What is Cross-Device Tracking?
Cross-device tracking works by identifying and linking multiple devices a person uses. For advertisers, this is important because consumers interact with brands across multiple devices, from smartphones, tablets, laptops, and even TVs. Piecing together fragments of online behavior from each device is critical for delivering relevant ads and measuring campaign performance accurately.
What is an Example of Cross-Device Tracking for Advertising? Most of us have probably experienced cross-device tracking in some way. Here is an example: someone browses for running shoes on their smartphone but doesn’t make a purchase. That evening, they get a targeted ad from one of the brands on their phone. The next day, they see another ad for the brand’s shoes and decide to buy them on their laptop. This ad experience is seamless because the advertiser recognizes the user across both devices. But it also accurately attributes the research and first ad delivered on the phone to the purchase made on the laptop.
What Are the Benefits of Cross-Device Tracking for Advertisers?
Given that consumers use so many connected devices today, advertisers can struggle to reach a user across all their devices, leading to underperforming campaigns, wasted budget, and poor interpretations of attribution. This is precisely why cross-device targeting is so essential in today’s marketing landscape.
- Improved Audience Targeting – Helps advertisers recognize the same user across multiple devices, ensuring more accurate ad delivery and reducing wasted impressions.
- Better Attribution & Measurement – Enables tracking of user interactions across devices, giving a clearer picture of the customer journey and improving ROI analysis.
- Enhanced Personalization – Allows for more consistent and relevant messaging across a user's devices, creating a seamless ad experience that increases engagement and conversions.
How Does Location Data Help?
Location data is an essential layer of cross-device tracking because it connects digital and real-world behavior. It helps with two approaches to matching devices to a user: deterministic and probabilistic matching.
Deterministic tracking links devices using known identifiers, such as Anonymous Mobile ID (MAID), geolocation, and anonymized emails (HEMs), all of which have a high level of accuracy. On the other hand, probabilistic tracking analyzes patterns like frequently used IP addresses, device types, and behavioral signals to infer connections between devices. While not as precise, probabilistic tracking allows for broader reach and scale. Both probabilistic and deterministic connections are essential for advertisers to have accuracy and scale for their campaigns.
Conclusion:
Cross-device tracking is a crucial tool for advertisers looking to navigate today’s multi-device consumer journey. By connecting users’ digital footprints across smartphones, laptops, and other devices, advertisers can deliver more relevant ads, improve attribution accuracy, and enhance personalization. As technology advances, data sources like location data will improve cross-device strategies, making ad campaigns more precise and impactful.
Want to learn a bit more about how Unacast helps with cross-device tracking? Check out our Data Linkages release page!
