Over the past few years, consumers have changed their mobile buying habits and have bought smartphones instead of normal feature phones. Iphones and Android products have taken over and according to recent data; more than 35% of the UK now owns a smartphone. 59.3% of these smartphone users are now interacting on social media networks through their devices.
As smartphones get even more dominant a considerable amount of the population will be turning to their handset for information and recommendations on what to buy or where to go. Location-based marketing is the next step for a company’s social media campaign.
What is location-based marketing?
There are several location-based social media networks but the most popular are Foursquare and Facebook Places. Using one of the location-based smartphone apps a user will be able to “check-in” to a business. “Checking in” simply means that the user has shared their current location with their friends on the social network.
The system works through the phone’s GPS chip, the same chip used in sat navs to tell you where you are on the road. On some occasions, users also leave a review of the location at the same time as “checking in”. If a friend was in a good restaurant he/she may check in to the restaurant and leave a positive review of the meal. Other users that visit the restaurant afterwards will be able to see the review and may be more likely to buy a certain meal. While location-based media is relatively new the programs have gained large amounts of users in a relatively quick amount of time. Foursquare recently announced that it has 10 million users worldwide and this is likely to keep growing.
What does this mean for your business?
If you own a business on a UK high street users are probably already checking into your location and leaving reviews. By embracing the new medium you will be able to persuade more users to visit your business and reply to any negative comments. The service allows owners to offer rewards for checking in i.e. if you own a coffee shop, you could offer a free muffin to a user that check’s in and buys a coffee. This will promote your brand through many social networks, persuade customers to buy from you instead of your competition and inform other users in the area to visit your shop.
Large companies such as Starbucks and McDonalds have already started interacting and offering deals through location based networks but it isn’t just for big brands. Small coffee shops, restaurants and clubs have also seen increases in trade from embracing this new service. While it isn’t easy for a shop owner to increase profit through location networks, marketers have been able to gain the most from these programs. One local restaurant in Milwaukee managed to increase its typical Sunday sales by 110% through Foursquare.
Social Media Ltd have been marketing companies through these location based networks since their creation in 2009. Our extensive use of the programs will allow your business to gain ROI from location based marketing campaigns. If you are interested in starting a campaign and want to know more, please visit our Social Media Marketing page.
2 Responses
Local-based marketing is a must-have strategy if you want to pull in the maximum amount of customers. To take advantage of changes in the marketing environment, a marketing campaign should be thought of carefully. Internet marketing is not an easy business and in order to hit your target sales you need to carefully plan things out.
Location based Marketing strategy plays a vital role in success for the business whose product or service is limited to a particular region.Strategy should be based on the customers of the region of marketing.