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One of the largest hurdles to overcome as an emerging small business in today’s market is finding a consistent and reliable consumer base. This issue is not exclusive to small businesses either, giants like Apple, Alphabet, and Microsoft spend upwards of billions of dollars per year on marketing in order to attract new clients and attain year on year growth. One way companies choose to deal with this problem is to delve deep into social media and promote their product or content through guerilla style methods, but this usually only results in temporary customers, a low retention rate, and high turnover. So what can you do to avoid this?
In the smartphone era, many businesses are turning to mobile applications as a way to integrate into people’s lives. They utilize app-only deals, coupons, and discounts to incentivize shoppers into downloading their apps; however, these apps have a short shelf live and are often deleted once they use up their coupons or a deal has reached its end. Research shows that one of the best ways to get people to stay engaged with your app is through push notifications. Through the use of reminders, the notifications serve to re engage your core audience and get them back onto the app day in and day out. One particular tool that has been proven to be more than effective in this endeavor is the use of Geofencing.
What is Geofencing?
Creates a virtual geographic boundary surrounding your business that triggers a response when passed
The radius can be specified to the businesses request
Uses the user’s phone’s GPS/RFID technology to notify them of store information when they cross into your specified radius
Geofencing lets a business know when a customer has entered into their area, how long they are in the radius, and then lets them push advertisements and messages incentivizing them to visit their physical location that’s nearby. This type of location based advertising and tracking not only gives you the power to retarget a past customer but also allows you to learn more about their consumer habits in order to adjust accordingly. Pricewise, geofencing licenses can run anywhere from as low as $100 to well above $10,000 depending on the size and scope of the geographical area to be covered.
For a small store just starting out, information can prove to be invaluable. Analyzing the data received through geolocation from just one customer can be used to attract more. Push notifications triggered by passing through the radius allows businesses to convert customers from mobile only users into physical location patrons.
Conclusion: Mobile marketing gives businesses the opportunity to reach their consumers at any time no matter where or what they’re doing, and geolocation technology furthers this reach by offering a method to reach people on a more personal level when they are nearby. Utilizing geofences and geolocation technology keeps customer at arms reach with contextually relevant information important to them.