Purposeful measures: Location-based marketing

Enthusiasm for location intelligence is not fading. Those responsible for marketing recognized the advantages of location-based services a long time ago. A Statista survey of marketing experts revealed a clear picture of that. Of those surveyed, 48 percent responded that the biggest trend in the mobile advertising industry was “location-based advertising,” while only 23 percent identified “influencer marketing” as the most important. The result: budgets for location-based marketing are increasing. For its latest trend report, the industry association LBMA surveyed companies from the biggest markets for location-based marketing (LBM): the USA, Canada, Germany, the UK and Singapore. In the USA the proportion of the total budget dedicated to LBM is currently 43 percent; in Germany it has risen to 40 percent. When it comes to using location-based services to reach out to customers, Singapore occupies first place with 87 percent, followed by Germany, where 81 percent of the companies are following this important technology trend.

Targeted Customer Approach

“With location-based data we can reliably measure the effectiveness of different channels such as mobile, out of home, radio or the IoT. As ‘cookies in the real world,’ these data points help us to offer new services looking toward the future,” explains Carsten Szameitat, Region Director D/A/CH at the LBMA. “Our study shows that German companies have nothing to hide on the international stage.” German companies consider the biggest advantage of LBM to lie in the targeted precision of its customer approach (49 percent). Also the ability to both boost brick-and-mortar sales (44 percent) and optimize the personalization of offers (43 percent) is rated highly by companies in Germany.

Digitization of Brick-and-Mortar Stores

If you consider that two-thirds of all Germans regularly use the internet on their smartphones, there is big potential for geocoded marketing measures. Consumers’ location can be pinpointed within a few meters by means of the geolocation function on their mobile device, enabling them to be notified of individually customized offers available at the closest establishment, whether it is a home improvement store, a movie theater or a restaurant. This happens automatically by means of “beacons” – transmitters that send store-related marketing to people’s smartphones as soon as they are within a certain distance of the store. Location-based marketing is therefore an example of how new digital technologies can help brick-and-mortar stores to gain new customers or to boost loyalty among existing customers. “This is where LBM has a clear unique selling point,” concludes Szameitat. “No other measure can reach the target customer with the right offers at the right time via the right channel.”

Author: Editorial team Future. Customer.
Image: AdobeStock