The Niche Marketing Blog

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[Editor's note:  Today's guest article not only discusses the "how" of location based marketing, but also the "why"; that is, why should businesses embrace and use this technology. In today's economy, both niche marketers and mass retailers need every edge they can get. Location based marketing is quickly becoming a "must have" tool that every marketer should learn and use. What do you think about location based marketing? Leave me a comment below. ~Scott]

ByAjay Prasad

The basic concept of location based marketing has been around for years but the internet, social media websites as well as ‘smart phones’, together are set to change it forever.

Simple yet brilliant phone applications such as Foursquare and Gowalla which rely on Global Positioning Satellites (GPS) have made it possible for business to communicate with their customers online. More commonly known social networks such as Facebook, Google Maps and Yelp too are catching up and helping make social media become an integral part of real world commerce.

Social networks and the so called ‘lo-so’ networks are an all new medium for Advertising and Marketing and the quicker do business comprehend them and adapt to take their advantages the better it is for them.

How does it all work?

Everything’s digital. Gone are the days when everyone kept a phonebook and a hefty copy of the Yellowpages directories, most of us today look for services and businesses online. Say it’s your first ever evening in San Francisco and the only thing in on your mind is ‘Sushi’. What do you do? You pull out your smart phone or switch on your laptop, visit a search engine website like Google and type “Sea Food in San Francisco” or perhaps even “Sushi in San Francisco”. Trust me, Google will let you in on thousands and thousands of results and is quite capable of leaving you all confused. What do you do? You click on the new Local Search Result Only feature. This would enable the search engine to provide you with results relevant to your physical location. You can then choose from a handful of restaurants, where you may relish your Sushi.

How does Local Marketing help Businesses?

Anyone on the streets, round the corner or even a mile away can, only with a couple of clicks on their ‘smart phones’, instantly find out about the services and goods your business offers. This new possibility naturally increases the on-foot traffic to your store and also encourages impulsive buying. Being published on online business directories allow anyone in the city to find your goods and services.

Local social media marketing is a form of direct marketing; your promotional material reaches out to real potential customers who are already making an effort to find you. Your promotional material is delivered electronically and on demand. It is, in comparison, an eco-friendly form of advertising as there is no hard copy paper wastage involved.

How do Businesses use Local Marketing?

Business register themselves on local marketing feature of search engines like Yahoo, Google, Bing etc, and on Business directory websites such as yelp to gain online visibility. It’s important to fill the business profile on such websites carefully.

Some companies opt for professional search engine optimization (SEO) for their websites. The importance of (SEO) is only to rise in the near future for not only would the website require to be indexed properly so they may be found within the general internet top search engines but would soon also require to be found by physical, geographic, location as well.

Another way businesses are using social media and location based marketing is to engage with their customers. Applications like Twitter allow building an intimidate relationship with customers. They act as an online mouthpiece where a store may talk of a new product launch or an art gallery may speak of a special event.

Related articles

• Small Business Local Search Essay (pointblankseo.com)
• Maximize Social Media Traffic to Your Blog (problogger.net)
• How To Check Your Rankings In Search Engines (hobo-web.co.uk)

Technorati Tags: Foursquare, Gowalla, location-based marketing, niche marketing, niche marketing strategy

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There is a simple, yet effective, way to drive traffic to your niche blog or web site. This strategy is quick, easy, and best of all, won’t cost you a dime.

This powerful niche marketing strategy will use free applications to identify trends in both Google and Twitter, and then using the information gleaned from those trends, will drive traffic back to your home blog or web site.

If you don’t already have them set-up, go ahead and create both a Twitter and Google account.

Google

Once you have your Google account set-up, head on over to Google Alerts and start typing in some niche keywords that are related to your business. You can then tell Google where to send these alerts; e.g. an RSS reader or email address of your choosing, or Google Reader.

Google will search the web on a daily basis, and gather up web entries, blog posts, and news items that match the keywords which you entered.

This is a quick way to find out what’s hot, and what’s not, in your industry on a day-by day basis.

Google makes it easy to then analyze trending topics by entering keywords into Google Trends. By simply entering your selected keywords at Google Trends, you can analyze search volume by region, city, and more.

Twitter

Twitter also allows for powerful trend spotting. In her article, 5 Ways to Analyze Twitter Trends, Caroline Melberg offers five places to go for finding Twitter trends.

The idea here is to use Twitter’s trending feature to identify topics that are gaining in popularity.  Be on the lookout for questions, concerns, and frustrations expressed by people in your industry (prospects, customers, thought leaders, etc.)

Driving Traffic Back to Your Site

Now that you have identified a current topic that is trending upwards, simply write a blog post or web site copy that addresses the topic. Your final step is to tweet your content on Twitter, Facebook, Digg, and any other social media site where you have created both a presence and following. Don’t forget to add a link back to the blog post or web site which relates to the topic.

Since you have picked a topic that is trending upwards, there will be a lot of people, looking for current information in the social media circles. As they search for content relating to the topic, they will come across your tweet, post, etc. Many will follow your link to get more information which, in turns, increases the traffic back at your site.

All that is left for you to do is create a “call to action” back at your site for converting that traffic into leads or sales.

This is a powerful traffic building strategy that has worked well with many of my clients. Try it out and let me know what you think.

Related articles

• 5 Ways To Analyze Twitter Trends (smallbusinessmavericks.com)
• How to Find People to Follow on Twitter Using Google (webpagefx.com)

Technorati Tags: Google Alerts, Google Trends, niche marketing, niche marketing strategy, traffic strategy, Twitter

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[Editor's note: Location based marketing services - like Foursquare, Loopt, and Gowalla - are gaining momentum as powerful promotion and incentive tools, helping both niche marketers and local businesses drive foot traffic and sales leads. The LBM providers are picking up on this trend by complementing their own services with promotion tools aimed at helping the merchant attract loyal customers. The following guest article takes a look at how to leverage these free LBM services to help increase leads, and build foot traffic for your business. ~Scott]

By Matt Bodnar

Location based marketing (LBM) is an immensely powerful tool for small business marketing. Here are 7 reasons why every small business should implement an LBM campaign.

1. Customer acquisition – location based marketing helps you reach out to new customers. You can offer deals or rewards for first time check-ins to encourage new visitors to your store. These customers can find your deals either by using location based services like foursquare, or by finding online deal listing like Gowalla city pages.

2. Reward loyal customers – location based marketing lets you reward your most loyal customers. You can choose to use mayor specials to reward your top customers with special goodies, or you can use repeat check-ins to reward customers with something similar to the Smoothie King punch card.

3. Monetize your social media presence – what are you going to do with all those fans on your restaurant’s Facebook page? LBM lets you drive those customers into your store by offering them specials or promotions – and its measurable because you can track check-ins and monitor all your LBM analytics.

4. Low Risk / High Reward – there is little to risk for setting up an LBM campaign, spending 15 minutes to set up foursquare and get your campaign going is your only real cost (other than the promotional items). So what if no one checks in for a few days? Even 1 or 2 sales extra sales would still make 15 minutes a worthwhile investment.

5. Free to use – Foursquare and Gowalla are both free to use for small businesses – there is no cost to set up your campaign. Do I really need to say more?

6. Differentiate yourself from your competitors – be the first of your competitors to get ahead of the trend. If you dominate the LBM space before anyone else then you will be the go-to spot and your brand will be associated with location based promotions in your customer’s mind.

7. Proven marketing methods – at the end of the day, none of these tactics are new or untested. Location based marketing takes the proven and successful tactics of coupons, customers loyalty cards, promotions, and discounts and moves them all onto a mobile platform in the social media space.

What are you waiting for? Go set up your location based marketing campaign today. There isn’t much to lose but it could really help your business grow sales and outmaneuver the competition.

Matt Bodnar is a restaurant entrepreneur with a passion for social media. Visit his blog http://www.LBMGuru.com to learn more about location based marketing and get the latest updates. Matt also offers tips and strategies for using location based marketing to grow your business with a free how-to guide you can download right now at: http://www.locationbasedmarketing.biz

(C) Copyright – Matt Bodnar. All Rights Reserved Worldwide.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Matt_Bodnar

http://EzineArticles.com/?7-Reasons-Your-Small-Business-Needs-Location-Based-Marketing&id=5729036

Related articles

• 3 Ways To Get Tons Of Exposure With Foursquare (businessinsider.com)
• Gowalla on Geo-Social Marketing [SXSWi Video] (clickz.com)
• Three Tips to Boost Business on Foursquare (entrepreneur.com)
• 5 Questions (and Answers) About Social Location Marketing (mpdailyfix.com)
• Foursquare Builds User Value With New Functionality (lbmguru.com)

Technorati Tags: Foursquare, Gowalla, location-based marketing, Location-based service, Loopt, niche marketing strategy

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[Editor's note: Foursquare has recently announced a series of merchant tools that are designed to help create promotions and incentives for increasing foot traffic to merchant locations. Those tools are just now being released and I will be reporting on them as they become available. In the mean time, the following article examines a few ways in which the local merchant, or niche marketer, can leverage Fourquare to bring more people to your business location. ~Scott]

By Randy G Bess

Many people might have read that the location-based services are going to explode big during 2011. So, the challenge now is to find a way to convert the excitement of a new craze into something helpful to generate data that we can evaluate and then act on. This brief guide was prepared to highlight how you can utilize FourSquare Marketing in your 2011 campaign.

Foursquare is really a location-based game which asks gamers to utilize their mobile phone to check-in at any locations they go to during the day. The users get points whenever they check-in and will be able to share these points with friends who they are connected to on Foursquare and also their Twitter and Facebook accounts. As soon as players complete specific tasks on Foursquare, these people will be awarded with badges. When player checks in the most for certain location then this will ranked them as the mayor for that place, which means that their user profile name and picture will be shown to everybody who checks in at that place.

How to use Foursquare

Offer promotions and discounts to individuals who check-in! When you offer discount codes to people who check out your company or perhaps a location nearby this will generate more business This is actually an inexpensive way to get customers.

Look for your brand supporters

Once individuals check in they can leave comments about their location. Check out these comments in order to get a genuine feedback about how users see your brand. Foursquare offers location owners lots of information about check-ins associated with their company.

Reward Loyalty

A good example of this is when Starbucks rewarded the mayors for each branch with the opportunity to receive $1 off coffee daily. In addition to getting a lot of media coverage, the campaign incentivized individuals to check out Starbucks with the hope of becoming the subsequent mayor, therefore escalating the amount of mentions which appeared in news feeds and also increasing communication with the brand.

Connect with complimentary brand names

In case you own a product, you could offer special samples or versions to anyone who checks-in at certain locations. For instance, if you are promoting moisturizer for men, you could offer free samples at specific hair salons or gyms. By doing this, you are increasing product awareness amongst your target market.

MobileMarketingUSA.org is a trusted online source for the mobile Web and location based marketing strategies for local businesses. The small business owner is just starting to hear about Foursquare marketing. As a local business owner you can get the jump on the competition in your community by utilizing the new and exciting mobile marketing strategies starting with the creation of a mobile friendly website. Visit us today at http://mobilemarketingusa.org and learn about the best mobile techniques you need to implement to connect with the local mobile users.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Randy_G_Bess

http://EzineArticles.com/?FourSquare-Marketing—Making-Location-Based-Marketing-Part-of-Your-Business-Campaign&id=5958197

Related articles

• FourSquare 101: Empowerment of Users, Businesses and Brand Advertisers (fastgush.com)
• Why FourSquare is Beating Gowalla: Location, Location, Location (dailyfinance.com)
• Keynote Discussion with Tristan Walker of FourSquare (businessinsider.com)

Technorati Tags: Facebook, Foursquare, Foursquare marketing, location-based marketing

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[Editor's note: While today's guest article focuses on location based marketing for franchises, it is equally applicable to any off-line business - from the local "mom and pop" store, to the niche marketing enterprise. The whole point is to increase traffic to your store and/or sales leads for your business. As technology advances, location based marketing - and the Internet sites that support this type of marketing - will become an ever more important part of the local, or niche marketer's, overall marketing strategy. ~Scott]

By Bob Richman

Internet marketing has revolutionized the way that people can find your franchise business. However, many owners of franchises aren’t aware that they can use their website as more than just a fancy brochure. In fact, the combination of social media, smart phones and your website can create a powerful system for getting more feet in your business’s door.

Here are five tips for using location-based online marketing in order to increase the success of your franchise business.

1. Learn the location based marketing platforms.

Although your website is an important piece of the puzzle, the main components of location-based marketing are going to be with a variety of third-party sites that allow smartphone users to learn about businesses around them. They range from service selection engines (that allow users to select a service in their area based on the location of their phone) to review sites (that aggregate reviews of a business for other users to read). Local customers can “check in” with these platforms when they are at your location or have used your business. By using these sites you can keep local customers updated on special deals and also make sure that there are good things being said about your business. The most popular location-based marketing platforms are FourSquare, Loopt, Brightkite and Google Latitude. Others are Yelp and Facebook.

2. Decide how you’re going to use these sites to market your franchise business.

Before you start plugging yourself into these networks you need to set some goals. Do you want more fit traffic in the store? Do you want more people at a particular time of day? Do you want to sell more of one item? By specifying your objectives you’ll be able to better approach these sites.

3. Register for each site to list your business.

Make sure that your business is listed with each of the major sites. If it’s already been listed by local customers and the information is incorrect, be sure to contact the site owner. They are normally happy to help you correct errors. If you have a physical location, place stickers or signs in your location in order to make sure that customers now that your business can be found on foursquare, Yelp etc.

4. Use fun and exciting promotions on the site.

Location based marketing sites can help you run promotions for your franchise business that can get people in the door or more people calling. For example, on foursquare you can run a special that allows users to get a free item if they check in with the site a certain number of times. This creates a lot of activity on your profile on a certain location-based marketing site, which can in turn encourage more people to patronize your business. You can run raffles, specials or when a customer first checks in or something like what is described above (a type of “digital punch card.”)

5. Get involved with the community.

A lot of franchise owners shy away from review style site because they think that the ability for customers to post to a bad review is a bad thing. However, social media is not a one-way megaphone. You need to interact with your audience. Thank customers for good reviews and try to respond to bad reviews as much as you possibly can.

With these tips you can make location-based marketing work for you. Visit any of the sites listed above to get started today.

To view additional franchises and profiles for 1,500+ franchises for sale, please visit FranchiseGenius.com.

FranchiseGenius.com is a free, comprehensive franchise selection resource, with 1,500+ franchise opportunities summarized. Franchise Genius is used by prospective entrepreneurs to research franchises in all industries and price ranges.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Bob_Richman

http://EzineArticles.com/?Marketing-Tips-For-Franchises—Use-Location-Based-Marketing&id=4819142

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• 7 Answers About Social Media in The Franchise Business Space (thefranchisesocialmediablog.com)

Technorati Tags: Brightkite, Foursquare, Google Latitude, location-based marketing, niche marketing tools, Yelp

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Strapped for time and cash, small local businesses are increasingly turning to free and low-cost social media tools for their marketing efforts. Not surprisingly, the world’s biggest social networking site tops of the list of preferred tools.

Seventy percent of local businesses use Facebook for marketing, according to a new report from Merchant Circle, a network of U.S. local business owners. This represents a 20% increase over the previous year.

The report notes that for the first time, Facebook is being used more than Google by local businesses for online marketing.

Facebook also seems to have an advantage in the location check-in space, with 32% of small businesses saying they use the feature, compared with just 9% who have tried Foursquare.

This new data comes just as ChompOn, a group buying site, revealed its own data showing that Facebook updates are three times more effective than tweets when it comes to getting consumers to make purhcases online.

Nearly 40% of respondents in the Merchant Circle survey said they used Twitter for marketing, putting the microblogging site behind Facebook and Google.

The increased use of social marketing by small businesses should come as no surprise, considering the massive popular adoption of social networks and the low – often nonexistent – costs of using them. Web marketing companies in general have also been courting local businesses, about 51% of whom say that they’re cold-called about online marketing services at least once per week.

The Merchant Circle survey is based on a random sample of 8,456 small business business owners in the United States.

Article Source: http://www.articlesnatch.com

About the Author:
http://www.wholesaleeshop.com.au/laptop-battery/hp-pavilion-dv7.htm

Related articles

• Social Media Marketing Up 40% Among Local Businesses (informationweek.com)
• MerchantCircle Study: Small Businesses Favor Facebook (webpronews.com)
• Facebook Pages – 4 Strategic Marketing Tips to Engage Fans (socialmediatoday.com)

Technorati Tags: Facebook, Foursquare, location-based marketing, MerchantCircle

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[Editor's note: Today's guest article focuses on the use of headlines for attracting traffic to your website, blog, or sales page.  This is the lifeblood for any niche marketer. Without a steady stream of qualified traffic, you simply won't have the number of sales you need to sustain your business. Following are several good tips for identifying great headline ideas.  ~Scott]

Writing totally original article headlines that get the click can be real tough sometimes. However, thankfully, there are some shortcuts that can help you write powerful headlines for your articles.

The easiest way to start writing great article headlines is to copy the top pros in your niche and adapt their headline to your article. How do you do that? There are several sources of this kind of inspiration:

1. Go to Yahoo News or MSN News or Google News and do a search for the keyword you are targeting in your article. Take some of the headlines from their articles and put in the information for your topic and see how you feel about it. These three do extensive testing to see how much their headlines are being clicked. Their headline writers are real pros. Copy their headlines and substitute their subject with the subject matter of your specific article.

2. Go to YouTube and punch in your keyword. You will find some good ideas there. Look for the video with the most views. People don’t click on videos unless the title attracts their attention. Since these are videos, not articles, you can conceivably use the popular video headline as your article headline and no one will mind.

3. You can also go to Amazon.com, indigo.com and other book selling sites. Look at the titles for the top selling books, ebooks, DVD’s and CD’s. Base your article around the top titles and make a headline out of the title if appropriate.

4. Magazines.com and other magazine sites can be a good source of article headlines that you can get from the covers they show for niche magazines.

5. Magazine directories for Yahoo, MSN, Google and others can be a great source of headline ideas.

6. Then there are specific magazines that are known for their great headline writers like The New York Times, Cosmopolitan, National Enquirer, World News, Wall Street Journal, Forbes, and others. Look for the top magazines in your niche and adapt their stories and headlines for them to your article.

7. Be sure to look at niche specific magazines by typing in your niche + directory or niche + magazines into Google and look at the results.

8. Don’t forget about the newsletters in your niche. Do a search for any of the above ideas and replace the word magazines with newsletters. There are many paid and free newsletters that have some really great headlines and article topics.

9. Next, you can look at the Google Adwords ads that you’ll find on the right side of the page of any Google search. These are paid ads so you know people are putting their best into the headlines. Be careful with these ads though. Many people don’t know what they are doing. Watch the top Adwords ads over a span of several days, if not several weeks. If you find an ad being repeated over time it’s probably getting a lot of clicks.

10. Google Adwords ads are another source of some really good inspiration if you click on the ad and look at the headlines they are using in their sales letters, on the website, landing page, menu items, etc. Adwords ads are placed in order of popularity from top to bottom by Google so you know the top ads are the ones people are clicking on the most. Be careful here because it is possible to buy the top position by paying more. On the other hand, if an ad stays at the top for a long period of time, it must be working or they would get tired of paying the big bucks for something that doesn’t sell.

11. The last but certainly not the least source of good ideas are the social networking sites. Look at sites like Digg.com, propeller and others to see what people are rating as the best. Look for which ones get the most views, the ‘likes’ and other ways of expressing popularity. You’ll find some great ideas there!

Hope that helps get your wheels turning and you find some great inspiration to write article headlines that get the click.

Article Source: http://www.articlesnatch.com

About the Author:
For more ideas on how to write attention getting headlines and articles that help you sell your products click here. You can get a free course on how to make money online here.

Related articles

• Longer AdWords Headlines: Google Blurring The Lines of Paid, Organic Results? (searchenginewatch.com)
• Starting a Niche Site: Where to Find Blog Topics (theworkathomewife.com)
• Subject line inspiration: where to get it (email-marketing-reports.com)

Technorati Tags: AdWords, Google News, National Enquirer, New York Times, niche marketing, Wall Street Journal

By Scott Spooner

Lately, there has been a lot of buzz going around about “QR Codes“.

A “QR Code” (for “quick response” code) is a 2-D extension of the traditional bar codes. The difference is that a QR Code can carry a lot more information than a traditional bar code. For example,  the following QR Code contains my contact info (name, address, phone), web site, email and more.

Now here is where it gets real interesting: if you are a niche marketer and part of your strategy includes location-based, or promotion-based, marketing, then you’ll want to take a close look at QR Codes. Why? Because these codes can also carry promotional content. That means you can create a promotion for your store, products, or services, and carry that promotion through to your QR Code. Since QR Codes are easy to create, you can change promotions often and still use these codes to help with the marketing.

So, how do they work?  It is simpler than you may think.

You start by going to Google, typing in  “QR Code generator”, and selecting any of several free generators. Enter in your content and generate your code for download. From there, you can print up the code onto anything you want to promote; a flier, a poster, even a business card!

Someone with a smart phone can point their phone’s camera at the code, capture the code with any of a number of free application software, and be sent directly to your web site for detailed information on the product, promotion, and/or company.

So, take a look at QR Codes. They are easy to set-up and they just might help generate the type of traffic (and sales) you are looking for!

I’ve included the following video (below) that helps explain the whole concept.

Related articles

• QR Code: Why You Should Be Using It to Promote You, Your Business and Products (drdianehamilton.wordpress.com)
• What is a QR Code? – QR Codes – Library Research Guides at Boise State University (guides.boisestate.edu)
• How to use QR codes on Android phone (cash-bandit.com)

QR Code Video

Advertising with QR Codes

CNET’s Natali Del Conte showed how QR codes may change the future of advertising. Customers scan the codes with their cell phones to receive information.

Technorati Tags: location-based marketing, niche marketing, niche marketing tools, QR Code

Image via Wikipedia

[Editor's note: Today's guest article focuses on Foursquare.com and its application for location-based marketing strategies. If you have a brick and mortar business, and are focused on a particular local niche, you should consider employing Foursquare, or similar applications. ~Scott]

I’m not a game person but FourSquare caught my attention since the beginning. Some call it a game but I see it as a location-based application that works with most smart phones.

Most social media gurus focus on tactics and telling people how to use the tool, but they seldom talk about business strategy.

Let me show you how businesses can benefit from Foursquare. Have in mind that the application is addicting because users will compete for mayorships and badges which is something that ends up benefiting businesses. The app promotes exploring the town and trying new things which is great in itself. It will tell you if a place is trendy by the number of check-ins, and if you accomplish some requirements that vary from business to business you may win a badge.

Why is all this important to businesses: visibility, popularity, more customer loyalty, more business.

Why do people do it? They like to compete, they have [an] ego, it is fun and they can promote your business even though you might not be aware of it happening.

Have in mind that people want to become mayor of locations and oust previous mayors. When this happens they get posted publicly to twitter and Facebook with your business name and a link to your business’s profile page on foursquare.com. The same may happen when they arrive at your business.

Well, there are already savvy businesses using Foursquare to promote their business. A bar in San Francisco gives free drinks to the mayor of their location, and gives $2 off any performance night for those that show the phone and prove they checked in. This obviously motivates people to come back to the business and to use even more the application. In Las Vegas if you become the Mayor of the Miracle Mile Shops you’ll get your face and name on the 126-foot LED video screen. Big companies like Brave network, Pepsi and the New York Times are also using Foursquare. AJBombers a restaurant, did a Foursquare party and increased business in 110%.

Foursquare is already working on showing banners with the promotions.

The other day we were checking in at the movies and a message popped up telling us to try a restaurant around the corner with a coupon for us to use. What a proactive way to promote businesses in nearby locations!

The application allows people to recommend the place and suggest favorite dishes. It allows businesses and people to connect, bring foot traffic to the place and recommend to others. What more can a business wish for?

Badges for your business and badges to sponsor events is another possibility. For the users the more badges they have the more fun it is.

So, to put it into perspective, here are a few things you can use Foursquare in your business for:

• Coupons
• Special rewards for mayors or check-ins
• Encourage customers to come back
• Special promotions on slow days.
• Be a sponsor of Foursquare leaderboard.
• Brand awareness
• Deeper connection between customer and patron
• Instant feedback
• Promote events

I always say that the gold rush today is for being found, and getting attention.

About the being found part: Google and Bing maps are showing Foursquare venues when people search locally. Foursquare pages rank on search engines which means your business name, phone number and link come up.

Foursqare has the potential to revolutionize social media and turn it into a form of currency.

Out of the over 1.4 Million venues, only about 1200 venues have special offers. Less than 1% of businesses are going after this amazing opportunity. It is free.

Remind me how much you’ve spent with advertising that didn’t work? So what are you waiting for?

Article Source: http://www.articlesnatch.com

About the Author:
Shahar-Nash is a mother-daughter team who focus on new media marketing for small businesses. To find out how to turn a dull, boring, life-sucking business into a multi-faceted money-making empire, visit http://www.BuzzInnerCircle.com

Related articles

• Location-Based Services: Checking in With Foursquare (social-media.blognotions.com)
• Why should I care about Foursquare? (e1evation.com)
• Know What FourSquare Is? 6 Million Users Do (searchenginewatch.com)

Technorati Tags: Foursquare, location-based marketing, niche marketing, niche marketing strategy, niche marketing tools

Image via Wikipedia

[Editor's note: Today's guest article is focused on "location-based marketing". As location-based marketing gains a foothold, more and more companies are finding novel ways to use emerging technolgoies to reach prospects and customers. The ability to direct a message to a previously opted-in prospect is a powerful marketing strategy. As technology advances, even the smallest of brick and mortar businesses can target customers with incentives to stop in and shop. ~Scott]

By Mark Swanson

Mobile marketing can be a powerful and unique medium, but mobile campaigns are not for everyone. Not yet anyway. There’s a lot of opportunity for big brands who are looking to advertise in new and innovative ways. After all, big brands have the resources and budget to test the waters. If their initial attempts fail, it’s not the end of the world and it’s not going to break their bank.

So, is there room in this medium for the smaller guys?

I think there’s one specific area of mobile marketing that is suited incredibly well for brick and mortar businesses of any size, especially in areas with high foot traffic. Particularly retail stores, restaurants, bars and other event venues. This is Location-based marketing. With the differences in handset hardware and wireless and Blue Tooth technology, it’s probably too early in the game to determine how realistic this form of marketing is today, but it’s worth understanding how this can tie into your overall marketing efforts.

What is Location-based Marketing?

Location-based Marketing is the act of delivering targeted content directly to the user of a mobile device based upon their proximity to your business. This is usually done through SMS, known to most simply as text messaging. Information about your location is determined via built-in technologies such as GPS and Blue Tooth, which are quickly becoming standard in mobile devices. What it essentially comes down to is knowing when potential customers are in proximity to your business and sending them a targeted advertisement. This is truly the most direct form of direct marketing available.

How does it work?

Here’s an example: Maybe you’re walking down Ionia Ave. in Downtown Grand Rapids on a Saturday night deciding where to grab dinner and a drink. As you head down the street, you receive an offer via text message prompting you to stop into J Gardella’s for a free drink or to head over to Hopcat for half off an appetizer. Prior to receiving these messages, you’ve chosen to opt in to receive these messages through some other form of marketing. You’re a patron of both establishments and have already given them permission to market to you in this way, so you’re very receptive to such offers.

This is an interesting way for businesses to market to a very targeted group of people: those who are already out on the town on a Saturday night and are in close proximity to your business. Would you have the same success marketing that offer to the same group of people through a direct mailer or a website? Certainly not.

So let’s take it one step further and say you’ve successfully directed this foot traffic to your business but there’s a line at the door. With an effective mobile marketing campaign, a simple text message could allow your customers to be added to a waiting list.

While they’re waiting for a table, why not allow them retrieve a menu or list of specials via another text message?

A few minutes later, another message could let them know when their table is ready. Now your customers are seated and can effectively use the original text message as a coupon to redeem your offer.

Entertainment venues and clubs can use Located-based marketing to broadcast to customers by letting them know what time a show starts, who’s performing, how much tickets cost, etc. I’m a big fan of Dr. Grins Comedy Club at the B.O.B and every week I take a look at their Facebook page to see who’s appearing that weekend. I’d happily opt in to a service that would allow them to notify me of who’s performing and how much tickets cost when I’m in the area. If they wanted to offer any specials to get me in the door, even better.

What are some of the advantages of Location-based Marketing?

You can create a true sense of urgency.

Unlike advertisements distributed through mail or email, you can create coupons or offers that expire quickly — within 30 minutes to an hour, rather than weeks. You know your customers are already in the vicinity of your business and can leverage that to compel them to act out of impulse and urgency.

This creates the mentality that your customers need to act quickly to take advantage of the offer. This is something you can’t do that with a direct mailer.

You’re marketing to your customers at a time when they’re most likely to purchase.

Most forms of advertising will require your customer to remember an offer when and if they’re ready to act on it. If it’s a physical coupon, they need to cut it out, keep it handy and make sure they can actually find it when the time comes to redeem it. If that same coupon sits on their phone — which most people always have with them — you can eliminate the need for them to cut out and carry a piece of paper. I’ve never cut coupons but would be very likely to redeem something that was pushed directly to my phone.

If you are able to market to your customers via SMS as they enter your store, they’re more likely to be receptive to your offers and make a purchase than if you produce marketing that is focused on getting them through door in the first place.

You know exactly who you’re marketing to.

Unlike home phones and mailboxes, people don’t share mobile phones. You’re not marketing to a household or a home phone number that could be shared by several people — some who are in your target and others who are not. With traditional direct marketing, you always face the possibility that your message never reaches the person you intended it to go to.

About Opting-In

The idea of getting these advertisements in small doses would sit well with most people, but you certainly wouldn’t want to be bombarded with these advertisements the moment you step into a mall or walk down main street.

It’s up to the user to choose who they are interested in receiving this type of marketing from, through simple opt in procedures. The user has full control to determine who is able to market to them in this fashion. That’s why it’s important to integrate mobile advertising with your overall marketing campaign. Websites, print ads, radio spots, etc. can provide a direct call to action to opt in to these services by text messaging to a Short Code. These are small codes that you text in to a designated number to sign up for an offer, place a vote or be added to a mobile marketing database among other things.

Take a look at a detailed article I wrote on the subject called “Effective ways to get users to Opt In to your Mobile Campaign” for more detailed information on this topic as well as ideas on how to build a mobile marketing database.

An example of Opting In through Short Codes

How could this work in the case of our earlier examples, Gardella’s and Hopcat? Maybe you’re sitting at either place one night and see an advertisment at your table on a napkin or a drink coaster. Or perhaps a poster on the door or bathroom prompting you to text in to a Short Code to redeem a free drink or discount for joining the list. This could be a very effective way to build a mobile database of customers and offer them incentives for being marketing to in a very unique fashion.

So, while big brands may be the most likely candidates to jump into the mobile marketing arena, these are all interesting ways for brick and mortar businesses of any size to market to their customers in the most direct way possible.

Mark Swanson

http://www.web-mobility.com Mobile Web Marketing and Mobile Web Design Blog

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Mark_Swanson

http://EzineArticles.com/?Location-Based-Marketing-For-Brick-and-Mortar-Businesses&id=4150319

Related articles

• HOW TO: Create a Location-based Marketing Campaign (penn-olson.com)
• What Local-Mobile-Social Convergence Means to Your Business (searchenginewatch.com)
• What’s the future for SMS? (technokitten.blogspot.com)

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