Marketing Your Brand With Location-Based Services

“Location, location, location”. The age old saying. For a long time, location was king. If you had a storefront on prime real estate in a high traffic area, you were bound to be successful. It’s fool-proof, right?

Then Amazon came along. The online retailing pioneer proved that eCommerce could work, and challenged the brick and mortar model. In fact, some argue that Amazon has perfected the online buying experience. It’s quick, it’s easy, they make recommendations based off items they know you like, they ship right to your door, and you won’t find better prices anywhere else.

Despite all of this, Amazon is still missing one key element: the in-store experience. You go to the Apple Store, and it’s an experience. From the moment you walk in, you feel like the whole place was built specifically for you. Whether it’s one of the blue shirt wearing employees waiting to greet you with a smile and an iPad, the outstanding support you receive at the Genius Bar, or the plethora of Apple products on display, waiting for you to try, Apple has the in-store experience nailed. What does this all mean? They get you in the store, they keep you in the store, you try all of their products first hand, you probably buy something at a not-so-competitive price, and you leave feeling happy and satisfied.

But then we have the other 99.9% –  the millions of small and medium sized businesses that, besides offering outstanding customer service, simply don’t have the budget to create an exceptional in-store experience that we see with the Apple’s of the world. How can they compete online, while using their location to win their local market? Mobile.

As smartphone adoption continues to rise at outstanding rates, marketers are looking to take advantage of some new opportunities. At the forefront of this trend is location-based networks, like Foursquare and Path. If you’ve been thinking about mobile in your marketing plans, here are some great tools you should consider when it comes to location-based networks.

Loyalty Programs

There is a reason why companies have been using loyalty programs for decades – they work. However, traditional loyalty programs can be quite expensive to implement, and sometimes take years to show any kind of ROI. Location-based services make it easy – and cheap. Services such as Foursquare let businesses reward customers who check-in to their location with special deals, preferred treatment, and other perks. Friar & Firkin in Toronto, for example, has leveraged this by offering 20% off food when a user checks in. Not only is this a great incentive for users to come to your business, but they will share their experience with their network. And the best part is that it’s all measurable.

Consumer Generated Content

Social Media has changed marketing as we know it. In the past, the marketer controlled the message. But now, the consumer has most of the power. While this scares a lot of businesses, it should really be seen as an opportunity. Give your customers a reason to rave and rant about you. If you blow them out of the water, they will go out of their way to not only share it with their closest friends, but with their entire networks. Foursquare allows users to upload photos, include your business on lists and add tips for other users to try. Below is an example of Marché 27 in Montreal on Foursquare’s ‘Explore’ function. I can quickly and easily find the location, browse through photos of the food and venue, see how many of my friends have been there, and read through tips and recommendations from people I know and trust.

Push Notifications

You’ve probably noticed that most mobile apps ask if you want to allow push notifications. Marketers often use push notifications for announcements, to highlight activities, reminders to update, and so on. With location-based networks, push notifications are most often used to let users know where and when their friends are checking in. If Matt is walking down the street and gets a notification that Desirae has just checked into the pub around the corner, maybe he’ll stop by for a drink. Or if I notice that Brett often checks into a record store that I’ve never been to, I may be inclined to go check it out.

Geofencing

Geofencing is a virtual boundary set up around a physical location, like a coffee shop or retail store. So how does this help marketers? Let’s say Andrew goes to Starbucks every day. But today, he has has somehow forgotten to grab his daily coffee. If he’s walking down the street and crosses into Starbucks’ geofence, he will receive a notification from his location-based app with an offer, coupon, or simply reminding him to stop by. Talk about effective, personalized targeting. A marketer’s dream.

So why should you care? Well, the fact of the matter is, that these conversations are happening – with or without you. Whether you decide to participate, and ensure that your customers have a great experience is up to you. It’s all part of building your brand, on and offline.

The Amazon’s and Apple’s of the world weren’t always giants. Believe it or not, they too were once one of the little guys. Remember, Apple started out as a computer company operating out of a garage in the 1970’s. It wasn’t until 2007 that they dropped the word “computer” from their name. Why? Because they became much more than computers. Apple is a lifestyle. Don’t believe me? Then explain to me why millions of people around the world insist on wearing the white Apple earbuds. It’s not because they’re the best, it’s because they’re the most fashionable.

Similarly, Amazon was founded in 1994 as an online book store with the competitive advantage of being able to sell far more publications that the biggest brick and mortar store. What do they sell now? Well, it’s a lot more than just books. They sell everything. And they do it well.

What your business is now isn’t what it always have to be. Where do you see it in the next 5, 10, 20 years? To get there, you can’t be afraid to try new things. If it doesn’t work out, then move onto the next idea. If you don’t, then you’ll never know.

Location is low risk, high reward. Sure, it may not be for everyone; but it could be for you. There are dozens of ways for marketers to leverage the power of location-based networks. It’s important to understand that there is no one solution. Every business has different challenges, goals and customers. Understanding what those are will help you in developing your location based strategy.

How will you use location-based networks in your marketing efforts?