Location Based Mobile Marketing: Benefits & Challenges

Location-based mobile marketing is an effective marketing strategy that is used by many nearby businesses to notify device owners (via SMS ) about an offer based on their location. It aims to capture users’ attention and turn them into customers.

Almost 1/3 of our mobile searches are related to location. Many times, we tag photos on social media to share cool places we have visited. We also check in at our favorite coffee shop. We share our location with restaurants to get food delivered.

Location-based mobile marketing is becoming increasingly popular among marketers to reach customers and generate more sales. Thus, if you want your business to succeed, you have to use location based mobile marketing techniques. The purpose of this article is to explain everything you need to know to get started with it.

 

What Is Location-Based Mobile Marketing

In location based mobile marketing, different techniques are used to target users based on their location. Geofencing, geo conquesting, and proximity marketing are the most common ones. In addition to GPS, IP addresses, and beacons, each of these techniques uses various technologies to target users. Automated messages and advertisements are triggered when users are near a particular location.

The goal of location based mobile marketing is to capture users’ attention and turn them into customers. The ads you use are tailored to the users’ location and will appear on their smartphones or tablets. Your chosen audience will receive notifications. In addition, location-based ads may appear when a user conducts a “near me” search.
 

Top Benefits of Location-Based Mobile Marketing

Today, businesses need to know how to reach their customers and prospects using mobile marketing. Since everyone uses their phone, marketing strategies must find a way to reach them there. Do you want to know how mobile marketing can boost your business? Here are some of the most important benefits.

 

1. Mobile Personalization

Messages that are personalized are more likely to be recalled and compelled to act, as you know as a marketer. According to a study by one of the world’s leading digital marketing and analytics agencies, 7 out of 10 consumers prefer content and ads tailored specifically to their interests. Personalized content and push notifications are not the only things mobile marketing excels at. Data collection facilitates user segmentation, leading to more effective campaigns.

2. Target the Right Audience

With mobile marketing, you can reach a highly targeted audience and communicate directly with a variety of customer groups. Additionally, using GPS and Bluetooth technology, the business owner can use geo-location to send location-specific messages to users and have direct marketing communication with them. Your business will reap greater benefits when you send out content that is relevant to your audience.

3. Track User Activity

Feedback from your customers or users provides you with valuable insight into what your audience thinks of your products or brand. Using mobile marketing, you can also easily track user responses. To determine if a particular advertisement worked or not, you can instantly read product reviews and see how many people saw it. You can even track how many people visit a particular website page and how long they stay on it.

4. Instant Results

In most cases, mobile phones are powered on and near their owners, which means that they receive messages at the moment they are sent and can act on them immediately. If the device is in standby mode, the message will be received as soon as it is turned on. Instead of waiting until potential customers have access to a computer and the Internet to view an email, or even to see your business’ physical sign, you can reach them wherever they are. It is important to be aware of the time of the day when you send messages to your customers, even though you have 24/7 access to them.
 

Unique Challenges of Location-based Mobile Marketing

1. Privacy Issues

One of the biggest concerns of customers is privacy issues. It has become increasingly important to ensure the privacy of user data. There are regulations, such as GDPR and CCPPA, which you need to stay on top of. The thing is, these regulations keep changing. It’s certainly not a good thing to get fined for this. Customers are reluctant to give themselves away or participate in anything that may seem shady or uncertain to them. Instead, provide clear instructions on how to opt-out of marketing communications if the customer desires. Having this choice makes the customer feel safer, even though if they don’t sign up, you’ll have a number against them.

2. Measurement of Success

The challenge of measuring the results of mobile marketing campaigns is a huge one for many businesses. When a push notification is sent to a customer, it’s not always easy to determine whether the user has completed the desired action or if it has been ignored. Although you might be able to measure certain metrics, like how many people opened text messages or used your app regularly, you may still miss the big picture. A number of apps that track how many purchases users make can be used to increase the transparency of results. You can determine if people are using your app and contributing to your revenue stream by tracking in-app purchases. As a result, you can determine if your app is generating a high return on investment.

3. Non-Segmented Targeting

Using techniques like geofencing with location targeting increases your chances of wasting your budget if you rely on location targeting. It doesn’t necessarily mean that you have the right audience just because you have a lot of people in one particular area. Usually, it is better to segment users based on their location into smaller groups using geo-targeting techniques. Hence, avoid making this common mistake and use more targeting to find and exclude uninterested users from seeing your ads.

4. Developing an Effective Strategy

It can be difficult to decide which campaigns will work and which ones won’t if you’re relatively new to mobile marketing. A solid mobile marketing strategy is the most effective way to reach out to your target audience. To begin with, conduct some research into who your target audience is. If you don’t know how they use mobile phones, you won’t be able to connect with them. The best way to find out how your existing customers use mobile devices is to look at them or at your competitors. You can also segment audiences into different target markets and develop buyer personas based on them, which will help you strategize accordingly. In order to develop a strategy that speaks to your audience, you need to research what they want.
 

Successful Tips For Location–Based Mobile Marketing

1. Location based Mobile Marketing Using Geo-Targeting

The concept of geo-targeting is the use of an IP address, Wi-Fi, or GPS to target customers. This process can be based on a country, state, or city. Geo-targeting enables you to leverage your digital rights, as it strengthens your brand, improves your business visibility, and improves your relationship with customers.

For example, we want to find jewellery shops in Pune. We searched for “jewellery shops in Hadapsar, Pune” on Google and this is what we received:

Do you know why these shops appear on top? It’s because they optimized their site for local searches. Specificity is the key to this type of marketing.

2. Make Your Location-Based Mobile Marketing Effective by Using Geofencing

Geofencing requires an app or software. Geofencing uses an app or software that generates a preprogrammed action, which is usually a message on a device. Mobile devices or RFID tags enter or exit a particular location boundary in one of four ways: GPS, RFID, Wi-Fi, or cellular data. Approximately 90% of smartphones are compatible with geofencing.

Here is a great example of how Haldiram used geofencing to compel people. Suppose a person is a foodie. They were around a Haldiram outlet when they received a push notification. 

3. A Geo-conquesting Strategy Keeps You Ahead of the Competition

To succeed in Geo-Conquesting, you don’t need a better product than your competitors. In essence, you need to improve your self-presentation. Hence, geofencing and mobile location data are necessary for geo-conquesting. Using location data from devices, you can see where your target audience is heading. By targeting these customers, you can introduce your store, give them a welcome discount, and attract more customers.

For example, the Geo-Conquesting Strategy Bridgestone used to outcompete its competitors. Bridgestone outcompeted its competitors in a methodical manner. Using Geo-Conquesting, the company gained a competitive advantage over other companies. It was a successful campaign for Bridgestone and gave them a 50% higher CTR than their competitors.

4. Location-based Mobile Marketing with Proximity Gives You Immediate Conversions

Using location-based marketing, marketers can reach a broader audience across a wide geographic area. Using advanced technologies such as beacons and Near Field Communication (NFC) to determine a user’s exact location, proximity marketing might be a better option if you want to be more precise with your targeting.

Proximity marketing doesn’t require a geofence. This technique tracks users who are near a venue and considers past purchasing habits. With location-based marketing, marketing teams can reach their target customers based on proximity, while also assisting the buyer’s journey from discovery to purchase – even encouraging engagement and retention.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

1. What is Location-Based Mobile Marketing?

Location-based mobile marketing is a type of mobile marketing that uses the location of a mobile device to deliver targeted, location-specific content and offers to consumers. This can be done through various methods, including GPS, Bluetooth beacons, and Wi-Fi.

2. How Effective is Location-Based Marketing?

Location-based marketing can be very effective when used correctly. By targeting advertisements and promotions to people in specific geographic locations, businesses can increase the relevance and usefulness of their marketing efforts. This can lead to higher engagement and conversion rates, as well as more foot traffic to physical storefronts.

3. What is the Future of Location Based Marketing?

Using location-based marketing has become increasingly popular over the past few years, allowing businesses to reach out to customers who are on the go. Big brands are expected to adopt location-based marketing this year, and social media giants will invest heavily in it.

4. How many types of location-based marketing?

There are 5 main types of location-based marketing you can use to reach your audience and increase revenue.

5. What are the advantages of location based marketing?

Location-based marketing offers several advantages, including increased engagement with customers and higher conversion rates. It also allows businesses to target specific audiences based on their location, making it easier to reach customers with tailored, relevant messages.
 

Conclusion

Regardless of how big or small your business is, location based mobile marketing can transform your business. When you send users personalised offers based on their location, conversions and revenue increase. It is not a problem for users to share their location if they get something valuable in return for sharing information about their location. People want relevant content tailored to their needs, and they don’t mind sharing their location. To increase revenue and conversions, use location-based mobile marketing techniques such as geo-targeting, geo-fencing, and proximity marketing.
 

Take Advantage of Sekel Tech’s Location-Based Mobile Marketing

If you’re looking for a way to advertise your business locally, location-based marketing is an extremely effective tool. It’s most effective at boosting in-store traffic and brand awareness. As compared to other advertising methods, it is also relatively cost-effective.

With Sekel Tech’s location-based marketing, you can build awareness and trust with customers and increase conversions and profits. To compete with your competitors, you can not only deliver personalised messages to your potential customers, but also create location-based marketing campaigns. You can turn impulses into sales through Sekel Tech’s platform by bringing customers into your store physically.

The location-based mobile marketing platform from Sekel Tech allows you to interact with your customers via email, social media, web, and mobile. With it, you can automate and manage every campaign, publish content, analyse results, and optimise as you go.