The ability to personalize marketing messages based on a potential customer’s preferences and locality is called location based marketing. There are a number of ways to do this, for instance, LBA (location based advertising), NFC (near field communications), LBS (location based services) and Bluetooth marketing.
LBA makes use of tools like geo-fencing and GPS to identify the position of potential customers and forward them customized messages. NFC enables the exchange of information between devices within a close proximity of each other. Bluetooth functions similar to NFC and enables the transfer of data over small distances. LBS like SCVNGER and Foursquare offer location based information to users.
You can either use multiple tools to connect with customers on different fronts or keep things simple by using just one tool. Location based marketing has been successfully used by a number of companies. The ‘You Are Here’ campaign by Subway, a popular restaurant chain, targeted potential customers within a close proximity of certain outlets using MMS (multimedia messaging) and LBA. Dominos, a well known pizza chain, developed its own location based services application to boost sales at specific locations.
These are just a few examples of how location based marketing can boost customer loyalty, improve experience and drive sales. With the growing popularity of location based tools, online marketers, social media managers and copywriters need to consider this aspect while formulating their marketing mix.