Like all channels of marketing, channel and data integration are keys to success. The more complex of the two is in the data. If you're immersing into the world of mobile or location based marketing, familiarize yourself with location data management (LDP). To start read SIM Partners white paper "The CMO's Guide to Location Data Management."

1. THE CMO’S GUIDE TO
LOCATION DATA
MANAGEMENT
Winning in the Era of “Near Me” Moments

2. 2
Today, the mobile consumer calls the shots for any enterprise – particularly
those that want to attract consumers to their brick-and-mortar locations.
And to succeed with the mobile consumer, marketers need to harness
the power of location data to create a competitive advantage.
It’s no secret that consumers empowered with mobile devices are
collapsing the sales funnel. According to Google, shoppers armed with
smartphones are making “I want to go” or “I want to buy” decisions so
quickly and often that brands need to be present with relevant answers
in those micro-moments of discovery or lose.
And Google isn’t the only place consumers are searching in these
“near me” moments of need. Maps, apps, GPS, and mobile operating
systems such as Apple iOS 9 and Android Google Now also play a role,
along with wearables such as Apple Watch.
Accurate location data – such as a brand’s name, address, and phone
number – makes a business findable in the near me moments of
search. Location data paired with compelling content converts these
near me searches into “next moments” of purchase.
At the center of it all is your location data – the key to turning micro-
moments of discovery into big business for your brand.
WELCOME TO THE AGE OF THE
MOBILE CONSUMER.
The Shift from Listing
Management to Location
Data Management
Location Data:
Your Brand’s
Online Foundation
The Complexity of
Location Data
Amplifying Your
Location Data
Converting Consumers
into Customers with
Location Data
Keeping Your Location
Data Healthy
What’s Next
for Location Data
3
4
5
6
8
10
11
TABLE OF CONTENTS:

3. 3The CMO’s Guide to Location Data Management
Many brands make the mistake of viewing location data as nothing
more than plumbing for their local listings – or a component of a listing
management strategy. But location data management is much bigger
than listing management.
Traditionally, listing management has focused on the accuracy of your
location’s name, address, and phone (NAP) data across a limited
number of directories. Some listing management solutions in the market
rely on a paid inclusion model that focuses on buying data placements
for your locations on marginal directories that earn little traffic.
Location data management goes beyond listing management to make
your location data actionable and accessible across the entire discovery
ecosystem – including search engines, maps, apps, operating systems,
GPS, wearables, and more. As a result of this owned and earned
approach to location data distribution, your brand becomes more visible
because your business data becomes more open and accessible to the
influencers who are in a position to help customers find your business.
Location data is the lifeblood of every local search, mapping, social,
and mobile platform.
THE SHIFT FROM LISTING MANAGEMENT
TO LOCATION DATA MANAGEMENT
LISTING MANAGEMENT
helps local businesses track all
of their business listings, increase
their online visibility, and correct
their business information.
LOCATION DATA
MANAGEMENT treats
location data as an ownable
asset that is scalable, accessible,
and actionable to maximize
visibility and accuracy across
the entire discovery ecosystem,
including search engines, maps,
apps, operating systems, GPS,
wearables, and more.
NEARLY 80% OF LOCAL SEARCHES ON A MOBILE
PHONE END IN A CONVERSION.
SOURCE: NEUSTAR.BIZ

4. 4
At a foundational level, your brand’s location data
is the digital identity that represents your physical
locations across search engines, maps, apps, GPS
and operating systems, and more.
Location data consists of information that a consumer
would need to find your business through a search
result. Think of location data as your local online
identity – the sum total of information that helps
someone identify who you are (and, in the context
of search, where you are, and how to
contact or buy from you).
You often hear location data associated with the
name of a business (also referred to as “business
title”), physical address, and phone number – these
three elements combined are known as “NAP”
data. Distributing consistent NAP information across
the local ecosystem is key to earning citations and
improving search rankings across discovery
platforms.
NAP data is the foundation of a brand’s location
data. There are other primary elements of a brand’s
location data that should be considered, including
business category, business description, and latitude
and longitude, among others. In addition, businesses
typically need to manage a countless number of
secondary elements including social links and
accessibility.
LOCATION DATA: YOUR BRAND’S
FOUNDATION
Primary Elements of Location Data:
HOURS OF OPERATION: these may vary
by season (e.g., during holiday shopping).
BUSINESS DESCRIPTION: a brief description
of what you do. For instance, an insurance agent
should state the types of insurance offered
(such as home, auto, and life).
NAP DATA: consists of data elements core
to a business location, including: businesses
name (also referred to as “business title”),
address, and phone number.
LATITUDE/LONGITUDE: your latitudinal
and longitudinal coordinates, which com-
prise your pin data, make it possible for your
business location to appear accurately on
mapping apps such as Google Maps and
Apple Maps.
BUSINESS CATEGORY: the type of
business you are. Business category is often
classified by industry, but data aggregators
and publishers use their own taxonomies.

5. 5The CMO’s Guide to Location Data Management
Managing your location data can become a complicated challenge depending on how complex and diverse
your locations are.
A single business location, such as a restaurant that offers a limited number of products and service under
one roof, needs to focus on managing one set of location data.
But many businesses, such as Target, Walmart, or a medical center, offer multiple services under one roof.
Each service (say, a pharmacy inside a retailer) may require its own set of location data. We call businesses
that operate multiple services in one location “container stores.” A consumer’s motivation for visiting a
container might be radically different from one day to the next: needing a prescription filled on Tuesday,
and wanting to buy groceries on Wednesday. The container needs to share accurate location data for all
its services to satisfy its customers’ many needs.
There is a lot more to building a foundation than what we describe here. But you get the idea: location
data requires a strategy and technology to manage.
THE COMPLEXITY OF LOCATION DATA
LOCATION DATA TYPES
Depending on the nature of your business, your location data could be defined any number of ways:
Professional services: professional services
include insurance agents, physicians, or
financial advisors who need to list specialty
information such as accreditation or type
of service.
Kiosks: free-standing operations such as
ATMs that are located near or inside another
business such as a retail store. Kiosks need
to clarify the context of their location relative
to their proximity to another business.
Containers: these businesses operate
multiple services under one roof, an example
being Target or Walmart. Their location data
needs to accommodate several variables,
including hours of operation and points of
entry within the building as well as the
relationship between the business units.
Single business locations: single business
locations typically include restaurants or
retail stores that offer a single product or
service.
Service area business: service area
businesses might technically operate out
of a location with a street address, but they
typically provide onsite support within a
geographic boundary in which their customers
live and work. Examples include plumbers
or other in-home repair services.

6. 6
Making your location data accurate is important to create a foundation for local and location-
based marketing. But your location data becomes a more powerful asset when you unleash
it across the digital world where your customers live. Brands can create more customers and
generate more revenue by unleashing accurate location data that:
• Helps your brand locations appear in the near me moments that occur especially on
mobile devices.
• Accelerates the velocity of the customer journey by supporting the next moment of search
– or the action that occurs after someone finds your local business, ranging from booking
an appointment to getting customer support.
• Ensures existing customers find you again, rather than a competitor, after they have done
business with you already.
Unleashing your data properly means building relationships with data amplifiers. Data amplifiers
distribute and publish your data to a broader audience than you could ever do on your own –
what we call the “network effect.” Amplifiers consist of publishers such as Apple, Facebook,
and Google, which share your data with consumers in their ecosystems; and aggregators such
as Infogroup, Factual, and Neustar Localeze, which distribute business data to publishers.
The relationships among data aggregators and publishers create a critical network for your
brand. Your brand becomes more visible because your business data becomes more open and
accessible to the influencers who are in a position to help customers find your business. But
if data amplifiers lack accurate information about your locations, your business might not be
found – or conflicting information will be listed – when someone uses Apple Maps or Google
Maps to do a near me search for businesses in your category.
When you provide your data to amplifiers, you also create possibilities for your data to be used
by emerging local search technologies such as wearables, beacons, mobile apps, smart houses,
and self-driving cars.
AMPLIFYING YOUR LOCATION DATA

7. 7The CMO’s Guide to Location Data Management
We recommend that enterprises with multiple locations work with data amplifiers (either directly
or via a third party such as SIM Partners) as part of a broader strategy to make their brands
more powerful through location data. You should complement those relationships by working
closely with smaller, influential publishers in key verticals, too. SIM Partners maintains direct
relationships with a number of data amplifiers as well as vertical-specific publishers to distribute
and scale our clients’ location data through our Velocity platform.
EXAMPLES OF DATA AGGREGATORS
Data aggregators are important because they distribute business data to
publishing outlets such as Apple Maps and Google Maps. For instance,
Neustar Localeze distributes business data to more than 100 search platforms,
navigation systems, and mobile apps, such as Nokia and Yahoo! (Nokia, in turn,
ensures that in-car navigation systems include your business data.) On the
other hand, Factual specializes in making real-time data available via mobile
and also boasts relationships with publishers such as Weather Channel and Yelp.
EXAMPLES OF PUBLISHERS
Apple Maps was developed for iOS, iOS X, and Apple Watch. Apple Maps
Connect facilitates self-service for local listings.
The default search engine for Siri, crucial for voice-activated local searches.
The launch of Facebook Place Tips and beacons elevate the importance of
local Facebook pages for driving foot traffic to stores.
Want Uber customers to find your business? You had better be visible on
Foursquare. The two companies continue to deepen their relationship.
Google organic and local search results, Google Maps, knowledge graph, and
the multitude of sites and apps that leverage Google results are powered by
location data within Google My Business accounts.
Yelp long ago expanded beyond restaurant reviews; it’s a location data partner
for major brands ranging from Apple to Mercedes-Benz. Yelp’s influence also
extends into industries such as healthcare.
LOCATION DATA AMPLIFIERS

8. 8
Managing your local listings is no longer just about controlling your brand; it’s about creating
customers by owning the next moment of search with location data. Being findable, while
still important, is table stakes when it comes to winning with mobile consumers. To accelerate
the velocity of the customer journey, multi-location enterprise brands should make their
location data actionable.
Making your data actionable means combining data and content to own the next moment
– or the action that occurs after a consumer finds you. An example of a next moment is a
consumer downloading a mobile wallet offer or a patient booking an appointment with a
doctor using a scheduling widget on a physician profile page.
To own next moments, brands need to deliver compelling content and experiences built on
a foundation of location data. Brands can create contextual content in many ways, such as
a well crafted offer for 20-percent off a purchase at a local retailer when a shopper is near
or inside a store; or a notification from a restaurant about a special event. Accurate location
data ensures that a consumer has a seamless experience finding the business; a contextually
relevant offer accelerates the journey from search to purchase.
CONVERTING CONSUMERS INTO
CUSTOMERS WITH LOCATION DATA

9. 9The CMO’s Guide to Location Data Management
NEXT MOMENTS THAT
DRIVE CONVERSION
Next
Moment
Actionable Content
& Experiences
That Convert
Making an online
purchase
Buy buttons and/or
seasonal features on
location pages
Making an in-store
purchase
Featuring compelling
offers on location pages,
such as a mobile wallet
offer.
Booking
an appointment
Scheduling widget.
Getting customer
support
Vital “contact us”
information prominently
listed.
Telling others about
your location
Share buttons for social
media platforms such as
Facebook (akin to digital
word of mouth).
When you use a local marketing automation platform
to scale contextually relevant content and location data
across multiple locations, you scale the benefits, too. A
mobile wallet offer multiplied across hundreds and thousands
of locations can engage customers at scale, not simply in
one place. When location data is combined with customer
data – such as demographic profiles – as well as other
contextual data (such as weather conditions) the results
can be further amplified.
Makingyourlocationdataactionablealsomeanscollaborating
with the partners in your ecosystem to do the work on
the back end that is needed for consumers to take a desired
action, whether ordering food from your restaurant or
walking into your store.
For instance, a restaurant should form a relationship
with GrubHub, the online food ordering service, and
ensure that its information is accurately listed in order
to encourage nearby customers to order its food. Local
search data resides in an ecosystem of publishers,
partners, and distributors beyond your local listings.
Especially as mobile devices proliferate, we believe
that owning the next moment of search is essential for
brands to compete at the local level. As difficult as it is to
display your location data properly, doing is not enough
to send customers to your cash register. As Google
recently discussed in I Want-to-Go Moments: From
Search to Store, consumers armed with mobile devices
have at their fingertips the means to search for brands,
compare them, and make purchase decisions faster
than ever.
WHEN PEOPLE USE MOBILE SEARCH TO HELP MAKE A DECISION,
THEY ARE 57% MORE LIKELY TO VISIT A STORE.
SOURCE: GOOGLE MICRO MOMENT GUIDE

10. 10
When you have accurate location data shared properly across your ecosystem, you possess location data
health. In other words, healthy location data is accurate data with reach. Keeping your data healthy requires
ongoing management, distribution, and monitoring. Velocity Listing Health measures and monitors location
data health across two dimensions:
• Local listings: we use a proprietary algorithm to assign a health score for the core attributes of a brand’s
location data across all your local listings, including (but not limited to) NAP data. A stronger health score
indicates that your business contains highly accurate location data across all your listings – which is significant
if you manage thousands of locations. A low health score means that your business suffers from consistently
inaccurate listings or attributes.
• Your ecosystem: we assign a health score to assess the soundness of your location data in all the places
where customers find your brand across the digital world, such as Bing search results, Facebook, Google
search results, and Yellowpages.com. Here, we examine how visible and accurate your data is across
the ecosystem, especially with data amplifiers. When we assign a health score, we take into account the
reality that not all sites in the ecosystem are equal. For instance, having your data appear in Google search
results might be more essential to your business than, say, Yellowpages.com.
Monitoring your location data health will also identify steps you need to take in order to respond to changes
that occur constantly with your brand and ecosystem. For instance, your business might create new local listings
to account for the opening of new locations, or Google might update an algorithm. For a business with thousands of
locations, those types of changes can occur frequently.
When you make accurate location data accessible, you make location marketing more valuable. According
to proprietary research conducted by SIM Partners, brands that increased their location data health score by
20 percent saw traffic to their location pages increase up to 450 percent and on-page action conversion rates
increase by 216 percent.
When your foundational assets are healthy, you will reap rewards for years to come, especially as local and
mobile continue to thrive.
KEEPING YOUR LOCATION DATA HEALTHY
450%
Brands that increased their
Location Data Health Score
by 20% experienced up to:

11. 11The CMO’s Guide to Location Data Management
WHAT’S NEXT FOR LOCATION DATA
Historically, brands have treated location data as a passive phenomenon: a consumer enters a search query,
and good location data enables a brand to be present in search results. But increasingly, brands don’t need to
wait for a near me search before serving up the next moment, as with the nearby results now featured in Apple
iOS 9 Spotlight search.
To convert mobile consumers into customers, brands
can combine location data with contextual content to
create the next moment. A brand that capitalizes on
its own location data and the consumer’s location
data can make queries such as “drug store near me”
or “coffee near me” unnecessary because the brand
knows enough about the consumer’s location and
buying preferences to provide an offer before a
search even occurs.
A sound location data management strategy – one
that treats data as a scalable asset through ongoing
management, distribution, and monitoring –
ensures that your brand will be visible where and
when people are looking for you, no matter the
platform, location, or device.
As wearables take hold and as automobiles become
more sophisticated data repositories, location data
will become a more contextually relevant two-way
street. If you want to build sustainable marketplace
leadership for your brand, transform your location
data into a scalable asset that is accessible and
actionable.
A sound location data
management strategy –
one that treats data as
a scalable asset through
ongoing management,
distribution,andmonitoring
– ensures that your brand
will be visible where and
when people are looking
for you, no matter the
platform,location,ordevice.

12. C HIC AGO & S A N FR A N C IS CO | 800-260-3380
About Velocity Location Data Management
Velocity Location Data Management goes beyond just listing management
by making your location data an ownable, accessible, and actionable
asset that maximizes your brand’s’ visibility and accuracy across the
entire discovery ecosystem at scale. This broad-reaching approach
requires ongoing management, distribution, and monitoring of your
location data. As a result, your locations are visible in the moments
where and when people are looking for them – not just on tier two
paid inclusion sites.
About SIM Partners and Velocity
SIM Partners’ local marketing automation technology, Velocity, maximizes
digital marketing results for enterprise brands at a local level. By making
location data actionable and local content scalable, Velocity drives
customer acquisition for national brands across thousands of physical
locations. With Velocity, national brands can create location-based offers
to turn “near me” mobile searches into offline conversions. Velocity
includes a powerful local data management tool to drive listing visibility,
a content management system that automates the creation of location-
based content and experiences, and a robust insights platform to inform
local content strategies. SIM Partners has offices in Chicago and
San Francisco.
To learn more, or request a demo, visit simpartners.com.