Geo-location marketing has been picking up speed. If it’s not something you’ve already heard about, it will be soon. If you’ve heard of it, you’ve likely heard of Foursquare or Gowalla, or you know that Starbucks is “doing it.” Here’s the scoop: Maybe your business should be too.
The Purpose of Geo-Location Marketing
The purpose of geo-location marketing—from a business perspective—is to be on the radar when people near your establishment are ready to purchase in the here-and-now. There’s a timeliness aspect of geo-location marketing that provides consumers with the information they need to act on their needs and wants now rather than later. Once your business is on a potential customer’s radar, he or she can use your establishment’s social sphere to determine whether your business is worth their time. This input includes any tips, reviews, or opinions left behind by past customers. Foursquare, Gowalla, Whrrl, Brightkite, Loopt, Latitude, and Yelp are all examples of platforms that allow for this possibility. From a user perspective, location-based services allow people to connect with people nearby, discover new places, and keep track of past itineraries and connections.
Geo-location marketing can be used to accomplish any of the following marketing objectives:
- Create community around your brand
- (See how Red Bull is using the Whrrl platform to foster its “Red Bull Society”)
- Let your customers do your marketing for you by leaving tips (mini-reviews, in essence) for others to see
- Engender customer loyalty
- Competitive aspects (points, badges) of geo-location based games encourage venue visitors to keep coming back
- Drive recurring revenue
- Provide exclusive offers to frequent visitors to encourage repeat visits that become viewable when people “check-in”
- Attract new customers by cultivating discovery
- Geo-location allows people to discover places that they didn’t realize existed, or that they’ve always wanted to explore. As our very own Sean Bartlett says in his post about Foursquare, “The more marketers can do to facilitate discovery, the more likely they will be to encourage repeat visits and attract new customers.”
- Foursquare, for example, allows users to create a “to do” list to keep track of all the places they want to explore
Big-Time Benefits of Geo-Location Marketing
Location-based services aren’t limited to the tools I mentioned above. Location is, well, everywhere. Although Foursquare and Gowalla are the current leaders of the location-based service realm, this may or may not always be the case. Last week, Twitter announced Twitter Places, which now allows users to geo-tag tweets with a location in their database so users can see who else is tweeting from the same location. It’s also rumored that Facebook will roll out location features as well. The integration of geo-location into Twitter and Facebook means that more people (meaning not primarily early adopters or techies) will become accustomed to using geo-location to connect with the world around them.
Plus, location updates reach beyond their individual platforms. Although Foursquare has a much smaller user base than Twitter or Facebook, integration with Facebook and Twitter is common, so check-ins and tips are viewable by friends. Venue location sites are indexed in search engines, and most location-based services have mobile applications, allowing your brand to become discoverable when potential customers are on the go. And, anyone without an account can still search for a venue and see what all people who checked in said about it. Fourwhere is an example of a site that aggregates location-based tips and reviews from Foursquare, Gowalla, and Yelp.
As more platforms adopt geo-location elements and as technology catches up, there will be unlimited possibilities to use location information to meet specific business needs (such as branded apps or proprietary metrics). What if you could provide separate offers to people depending on where they are standing in your store?
The Bottom Line
Geo-location is here. It’s been here. And it’s only going to get better and better. If your business fits within any of the categories below, and if geo-location is not currently incorporated into your social media strategy, you’re likely passing up a valuable opportunity.
- Restaurants
- Bars & Clubs
- Coffee & Tea Shops
- Retail Stores
- Grocery & Drug Stores
- Tourist Attractions
- Hotels & Resorts
- Gas Stations
- Any business that needs a customer’s in-store presence to convert social buzz into sales
Are you a business owner? A CMO? What’s preventing your business from dabbling in geo-location marketing? Or are you ready to get started?
This article is from Shannon Johnson
Shannon is a social media specialist at Sitewire and an ASU Honors Marketing and Spanish graduate who has a background in pay-per-click management and search engine optimization but now primarily collaborates with Sitewire’s social media team to help clients achieve breakthroughs in user engagement, enhanced sentiment, and increased brand awareness in the online social space. Shannon is both diligent and ambitious, yet still enjoys making light of things and cracking jokes that only kindergartners tend to like. Find her on Twitter: @shannopop
Shannon has written 10 posts.
