Digital Toolbox: Geolocation On The Rise

Geolocation technology is on the rise, particularly in social media. Geolocation determines a user’s location via their mobile device and can share that information with other users, or marketers. In a recent interview for MusicRow’s new Digital Toolbox issue, Cameo Carlson, Borman Entertainment’s Head of Digital Business Development, discussed the growing trend.

MR: Why is geolocation important? 
Carlson: I think geolocation is the next big wave. You’re going to see every app, and every site include it. Four Square and Facebook already do all kinds of things, such as advertising, based on location.

Cameo Carlson

They’ve revamped Four Square, and through check-ins and tips, they’ve created a brilliant way to archive social media. One of the challenges of social media is that once a message is posted, the next message pushes it out. But Four Square is based on location rather than time. For example, if I put a tip on the first place an artist performed a show, I could come back five years later and that tip will still exist. Fans like that information.

I like the idea of archiving and creating history in social media, because so much on the internet is disposable.

You don’t know what a website looked like five years ago. So how do we treat things that aren’t disposable and give them some historical importance? We’re testing all of these sites and apps to figure out how they fit into the larger scheme of marketing, and how they can be part of the ongoing brand-building.

Does geolocation help create a sense of community among users?
Carlson: There’s so much content and so much access that users don’t know where to start. Facebook is the best example of the need for curation. Users need people to tell them what to listen to, what to like, what to look at, so they start with their friends and their community.

The geolocation idea is kind of like everybody in a high school, because the only thing they have in common is where they live—literally their geography. On social media, it is the same concept of creating smaller communities out of a global community.

Music lovers and marketers are so good at creating communities around music, so it’s really cool to see what we are going to be able to do over the coming year or so. We are trying to find a way to incorporate the music content into locations.

What about users who are reluctant to share their locations?
Carlson: People that are growing up in this age, where everything is out on the internet all the time, to them it’s normal.

Read more of the interview in the Digital Toolbox issue.