Proximity marketing has been recognized as an effective way to drive retail sales since 2014.
That being said, it still has tons of untapped potential.
Imagine knowing exactly where your customer is, what they’re doing, and how you can help them. With this highly data-driven marketing technique, you’ll have access to all those details and more.
This means that you can send personalized messages at exactly the right time in exactly the right place. This will encourage your customers to take action there and then.
Want to learn more about running successful proximity campaigns? Keep reading for all the essential details.
1. Get to Know Your Customers
Ready to get started with proximity marketing? You need to make sure you have as much information about your customers as possible.
Let’s imagine that you’ve created an app which sends special offers to users when they enter certain restaurants. If you don’t have much data on your users, you’ll probably send a generic special offer, like “10% off all steaks.”
But what if your customer is vegetarian?
If you take the time to figure this out beforehand, you’ll be able to offer a more targeted special offer. This could be something like “2 for 1 on all vegetarian mains” or “free dessert when you order a vegan dish.”
This makes customers more likely to engage with your content and less likely to get frustrated and delete your app.
2. Avoid Being Too Intrusive
Knowing your customers is important, but so is knowing when to stop.
More and more consumers are concerned about online privacy and use of their data by companies. For that reason, it’s essential to get permission before you use customer data in proximity marketing campaigns.
Instead of asking customers to tick a box next to a confusing list of terms, make your use of data clear and easy to understand. This helps build trust and means customers won’t be creeped out when you send them personalized messages.
Think carefully before personalizing campaigns. Try to put yourself in the customer’s shoes.
They might be happy to receive special offers on regular grocery items. But they may feel freaked out when they’re shown content related to adult or personal care items.
Always respect your customers’ boundaries and give them the option to opt out of ad targeting.
3. Use More Than Just Location Data
Proximity marketing is all about serving content based on location. But that doesn’t mean you can ignore other variables.
Factors like purchase history, browsing history, and search history can help you to personalize content.
For example, let’s say your customer walks into a phone shop. You know that they’ve recently searched for “Stay Mobile cracked iPhone screen.” You’ll be able to serve them content related to phone screen repairs.
If their last search was for “cheap mobile phones,” you can give them info on the most cost-effective phones currently in stock.
To create a truly successful campaign, you need to focus on more than just location.
4. Don’t Use Third-Party Ad Networks
Not sure how proximity marketing works behind the scenes?
It’s pretty simple. You’ll need an app that interacts with beacons to detect the user’s location and serve them relevant content.
When it comes to implementing your beacon strategy, you have two choices. You can use a third party ad network or create your own branded app.
It might be tempting to join a third-party network. But this gives you limited control over user experience and less ability to control the content shown.
To create the most successful campaigns, you should invest in creating your own beacon-enabled app. This means you’ll have complete control over content and user experience.
You’ll also have access to powerful analytics and the ability to make changes and improve campaigns in real-time.
Don’t be tempted by the easy option. Creating your own app will serve you much better in the long run.
5. Create Content That’s Actually Useful
How would you feel if every time you entered a store, you were bombarded with notifications advertising their latest products?
You wouldn’t be impressed. In fact, you’d probably disable those notifications and delete the company app.
Proximity marketing works best when it’s focused on actually helping users, not flooding them with advertisements. This means using your data and expertise to figure out what customers want and how you can give it to them.
For example, let’s say a customer has been looking at a certain product online and then visits a physical store. You could provide them with details on stock and let them know where the product is located in the store.
If they’ve been looking at voucher codes, you could present them with a special discount once they enter the store.
Taking the time to integrate data from your website, CRM, and other channels is well worth the effort. It allows you to give customers a highly-personalized experience that truly helps them.
6. Avoid Annoying Advertising
There’s nothing wrong with sending the occasional special offer or new product notification to customers. Still, you need to be selective.
Avoid sending multiple ad notifications one after another. Don’t send ads for products that your customer isn’t interested in or send the same notification again and again.
Tactics like this are tacky and annoying. It won’t make your brand look good.
Create internal rules around advertising to ensure you don’t overstep the mark. For example, “One ad per five pieces of informational content.”
Proximity marketing can be powerful, so don’t waste it on unimaginative ads.
Why Use Proximity Marketing?
The answer to this is simple.
Proximity marketing is one of the best ways to serve highly-personalized content to your customers. They get in the right place and at the right time.
Instead of guessing what your customers are going to do next, you can see exactly what they’re doing and make your content relevant.
Focus on getting to know your customers, creating an excellent user experience, and serving genuinely useful content.
Want more expert marketing tips? Check out our blog.
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