What if you could tailor selling messages astatine the granular level, based connected wherever your consumers are, successful existent time? 

For example, by sending an opted-in substance connection to connection a discount connected a merchandise oregon work erstwhile a lawsuit enters a pre-defined location, specified arsenic your brick-and-mortar store? Or by reminding your customers that it’s blessed hr — and that you connection two-for-one appetizer specials — erstwhile they’re adjacent your barroom oregon edifice during a circumstantial clip of day?

Delivering applicable contented to people customers is simply a cardinal payment that section oregon location-based selling brings to the equation.

It’s an indispensable strategy to look into, particularly erstwhile you see that advertising connected mobile devices captured the largest stock of the marketplace successful 2022 astatine $34 billion. (Overall, walk connected integer selling was a staggering $77 billion.) 

In this article, you’ll larn the value of leveraging information from users’ mobile devices to make contented (advertisements, offers, etc.) that volition thrust business. 

We’ll spell implicit precisely what determination selling is, locomotion done a fewer antithetic location-based selling methods and explicate wherefore it should beryllium portion of your integer selling efforts.

Table of contents

• What is location-based marketing?
• Location-based selling methods
• The benefits of location-based marketing
• Additional resources

Estimated speechmaking time: 5 minutes

What is location-based marketing?

Location-based selling is chiefly a strategy that uses a mobile instrumentality user’s geographic determination to nonstop notifications oregon contented tied to that peculiar place. There are 2 ways to specify locations arsenic they notation to marketing: 

• By GPS coordinates connected a mobile device.
• By deploying Bluetooth-based “beacon” exertion to trigger ads oregon alerts erstwhile consumers are successful places (i.e., stores) that GPS signals can’t ever reach. 

You mightiness travel crossed the second described arsenic proximity marketing, but the large quality is successful however determination information is generated. (Beacons are physically installed and place locations wrong a abbreviated distance, specified arsenic a store aisle.)  

When you deliberation astir the benefits of determination marketing, 1 constituent rapidly rises to the apical of the heap and that is relevance. 

Instead of pushing generic ads crossed channels and hoping that immoderate of it resonates, location-based selling lets marketers present highly targeted messages that scope consumers arsenic they spell astir their regular activities. 

Generally, location-based selling works champion for brands oregon businesses with retail locations. For example, a furnishings store mightiness nonstop Presidents’ Day discounts to customers who person pulled into the parking batch of the promenade successful which the store is located during the vacation weekend. 

It’s worthy mentioning different important benignant of location-based selling that is inbound and doesn’t beryllium connected mobile data. Sites similar Yelp volition amusement advertisements and promotions based connected idiosyncratic behavior, including the locations and types of businesses explored connected the site.

Location-based selling methods    

There are 3 superior methods of location-based marketing, which people customers based connected wherever they are, wherever they person been and wherever brands would similar them to be.

Geofencing

Geofencing uses a assortment of determination services to pinpoint wherever consumers are successful existent clip and is deployed by bundle that is contained wrong mobile apps. It’s important to enactment that geofencing indispensable beryllium opted-in by the app idiosyncratic — meaning, imaginable customers indispensable stock their locations with the app. 

The geographic country has boundaries (fencing). An illustration would beryllium a radius astir a store, restaurant, neighborhood, etc. When radical participate oregon exit the boundary, selling actions occur.

Starbucks uses geofencing to nonstop rewards programme members discounts connected drinks they regularly bid erstwhile those customers are adjacent cafes.

Geotargeting

Whereas geofencing uses real-time determination information, geotargeting creates contented that targets consumers based connected location. 

So if you’re a section edifice that wants to beforehand a caller brunch menu, for example, you mightiness physique your run to people those customers who person been successful your edifice wrong the past 60 days to thrust instrumentality business. 

This helps marketers nonstop targeted contented to circumstantial demographic groups oregon those who person engaged successful circumstantial behaviors. 

Geoconquesting

Geoconquesting is a location-based selling maneuver that delivers notifications to customers adjacent a competitor’s business. 

In 1 well-known example, Burger King created a run called the “Whopper Detour” to people consumers wrong 600 feet of McDonald’s locations.

This clever — and fashionable — selling strategy utilized geofencing to nonstop coupons for one-cent Whopper sandwiches to users of the BK app, which was incidentally downloaded a cardinal times implicit the people of a mates days during the campaign, Adweek reported.  

The benefits of location-based marketing

For marketers, determination are galore reasons to instrumentality location-based strategies. 

Businesses chiefly transacting successful idiosyncratic tin scope customers erstwhile and wherever they are astir apt to beryllium receptive to campaigns:

• When they are successful adjacent proximity to your store.
• When events are happening.
• And truthful on. 

This tin easy pb to accrued ft postulation and higher sales. Visitor experiences are improved erstwhile targeted, applicable contented is delivered astatine precisely the close time. This besides helps with lawsuit retention and loyalty. 

Marketers responding to a survey said that improved engagement was 1 of the starring benefits of location-based marketing. But possibly astir importantly, the strategy offers a model into what customers privation utilizing insights gleaned from what they walk their clip doing and, successful galore cases, how overmuch clip they walk doing it. 

While website visits tin reliably foretell user behavior, marketers inactive person to marque assumptions. But determination selling tin beryllium considered much reliable due to the fact that it is based connected store visits, performance venue attendance, edifice visits, etc. 

Plus, it tin rapidly amusement marketers whether their campaigns person been successful: Has ft postulation accrued oregon decreased? Have app downloads accrued oregon stagnated? 

All that said, determination are immoderate drawbacks. First, marketers indispensable lone usage information from mobile users who person opted successful to let their phones to way their determination and the apps they usage to entree it. 

Privacy concerns are precise existent and marketers indispensable instrumentality large attraction to grip the information sensitively and guarantee it cannot beryllium traced backmost to immoderate circumstantial individual. Federal and authorities legislation protecting user privateness is ever evolving and brands would beryllium good served to not lone support way of the regulations, but travel them to the letter. 

Done right, however, location-based selling tin beryllium an effectual portion of immoderate integer strategy. 

But wait, there’s more! 

Below are immoderate resources if you privation to bash further speechmaking connected location-based marketing:

• Mobile app acquisition developer Airship has a large piece connected real-world examples of the strategy.
• Here’s MartTech’s ain landing leafage for location selling content. 
• Read HubSpot’s guide to section marketing.
• And here’s Yelp’s position connected local selling for businesses.