Grab local customers with social check-in apps!
I didn’t fully understand what LBS(Location Based Service) is when I studied GIS(Geographic Information Service) at my college back in 2002. If I knew how much it would affect in our lives, I might not have changed my major. Approximately a decate later, now, LBS is ubiquitous especially in our smartphone. Mobile marketers are attempting to make profit by serving LBS apps.
Last year Foursquare reported that over 15 million users and 600,000 businesses had joined the platform, resulting in over a billion check-ins. Location technology is firmly on the radar for many leading brands, and makes up a key part of the agenda at SMWF Europe in London in March.
Last month Facebook confirmed it was stepping up its assault on the lucrative location-sharing market with the acquisition of Gowalla in early December, expected to close as a stand-alone service later this month.
The increasing spread of ever more sophisticated smartphone handsets, combined with the continuing development of apps powered by geolocation technology, like that from companies like Navteq, is crucial to this developing trend, providing a whole new angle of relevance for marketers and brands.
Navteq, one of the leading providers of location data for developers, said:
“Hyper-local mobile advertising can target consumers in a non-intrusive way when they are near a merchant’s location and then guide them to the front door. This effectively transforms mobile into a direct response channel for retail, restaurants, cinemas, petrol stations, and any business that benefits from getting consumers in the door.”
Savvy marketers are now using location-based technology to reach potential customers in the immediate vicinity. Business listings on services like Foursquare, Loopt, Brightkite, and Google Places have become crucial weapons in the marketing arsenal as the industry waits for this trend to explode across the world.
The rise of social check-in apps has added a new dimension to the trend, using reward, word of mouth recommendation and viral to directly influence peoples’ purchasing behaviour. They allow businesses to interact directly with customers, creating communities with an added level of engagement based in real-world behaviours.
Read More and other info of Social Media Forum :http://www.socialmedia-forum.com/blog/2012/01/london/why-2012-is-the-year-for-location-based-marketing/
