides marketers with measurement tools that combine on- and offline activity, but the partnership with Foursquare will provide more insight into consumer behavior like viewing an online ad and visiting a store but not making a purchase.
- Nielsen’s clients will be able to buy access to Foursquare data and a standalone dashboard along with insights from Foursquare analysts. Andrew Feigenson, managing director of digital at Nielsen, told the Journal that clients requested the data Foursquare could provide and would allow the measurement firm to provide a more complete view of consumer activity.
Dive Insight:
Combining engagement data from online and offline activities is increasingly important in the mobile first marketing world. People are now active online while interacting with brands in physical locations and the partnership between Nielsen and Foursquare helps to bridge that data gap so that marketers have a clearer view of consumers and can better optimize their messaging.
On Foursquare’s end, the data will come from a panel of one million consumers who have opted in to share location data anonymously through products including Foursquare and Swarm. Foursquare CEO Jeff Glueck said one advantage of the data is it’s available daily unlike sales reports that can take weeks to turn into usable information.
The news is the latest example of how Foursquare is trying to transform itself into a location metrics firm. In November, Snapchat partnered with Foursquare to improve targeting for its geofilters.
