The New Year has arrived; and with it comes new opportunities to market and grow your business. No matter the marketing strategy you’re looking to start or improve upon, remember to create marketing efforts that promote customer engagement.
Tools such as e-blast email marketing and targeted social media advertisements are great for influencing potential customers to visit your website or physical location, but what about those who are already visiting your venue? How do you create a personalized customer experience for those who are already at or near your physical space? The answer: Proximity marketing.
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What is Proximity Marketing?
Proximity marketing is digital marketing set to a specific physical space. Proximity marketing gives you the ability to communicate with guests who come within the boundary of a designated area. With this tool, you can create personalized and well-timed digital messaging that’s sent to the smartphones or other available devices of your guests. A proximity marketing campaign can be delivered in the form of text messaging, email, online/social media advertising, or even as a downloadable app.
Smart Tip: You’ll want to utilize a proximity marketing software that allows guest to easily provide their phone number or email address so they can receive your marketing campaigns. It would be counterproductive to run proximity marketing if you’re not providing a simple way for guest to share their contact info with you.
How Does it Work?
A proximity marketing boundary is created by using hardware that acts as a beacon. The type of hardware capable of acting as this beacon is
- Bluetooth-enabled hardware
- Near Field Communication systems
- Radio Frequency Identification systems
- WiFi-based hardware
Once a guest’s device comes in contact with the boundary of an active campaign, the digital content from that campaign will be sent to the device.
The best way to choose the hardware for your proximity marketing is to look at the hardware you already use to engage with your guests. With more and more businesses understanding the importance of offering free guest WiFi, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to go with WiFi as the beacon for your proximity marketing.
Smart Tip: Running a marketing campaign through your WiFi signal is only as effective as the WiFi signal itself. Make sure your WiFi reach covers every area of your location by learning how to set up your WiFi landscape.
Why Should I Use Proximity Marketing?
By engaging with those guests that are either visiting or near your business’s physical location, you are mostly engaging with a group that highly favors proximity marketing. An article from Forbes states 57% of consumers will interact with location-based advertising. You can use this to your advantage by creating highly personalized marketing campaigns thanking guests for visiting your location and offering a deal on certain products.
Concerned that guests might be unwilling to provide the location of their device? That same Forbes article also shows over 50% of consumers are willing to share their location if it means they can receive more relevant advertising. This is the perfect opportunity to advertise and market to those who are located near your property but aren’t necessarily visiting. A well-crafted social media ad or geofenced Google ad can be the key to entice nearby dwellers to make a stop at your business. Just remember to create a proximity marketing boundary that reaches out past your physical location.
Are you ready to start the new year with proximity marketing? With GoZone WiFi’s Smart WiFi platform, you’ll have access to intuitive proximity marketing capabilities via your guest WiFi. Greet first time guests with a personalized email along with an added coupon. Market to visitors with creative WiFi login pages and redirect URLs.
