Geo-location: Never Lose Sight of your Customers

Geo-location is the buzzword in the industry today. With Pokemon Go seeing phenomenal success and brands like Facebook and Snapchat leveraging location analytics to serve ads, winds are blowing the Geo-location way. Let’s find out what it is and how marketers can use it to their advantage.

CONTENT THAT CONNECTS: WHY INFLUENCER MARKETING IS THE FUTURE OF GEN Z ENGAGEMENT

Gen Z is a business opportunity you can’t afford to miss. As 40% of the population commanding upwards of $40 billion in spending power, modern marketers need to build compelling strategies to engage with Gen Z.

Download

Geo-location is the real-time geographic location of a mobile device user using the built-in Global Positioning System (GPS) feature of the mobile. With current GPS technology, a person’s location can be tracked within the diameter of a few feet.

With two-thirds of the world population, owning a mobile phone, Geo-location data from mobile gives us unprecedented opportunities to reach our target audience in real time. With Geolocation data you can not only tap customer’s location but also the context of their visit, which helps you create relevant and personalized experiences for them.

Here is how Geo-Location can help you boost your marketing efforts:

• Geo-Targeting: The least accurate and probably the oldest method, it uses a user’s IP address to determine her location. Because of a low-level precision, it is best used for targeting broad marketing regions like cities or countries. This can be used to present ads or landing pages based on the preferences of the people of a region. The good part: no data gathering is required.
   
• Geo-Fencing: With Geo-Fencing you can mark your target area. It could be a half-mile radius from your store or the entire shopping complex or the entire city. If a person enters this ‘fenced’ radius (with his mobile GPS enabled) you could send personalized messages like a friendly welcome message or a discount coupon from your store.
   
• Geo-Conquesting: What if instead of fencing around your own store, you attracted customers going to a nearby competitor store? Based on their location, you can send them special offers or discounts to persuade them to come to your store.
   
• Location-based marketing using beacons: Beacons use Bluetooth signals from smartphones to determine the accurate location of the customers. Since you know where exactly the customer is standing, you can create personalized messages like informing salient features of the washing machine she is looking at or reminding her she added the same breakfast cereal to her online cart and offer her a BOGO.

But the flip-side is that the user needs to turn on Bluetooth on her device and you must install beacons in your store.

• Augmented Marketing: Augmented reality can use geolocation to manipulate physical reality to enhance viewer’s experience. For instance, L’oreal and Sephora, the popular beauty retailers have dipped their toes in AR game, so the customers can try on new products wherever they are.
   
• Improving Customer Experience: Consider McDonald’s, Starbucks, Taco Bell, who have upped the CX game. Users can order from McDonald’s from anywhere and when they are within the restaurant’s location, McDonald’s ensures that the order is served hot and fresh. They tested the beta version of their app in 2017.
   
• Creating opportunities with tailored content: Predictive analytics can be used to forecast where a user is headed, based on his recent searches or routine activity. Content and promotions tailored to feed the user’s need will get you ahead in the game. Relevant and informative content sells and can generate quality leads.
   
• Influencers based on geographic context: It is easy to find influencers across the globe, but how do they compare to the native stars who command a strong appeal in a specific geographic location. Geo-location will help marketers activate local influencers to inspire the local audience.

Taco Bell also uses Geo-fencing to let the kitchen know that their customer is in the vicinity so that order he has placed is ready ‘just-in-time’ when he arrives.

How about using weather-based geo-advertising to enhance customer experience. So, a Barista can invite her customers for a refreshing cold-coffee on a hot summer day, or give special offers on umbrellas for a rainy day ahead!

Geo-location combined with predictive analysis can take the customer experience to a whole new level by providing just-in-time context-aware offers. If you are familiar with the route a customer usually takes to his office, you can offer deals on breakfast menu on your restaurant on the way or maybe a discount on his return ride in the cab.

How are you using geolocation to reach out to your customers? Let us know in comments.