Note: The following interview is part of the Orange 142 Emerging Channels Council initiative, which we launched to help SMB understand and adopt new and innovative advertising channels. As part of this effort, we’ve asked Orange 142 experts to share their insights on new opportunities, strategies, and challenges in the digital advertising landscape. This interview is one of many resources created by the Council. Be sure to download the Best Practices Guide linked at the end for actionable advice tailored to emerging channels.
By Calvin Scharffs, VP of Marketing
As digital advertising continues to evolve, foot traffic attribution has emerged as a powerful tool for measuring how digital campaigns drive real-world visits. By connecting ad impressions to in-person visits, brands can move beyond clicks and impressions to understand their true impact on consumer behavior. For advertisers, this means the ability to track, optimize, and justify media spend with real data. But that’s just the start, foot traffic attribution also provides strategic insights that help us optimize campaigns so that they generate the highest returns.
But how does foot traffic attribution actually work? And how can advertisers use these insights to not only measure success but also outmaneuver competitors and drive more business? To answer these questions, I sat down with Lindsey Wilkes, Senior Vice President of Business Development, and Austin Martin, Senior Data Analyst at Orange 142, to explore the nuts and bolts of foot traffic attribution.
CS: First, what is foot traffic attribution, and how does it work?
AM: At its most basic, foot traffic attribution is the process of determining whether a consumer who has seen a digital ad visits a pre-designated physical location, such as a retail store, event venue, or travel destination.
How it works is a multi-step process. First, a pixel is placed on digital ads, which drops a cookie or collects other tracking data, typically a mobile advertising ID or MAID. This allows us to record when users see or click on an ad. Our DSP utilizing cross device technology allows us to follow these users across their customer journey all the way to the destination.
CS: I see where you’re going, but how do you know that the consumer actually enters a destination?
LW: Austin spends a lot of time mapping polygons. Polygon mapping is one of the primary methods used for foot traffic attribution. It allows us to define precise boundaries around a location rather than using a simple radius or zip code-based targeting.
So instead of setting a fixed radius around a location, which can be inaccurate, Austin manually draws polygons around specific places of interest using mapping tools.
CS: That sounds pretty labor intensive?
AM: It can be, but it’s more accurate. Polygon mapping allows for far more precise targeting than the common alternatives. But in general, foot traffic attribution is an inherently custom service. Every initiative is specific to the individual campaign and client’s needs.
CS: I hear the term geo-fencing a lot. Is that a method for foot traffic attribution?
LW: That’s a good question! Geo-fencing isn’t necessarily an attribution method, it is more of a programmatic tactic. We use it to target mobile users in real time when their devices enter a predefined geographic area, or "fence," which could be a store, event venue, neighborhood, or competitor’s location. Ads can also be served to these users afterward through retargeting, so there are quite a few different strategies to meet these users where they are at.
AM: Daniel makes a good point, there are a few different strategies we can use in tandem with attribution to see even better results, or tailor it to a specific initiative.
Take retro-fencing as an example, which allows us to look back and capture data on users who were in a specific location during a set time frame, sometimes as much as two years in the past. This can be especially useful for tracking event attendance to target people who have gone in years past and measure how many of them came the following year after seeing an ad.
Additionally, we can also layer on geo-conquesting, where we target visitors that frequent competitor locations to encourage them to visit our client’s business instead.
CS: Is geo-conquesting pretty successful at drawing in a new customer base? How exactly does that work?
LW: Absolutely. Let’s say you’re a fast-casual restaurant and you want to attract customers from a competing chain. We can map out competitor locations, track visitors who have been there, and then retarget them with ads offering a promotion or incentive to visit instead. Using the pixels we talked about earlier, we can identify how many of those people visited our client’s franchise and made the switch. This works particularly well for retail, QSR (quick-service restaurants), and even casinos.
Additionally, we can run benchmarking analyses to see where a competitor’s visitors are coming from and compare that data to our client’s customer base. This can help refine targeting and determine which markets are worth investing more ad spend in to shift consumer behavior.
So while foot traffic attribution is great for measuring campaign effectiveness, it can also be a powerful tool for competitive strategy and audience acquisition.
CS: What do you deliver to the client? Do they get a report that says X number of people came to the location?
AM: That is definitely part of it, yes. What we report and how we report it is determined by the unique campaign goals, but in general we provide info about which locations within the destination had the most foot traffic, which advertising tactics drove the highest percentage of visitors, and which geographical markets send the most visitors.
CS: I can see why advertisers will want to do foot traffic attribution. It sounds like a great way to optimize a campaign.
LW: Absolutely, the data helps brands adjust where to spend more advertising dollars and identify underperforming areas that may need different strategies. So it’s not just about measuring results -- attribution is also about learning and refining targeting for future campaigns.
AM: I’ll give you an example we see all the time when we work with destination marketing organizations or DMOs. Foot traffic attribution lets us see which markets are naturally driving visitors and where additional advertising spend is needed. If we find that a destination is already getting strong organic traffic from a certain city, we’ll shift budget to another market where we can make a bigger impact.
LW: It also helps us provide an answer that all clients are asked by their bosses: What did we get for our ad spend? Foot traffic attribution is a great way to prove the effectiveness of ad spend because it shows how many visitors were influenced by the campaign. We can calculate cost per visitor, compare that to average spending per visitor, and demonstrate a direct return on investment.
Another key benefit is it allows us to identify the creative and media placements that worked best. If one set of ads drives more physical visits than another, we can adjust messaging and targeting accordingly. So beyond just tracking visits, foot traffic attribution is an essential tool for strategic planning, campaign optimization, and justifying marketing investments.
CS: Which industry sectors benefit most from foot traffic attribution?
LW: Foot traffic attribution is valuable across multiple industries, but some of the key sectors that benefit the most include retail, travel and tourism, casinos, events and sports, and higher education.
Retailers and franchises use it a lot to track how many customers who see an ad visit specific store locations. It’s especially useful for franchise models, where businesses want to see which locations are performing best.
And we’ve used foot traffic attribution to track visitors at major sporting events like the NHL Draft. We were able to see how many people traveled from Canada after being served ads. But it can also be used to track attendance at concerts or conventions.
AM: I think casinos are another great use case because they already have strong economic data. They know exactly how much money visitors spend, so foot traffic attribution helps them see whether advertising is bringing in new or returning guests and how much revenue those visitors generate.
Want to learn how this can work for you? Orange 142 helps SMBs navigate and maximize emerging advertising channels with strategic guidance and best practices. Let’s connect to explore the right approach for your goals.
About the Orange 142 Emerging Channels Council
The Emerging Channels Council serves as a thought leadership body within Orange 142, focusing on educating, guiding, and encouraging independent brands and agencies to experiment and excel in underutilized and innovative channels. Through collaboration, data-driven insights, and practical resources, the council will help Orange 142 clients obtain strategic growth through sustainable practices in digital advertising.
To access all of the Emerging Channels Council resources, please visit: https://orange142.com/emerging-channels-hub