Have You Ever Heard About Geo Fencing?

Have you ever been in the mall and all the sudden get a notification on your phone with a coupon and wonder how in the world did you just get a coupon for the store you are in? It’s called Geo-targeting and with this newer technology, businesses can now place ads and content in front of customers who are online and within that business’s proximity. Well, with Geo-targeting, you probably just walked in the strategically placed proximity of a beacon which has software that communicates with your phones Bluetooth or GPS if these functions are turned on. Geo-targeting is a location-based GPS service that has allowed many business applications to redefine their services and marketing. Not only can you become the victim of presented ads, relevant content, promotions, or coupons, but they can track your location throughout their store. Companies are building incredibly granular databases from the mobile device you we all use, with any browser you open and are logged into on their site. Combining proximity based strategies with mobile applications, robust customer data is resulting in amazing technology that will transform the online-offline relationship between customers and retailers into something that you could only imagine. National Companies like Rockstar Marketing are building cutting edge Geo-targeting applications for their clients. Bryan Scott, owner of Rockstar Marketing said “My first experience with Geo-targeting was when we were driving down the road and all the sudden a coupon popped up on my screen for a national chain restaurant that we were passing. Honestly, I don’t eat at the establishment, but it really got me thinking about other possible applications for this technology.” I thought about purchasing a few beacons and setting up a few tests, possible targeting people passing our clients local area or in the parking lot of a competitor nearby. What if someone was at a pizza restaurant getting out of their car when a coupon for their competitor popped up on their phone, how many people do you think would run down the road to save a few bucks, this is something we had to look into. A super cool idea I heard about was when a husband went into the local florist to order some flowers for his anniversary. As he walked into the florist, an ad for the jewelry store down the road popped up on his phone. Was that a great idea? Or a horrible one from a guy’s perspective, hahaha, Nah, it is brilliant. There are many other things you can like creating rewards programs and custom offers based on past purchases and so much more.The best thing about using geolocation data for mobile marketing is that it creates more tailored and relevant marketing for potential customers. If you offer a great rewards program or incentives you can really get people to opt in to your program. Most consumers are willing to opt in to location tracking if they benefit from it. According to a Swirl survey, 77% of respondents indicated they would opt into location tracking as long as they received enough value in return. So, if you were geo-targeted with advertising, geo-fenced with a text message, and then connected in the store through the beacon technology, take advantage of it, if you don’t like it you might want to think about turning off your Bluetooth and killing the GPS tracking on your phone.