When most people think about geolocation services they think about pinpointing a particular business or landmark on a map. To be sure, that is one method of geolocation. However, a new type of geolocation service is becoming more and more popular.
Since smartphones are gaining in popularity, many people are starting to use geolocation services that tell where they are located at a specific time.
For instance, if you’re sitting in a Starbucks in your town, you can use the geolocation service to tell your friends and fans precisely where you are. Then they could find you on their smartphones and meet you right there. Is that useful?
Yes, I think so. Not just from the perspective of a consumer or citizen looking to meet up with other citizens, but also from the perspective of a business owner.
If you own a business where people tend to congregate or meet in large numbers, then why not place a QR code in your store window so that people can scan it with their smartphones and make geolocation easier? Better yet, place an upright brochure on each table in your restaurant or at strategic locations within your business with that QR code prominently displayed and see how your customers use geolocation services to bring you more business.
All it takes is a nudge. If you simply offer your customers an opportunity to spread the word about your location and about your business, then you’d be surprised how geolocation services can give your business a boost.
Here’s a great article on local online marketing. I have three comments to make about the content in the article.
- Paid search still packs a powerful punch – I don’t care where you live, paid search has the greatest potential to drive targeted traffic to your website fast. And then you can reap an ROI that is difficult to match anywhere else. I’d say paid search is better than TV and radio – especially for effective local marketing.
- You can’t separate local from mobile – Mobile marketing has arrived in full force and if you think about it you’ve likely seen people use their cell phones to find businesses to shop in as well as to find products to purchase locally. While people may use the Internet to research purchases, they still would rather purchase locally. Mobile marketing makes that so much easier.
- Localization and local awareness - The big trend is for big businesses to customize their marketing for local geographic markets. Modern online technology makes that possible. A huge part of that effort is with local smartphone apps. Location-based apps make local marketing easier and local shopping better.
Online marketing is getting a lot better for small businesses and making the world a better place for consumers.
Smartphones have become all the rage. Both iPhones and Androids are gaining in popularity and people are using these devices in strange new ways. Businesses included.
One of the most powerful ways that iPhones and other smartphones are being utilized is through the development of apps. Apps can serve very useful functions for businesses that go through the trouble of developing them. And some of those functions are social.
For one thing, they allow you to repurpose your content. That’s always a plus. But if you can imagine your website being accessible to iPhone users who are also capable of sharing your content on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and other social websites, then you’re starting to get the picture. But even beyond that, iPhone apps themselves can be social media tools to reckon with.
Take your website again. Instead of simply reformatting the website for mobile consumption, why not repackage it into an app?
This can be done in a number of ways, but one way that many companies are using to make their content more palatable, interactive, and powerful is by turning it into a game. People love to have fun. The interactive nature of multi-player games that can be played through an iPhone interface will keep people connected to your business as they connect to their friends. You can’t get any more social than that.
Android … iPhone … iPad … we could go on. Mobile phones, text messages, Twitter. It seems the whole world is going mobile. Or is it?
Well, it might seem that way to some people. And the increase in mobile apps certainly does nothing to quell that impression. However, all things said and done, mobile marketing is not necessarily the Holy Grail many online marketers thought it would be. Sure, there are opportunities to reach new markets (and to stay in touch with old markets) through mobile marketing, but I still think the best opportunities for most marketers is online. Laptops, social networks, search engines, etc.
This isn’t a proclamation so much as an observation. Mobile marketing has its place and I do believe it can be used successfully. But for most small businesses – even local businesses – it could just be a channel that you’ll want to monitor but not sink too many dollars into.
The bottom line, really, on any type of marketing is whether or not you have a reasonable expectation to reach the right market. If so, give it a try. If not then don’t bother. Only you know your business and your customers. What do you think?
