Location is fast becoming one of the most powerful means for identifying and delivering on consumers’ real-time intent. It also offers a means to create purchase incentives and foster engagement and provides the ability to tap into precise moments of decision making.

Forbes Insights, in association with xAd, has released a new paper entitled Location: A Strategic Marketing Imperative. For this paper, Forbes Insights conducted interviews with some of today’s leading brands on how they’ve effectively leveraged location.

According to the paper, location-based mobile advertising has become more than simply a nice-to-have tactic in a marketer’s toolkit. Rather, it’s fast becoming a strategic imperative in today’s data-driven, highly competitive landscape. Given mobile ubiquity, and the impact of apps such as Uber, Tinder and Yelp on consumer’s expectation of personalized, relevant experiences, location-based services promise to enhance consumer experiences, whether purchasing products online or browsing the aisles of a brick-and-mortar retailer.

Forbes Insights looked at how top brands are using location-based marketing to support four key developments in consumers’ buying journey. These include:

1. Keeping Pace With Consumer Expectations
2. Bridging the Gap Between Online and Offline
3. Reinventing the In-Store Experience
4. Beyond Search and Social—A New Category

Forbes Insights found that, as these trends develop, location-driven campaigns promise to close the gap between online and offline worlds; browsing and buying; expectation and delivery.