What is Location-Based Marketing?
Global leader in IT and networking, Cisco predicts “that by 2020, there will be 5.5 billion mobile users, representing 70 percent of the global population”. Location based marketing (LBM) is a new strategy that uses a smart phone’s location technology. It can send the user notifications about a near-by business. For example if the user is passing a shopping centre they can be sent an advert offering them a shop discount, or a suggestion of a good place to eat and a view of the menu.
It can also be used to track a user’s behaviour. What locations they visit, how long they are there for and if they made a purchase. This is useful information when considering premises for a new commercial venture.
LBM is now considered a critical element of marketing, especially as improving signals means a more secure service (the user has to opt in to share their location). The methods of location based marketing include:
Geofencing- a virtual fence is put around a location to detect where users are in real-time.
Geotargeting – delivers content via IP addresses based on where users are. It’s most often used for larger regions as it is not easy to target specific areas.
Geoconquesting – Facebook and Google Adwords allow this form of targeted advertising which directs users to a business when they are near to competitors.
Being able to advertise to a target audience saves time, money and because it is more relevant is more likely to lead to sales.
