Everywhere you turn, conversations about digital marketing are hyping mobile as the absolute must-have marketing channel. While talk about capitalizing on mobile data collection and its usage is top on the must-do list, what’s really important is understanding how to decipher the good mobile location data from the bad, and how to put those insights to work.

Let’s back up. It’s easy to sell the notion of the power of mobile marketing to business decision makers, including the not always so digital-savvy small business owner. We’re all constantly tethered to our devices in our personal lives. Walk into any public setting, stand in any queue at a store, and you will see people browsing, entertaining themselves, catching up on email or text messages and, of course, using their mobile devices for discounts and even to make purchases. And, as we all consume via mobile, data is being collected.

Mobile as a Marketing Channel

It only makes sense that many businesses have embraced mobile as an essential marketing channel. Consumers are mobile and their buying journeys need to be mobile as well. This is confirmed by the fact that browsing on mobile devices has surpassed that of the desktop, and looks to go nowhere but up.

Latest data shows that users spend, on average, three hours daily on their mobile devices and up 11% year over year. Add to that the fact that Google’s recent algorithm update shifted focus to sites with a mobile-friendly presence, and mobile should be high on every small business owner’s priority list.

Consumers rely on things like mobile search, discounts, and location-based alerts to locate things they want to buy, to find deals, and save money. The consumer benefits offered by mobile extend far beyond saving money; the convenience that mobile affords customers often speeds along the buying process, which is good for customers and good for business.

How Small Businesses Can Use Mobile Data

Because of mobile’s integration into our lives and into our businesses, it’s imperative that businesses understand mobile location data, and how to use analytics to help drive sound business decisions based on this data. While data has shown us that consumers quickly leave a website that is difficult to navigate via their mobile devices, there’s a lot more to leveraging data to create an effective mobile marketing strategy than simply having a mobile responsive website.

The best way to use mobile location data is by creating the best possible experience for your customers. It’s about pushing the right information to consumers via their mobile devices at the right time that delivers real value to them. This is where mobile location data can truly become the Holy Grail when it comes to business success. The exciting thing about this data is that it has the ability to create a more level playing field in the retail space.

Garbage In, Garbage Out

As businesses continue to embrace mobile and learn how, when, and why consumers use it, they have become hyper-aware that mobile allows them to reach their target audience in the critical stages of the buying cycle. Marketers have bought in heavily, and by 2019 the location-based services market is projected to exceed $43 billion.

What isn’t quite as obvious is how small business should collect and use mobile location data, and what information will help ensure that their mobile marketing strategies are effective. In that respect, when it comes to data, the adage that if you put garbage in, you’ll get garbage out has never been more true. While we can collect vast quantities of mobile data from our customers, filtering through the noise and knowing how to get to the data that we need most is the key to success.

Mobile location data can be confusing, but small business can make sure that the data they’re working with is accurate. For instance, did you know that in Q2 2014, fewer than 34% of the user locations reported in ad requests by mobile apps and sites were accurate to within 100 meters of the user’s actual location? As depressing as that may sound to businesses depending upon mobile data, the good news is that YP℠ was, after filtering, able to rely on 308.8 billion bid requests with good quality location data in Q2 2015. Good data is out there, you just have to know how to find it, and that can be a tricky.

Separating the Good from the Bad

As mobile usage continues to grow, the collection of data will grow with it. Mobile location accuracy is crucial, especially since the continued growth will include both good data and bad data. Businesses must not blindly accept data accuracy claims. They must understand that in order to deliver real value, location data must use data-precise sources, maintain a database of bad location points and location scoring, and must be filtered to ensure accuracy.

Mobile data can be complex. To bring some clarity to the topic, our Mobile Location Accuracy whitepaper offers insight to help make the most of this data.