Adobe updates Marketing Cloud with more geo-location perks

Adobe is remaining true to its focus on mobile with the latest update to the Adobe Marketing Cloud.

The San Jose-based creative software giant tacked on more personalization and geo-location features to the latest Marketing Cloud iteration, leveraging iBeacon compatibility to steer its customers toward data-driven marketing.

Central to the new features is the ability to deliver in-app messages. Adobe first announced iBeacon compatibility in March, but it seems as though the company is now looking to make that relationship more useful. 

With in-app messages, marketers can create, manage, publish, and measure in-app messages to engage with users that interact with apps, Adobe says. Messages can be triggered by user behaviors, lifecycle metrics, or location data collected from iBeacons. The feature is part of Adobe Mobile Services, a core service in Adobe Marketing Cloud.

Adobe's focus on location-based technology is also bolstered by new data from the Adobe Digital Index, which suggests that 71 percent of shoppers admit to liking personalized communications. 

The ADI survey also found consumers are open to beacons, with 55 percent finding it useful to receive promotions on their mobile device while in a physical store.

"Beacons aren't just changing the retail environment," said Tamara Gaffney, principle analyst at ADI. "They're being used in other venues as well, such as travel and hospitality and sports stadiums. Location awareness is coming from everywhere, since people have their phones everywhere they go."

Additional feature updates to Marketing Cloud include real-time mobile app testing, a dashboard that allows marketers to view all their app data on one screen and multi-dimensional portfolio bidding to place search ads across mobile devices.

"With Intelligent Location Marketing, we are redefining digital marketing and delivering new, innovative ways for marketers to engage customers and prospects across mobile screens," said Suresh Vittal, VP of Digital Marketing at Adobe, in a statement. "The tight integration of our six Marketing Cloud solutions gives Adobe the unique advantage to enable consistent, cross-channel experiences that keep the individual interests of customers in mind regardless of the device they are using."