You may have heard people mention Foursquare, Gowalla or Facebook Places—maybe you even use these tools. They all have fans and are growing rapidly. But if you aren’t sure what location-based tools do, you should learn more about how they work and how you might incorporate them into your marketing toolbox.
From a marketing perspective, let’s say I own a retail boutique at the mall and participate as a Foursquare vendor. Foursquare knows when my potential client is at the mall. Foursquare can send a special offer to her mobile phone telling her that if she “checks in” at my boutique, she gets a 10% discount on the new fall styles that just arrived. Built-in analytics features allow me to track the number of shoppers that use the check-in feature. Don’t forget to cross market this in displays that people will see. Put a poster in your store window asking people to check in, which gives them another reason to enter your store. Then add a reminder such as a register topper and a postcard letting people know about your location based promotions and asking them to participate.
According to a recent article by DM News, only about 1% of people currently use location-based services, and 85% of them are under age 40. But this number is growing daily as more merchants are joining the bandwagon and more people buy new mobile devices to replace their old cell phones. The usefulness of the tool does depend on your industry, client base and how you market it, but think outside the box and consider how you might include this capability in your marketing arsenal. We’d love to hear how you use these tools or if you have a success story to share!
From a marketing perspective, let’s say I own a retail boutique at the mall and participate as a Foursquare vendor. Foursquare knows when my potential client is at the mall. Foursquare can send a special offer to her mobile phone telling her that if she “checks in” at my boutique, she gets a 10% discount on the new fall styles that just arrived. Built-in analytics features allow me to track the number of shoppers that use the check-in feature. Don’t forget to cross market this in displays that people will see. Put a poster in your store window asking people to check in, which gives them another reason to enter your store. Then add a reminder such as a register topper and a postcard letting people know about your location based promotions and asking them to participate.
According to a recent article by DM News, only about 1% of people currently use location-based services, and 85% of them are under age 40. But this number is growing daily as more merchants are joining the bandwagon and more people buy new mobile devices to replace their old cell phones. The usefulness of the tool does depend on your industry, client base and how you market it, but think outside the box and consider how you might include this capability in your marketing arsenal. We’d love to hear how you use these tools or if you have a success story to share!
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