Sharing your location with friends in the past required calling or texting to let them know where you are, with the directions. Nowadays, thanks to our smartphones, location sharing has become very easy. Not only has it become a fun way to share your activities with your peers, location sharing apps have also made it possible for businesses to market their products and services by allowing their customers to geo-tag their location. This also helps them collect location-based content that helps in further refining their marketing campaigns. Astounding Growth in Location-Based Apps A number of companies are investing in development of mobile app based on location to grow their business. The number of location-based applications available on each mobile platform is also increasing considerably. Almost every social application tracks their users’ locations and gives them advertising and marketing content relevant to that place. Location is now embedded in everything an online user does. A trend report by GlobalWebIndex suggests that Tinder, a location-based dating app, is predicted to reach a $1 billion valuation this year, while Momo, a Chinese location-based social app has reported a record-breaking $3 million valuation this year. What originally started as a way to focus on active check-ins, rewards, and recognition has now become one of the strongest tools in location discovery and user interaction. The user’s location has become more than just a wandering blue dot on the street map; it now means the places we go, the people we meet, and the relationships we develop. The Evolution of Location-Based Social Apps The most recent development in location-based apps is the ability to navigate the environment. Locations help in discovering useful information about our friends and colleagues nearby that readily connects us with them and fosters new relationships based on shared locations and likes. Location based apps such as Yik Yak, Twitter, Swarm, Foursquare, and Circle have already been compiling content based on proximity. Last year, Foursquare, one of the earliest location based social apps, announced that they would launch a new platform for discovering nearby friends and seeing who is up to what. The Foursquare app would focus on check-ins, earning badges, and finding a good place to have dinner, but the Swarm app would focus entirely on the social element. As geo-tagged information is becoming more readily available, location-based apps have also entered the realm of journalism. Apps like Banjo, Sonar, and Geofeedia are designed to help journalists find stories, new ideas, develop new sources, and track news events through posts from the scenes. Vyclone, an iPhone app, takes video clips of events and turns them into video footage, covering that event. What's Next? The recent trend in location-based apps highlights the importance of location data for ad-targeting and consumer marketing. This indicates why some large platforms like Apple, Yahoo, Google, and Microsoft are rushing to strike licensing deals with smaller, location-based mobile platforms. This year, as more and more predictions by IT Gurus about the trends in location-based apps are coming true, it is expected that location-based, social, and mobile commerce solutions will become even more popular. This would help businesses increase their profitability by letting users know about special discounts, deals, and the availability of limited stock items around them. Based on this, a plethora of new social apps will likely hit the mainstream as the time passes. Is your business using location-based services to communicate special deals to customers? Is your application tapping into the potential that location-based social interaction and mobile commerce can offer? Let us know in the comments below, and thanks for reading! Gone are the days when email marketing, QR codes, or SMS adverts were used for marketing promotions. Now the best time to reach a consumer is when they’re close to you.
In today’s fast-paced world, what’s available at arm’s length is usually what catches a consumer's attention immediately. This is where proximity-based apps help businesses reach the right customers, with the right offer, at the right time, and the right place. Proximity apps notify you when something or someone of interest is nearby. Businesses use consumer location to distribute advertising content to the targeted consumer market and notify them as soon as they enter the target location. Combined with social media marketing, a business can take great advantage of such location-based apps to achieve better results. Let’s take a look at how smaller shops and businesses can tackle the challenges of proximity-based apps, and compete with the giants in the market. Reach Them When They Are Near From browsing products, price comparison to carting and purchasing things from online stores, smartphones have become an integral part of our shopping experience. Studies suggest that 80% of consumers use their mobile phones to have a better in-store shopping experience. The increasing number of smartphone users, and of those, the ones who use mobile apps for a better in-store experience are rising. This trend will only continue to grow with time. Businesses can leverage this upward trend by creating proximity-based apps to woo customers nearby and engage them into browsing things they like. Allow Immediate Purchase Apart from reaching customers within range, proximity-based apps drive people to an immediate purchase as well. This technology gives businesses a way to connect with customers nearby by sending them offers to entice purchase or buy coupons through messages. This increases chances of a successful future purchase. Notify Latest Promotions When The Customer Is Around While a promotional mail to a customer’s house can go unread, a notification that pops up on their phone from an application when they’re nearby gives businesses a better shot at securing successful purchases than any other marketing technique. Analyze and Study Customer Behavior and Preferences Contrary to the common misconception, luring customers within the vicinity is not the sole purpose of these apps. Businesses can also have access to the real-time analytics of consumer behavior, foot traffic, new trends, and a customer’s shopping preferences. These insights are highly useful for businesses to determine which promotion or campaign worked in attracting them, and what areas need more attention. Allow Customers to Check-In to Your Establishment One of the first things most people do nowadays is checking-in on social media as soon as they get to the mall or café. So, when a customer "checks-in" to your business premises, they unwillingly advocate your business to their social media circle. It is widely estimated that most people find it comfortable to go to places they have heard of through friends, over trying out new places. In a world where people look for more meaningful experiences from the brands they are loyal to, businesses can use proximity-based apps to improve their brand equity significantly. They can do this by providing a more personalized and engaging shopping experience to their customers, and ultimately differentiate themselves from the competition. So is your business using proximity-based apps? How has this affected your bottom line? Let us know in the comments below, and thanks for reading! |
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