One of the finest innovations of this era is the ability to avail the power of data in all industrial domains- just like a chain reaction. As per an HBR article, 49.2% of Fortune 1000 executives said that they have leveraged big data analysis for business processes and have even witnessed the value developed through the strategies.
Being more data-driven and less instinct oriented is the key to organizational success—the data insights help in understanding more about the teams, competitors, and consumers. But in most of the companies, the search is mostly limited to the trends in engagement, retention, and conversions.
But why? What did we miss here? The context of location in all these trends. According to a white paper by Pitney Bowes, around 80 percent of the data is stored and maintained by the organizations that comprise a location component, an untapped parameter. This implies that all of your data has some geographical information attached to it, which, if utilized, could change the way you do business- which brings us to the main subject of our day’s topic- Location Intelligence.
Use Location Intelligence To Improve Customer Experience
Local Intelligence wholly transforms the traditional business methodology, especially for small business owners. There are various tools for availing local Intelligence- Geofences, QR Codes, NFC Tags, Big Data, Artificial Intelligence, and beacons. Make use of all these tools for crafting a well-balanced customer satisfaction strategy.
1. Google My Business
More than 5 billion people use Google for doing searches every month. Google My Business could prove to be a potent tool for connecting with your customers through Google Maps and Search. It is so powerful that the signals from this tool impact the local SEO searching.
Customers research about a product and look for the nearby stores. As posted by Google, 50% of the people purchase within the same day of research.
Companies can get themselves registered on Google My Business by inputting necessary information- Business Location, Reviews, Contact details, and images for searching. Google My Business is essential, as most of the users don’t go past the first page of Google for searching a product. In such cases, Google My Business adds an incredible job by helping the business owners with-
- Index, control and display relevant information.
- Curate videos, photos, and customer reviews.
- Engage with users for managing online reputation
- Gather Insights based on the customers’ bookings, and calls.
2. OOH Advertising
Brands that dedicate around 15 % or more of their marketing budgets to OOH advertisements witness more than 106% increase in brand quality and a 24% rise in brand trust, as reported by The Drum.
What is OOH Advertising?
OOH, advertising is the new term for outdoor advertising. The formats of Out-of-Home advertisements include-
- Billboards
- Hoardings
- Banners
- Posters
- Vehicle Ads
- Digital Screens
- Airport Ads
The concept includes tapping potential customers when they are on the move. It is done to reach mass audiences and achieve enhanced visibility. The effectiveness of OOH advertising is vast, but their creativity can be enhanced by integrating it with technologies like NFC Tags and QR codes.
- QR Codes
The QR Codes on Out-of-Home ads can be scanned for revealing discounts and coupons.
The Dynamic QR Codes are highly suitable for these ads as they can be tracked, edited, and used for effective retargeting.
- NFC Tags
NFC Tags can also be integrated into the store window. When customers tap on an NFC tag, they will be redirected to the landing page, offering fresh product reveals, discounts, and exciting offers.
3. GeoFencing
GeoFencing is a location intelligence methodology in which platforms avail RFID, GPS, cellular data, or wifi for setting a pre-programmed action when a mobile device steps in or out the geofence (a virtual boundary) around a geographical location. Businesses can select and mark a geographical area on a map and set a digital barrier around it. The fenced area can detect and interact with the mobile devices that enter its territory. Setting a geofence around the market competitor can prove to be highly beneficial for your organization. It also presents numerous opportunities for customizing existing campaigns.
4. Social Media ADs
Wondering if some ad is reaching the right people or not? Well, this is where location intelligence steps in. Out of 2.5 billion smartphone users, finding your audience is the road to successful marketing. Geo-targeting (targeting users based on their location) is essential in social media marketing campaigns. The process comprises of following pointers-
- Users’ IP addresses
- City
- Saved Address
- Province/State
- Pincode
As posted by Hootsuite, businesses are spending millions and billions of dollars on social media advertising, and the amount is expected to reach $17.3 billion by 2020.
Use analytics for filtering the audience based on gender, age, city, and language.
5. Scavenger Hunting
Scavenger Hunting is one of the successful methods for increasing your customer’s bandwidth. During the London Olympics, Turkish Airlines created a scavenger hunt around the city’s bus stops. Many QR Flags were placed around the city, which expected the participants to scan the series of codes for winning prizes. The campaign drove around 20K referrals, with visitors spending around one minute on the mobile site. Scavenger hunts are specially availed during sales, festivals, and upon new releases.
6. Smart Packaging
Smart packaging has evolved with time for boosting customer engagement. The product with smart packaging is integrated with NFC tags and QR codes, giving the users various kinds of product information like origin, expiry date, ingredients, etc. The product empowered with smart packaging redirects the users to a landing page, which gives the product information, coupons for additional purchases, and offers extra tips for utilizing the product. This, in a way, provides the business owner with an ample opportunity for engaging with users.
7. Invisible Shopping
Invisible shopping is a catch these days. 95 % of the shoppers don’t wish any hassle while communicating with the store executives. Amazon Go is the finest example of this case. Customers can enter the Amazon Go outlet, add the items by scanning QR codes, leave the store, and then finally make payments for the items using Amazon wallet. As per the PR of JISP, the company provides NFC-enabled price tags for completing purchases four times faster than the traditional scanning. Both of the use cases exhibit the impact of location intelligence on marketing by sending out coupons and retargeting customers.
8. Retargeting Campaigns
Retargeting is very useful for fine-tuning a brand’s offerings, cross-selling and up-selling, analyzing their investments, and observing the customer’s shopping behaviour. The tool is handy for all range of businesses- large retailers to Small-Medium Businesses.
Once a customer has purchased from the store, the businesses can generate retargeting campaigns by availing location intelligence technology.
A finely-researched retargeting campaign must include the following components-
- Targeting audiences on social media platforms like Facebook based on the users’ searches and closing the final deal on Google.
- Utilize a basic keyword as a target and retarget the campaign with it on Google and Facebook.
- Retarget the cold audience by exactly taking their focused searches into account.
- Use tools like Lookalike and related searches for targeting the audience.
The Future Is Here
Now, it’s not only about knowing what evokes your customer’s emotions but also what gives birth to these emotions; and this is what Local Intelligence facilitates. Intelligent location-based marketing is on the rise now. Availing locations in a manner that drive positive emotions has brought a revolution in the industry of advertisements. Drive greater results by availing this powerful technology and give what your customers are excitedly seeking for- A Great Customer Experience.
We’ve Got You!
If you still haven’t deployed the location intelligence in your business, then it’s high time! The technology has changed the face of many companies like Uber, Amazon, and Airbnb, and it would prove a boon for you as well. This is an immensely large opportunistic ocean, and we are here to sail you through, but the question remains- Do you want to go sailing? If so, then contact our experts for more information.
