The concept of proximity marketing has been around for centuries. It is a powerful way to engage and connect with people in a specific area and is emerging as one of the most compelling marketing strategies with several advantages over traditional marketing.
The proximity industry has been growing incessantly, and according to a report by Market and Market, it is expected to be worth USD 52.46 Billion by 2022. Proxbook reports that over 19 industry verticals have invested and deployed proximity technologies, with the top five being retail, malls, hotels, stadiums, and airports. Retail, in particular, has been more aggressive in deploying location-based marketing strategies. According to a prediction by BI Intelligence out of 4.5 million beacons to be active by 2018, 3.6 million are slated to operate in retail space.
There are several reasons why proximity marketing is a better investment than traditional marketing. Most businesses struggle to figure out what kind of marketing strategy to choose because their budget will only stretch to one or the other, not both. The following discuss five ways proximity marketing has an advantage to traditional marketing.
Leveraging mobile culture:
Proximity marketing leverages two influential trends of modern times: mobile devices and digital adaptation. Mobile devices have become an interface for consumers to research, share, connect and buy instantaneously. A proximity platform capitalizes on this trend to create an opportunity for marketeers to reach out to their customers anywhere, anytime! Proximity marketing can turn stores into a digital playground with the installation of beacons across strategic points. Retailers can create dynamic experiences for their brands and engage with customers real-time.
Deliver personalized experience:
Millennials consequently rate convenience and personalization as keys to a great shopping experience. Today, physical stores do not understand their customer unless they enter a unique ID in the CRM to redeem loyalty points or get recognized as a loyalty member. In a Proximity marketing enabled zone, the moment a customer walks in, the staff and the managers are alerted if the walk-in is a loyalty member. This ensures that they are assisted immediately and are given priority treatment throughout the customer journey.
Customers these days are ready to share more to get more! They are open to sharing location details to get relevant ads and offers on their phones. If Social Media signup is an option and if the customer is willing to share personal details like d.o.b, marital status, and other relevant information for the physical store, this along with purchase history and characteristics takes personalization to a level higher.
Intelligent analytics:
Location based services collect real-time customer data and the platform converts this data into relevant insights which help business owners understand the characteristics of every visitor. From simple matrix like new vs repeat visitor to heat maps of the floor helps marketeers at a physical location to optimize placement and display of materials. This integrated with CRM tools will provide purchase characteristics, and data from beacon installations will provide information like the time spent in particular areas. Data like this can be used to predict purchase behavior, and relevant messaging can be sent across to increase purchase parity.
Cost Effective:
Proximity marketing is cheaper than traditional marketing. Conventional mediums such as newspaper ads, telemarketing, or TV and radio ads all involve substantial costs, but with no substantial matrix to understand the effectiveness of the campaigns — especially the number of people who have seen the ad and such. Proximity marketing represents a dramatically superior and transparent alternative to these numbers with a one-time investment.
Real-time results:
Unlike traditional marketing, you don’t have to wait for weeks to evaluate the success of a campaign. Here, from the number of visitors in the area to increase in footfall at a shop can be easily tracked instantly. Campaigns can be launched and paused instantly. Campaigns can run across multiple locations and ROI can be analyzed real-time, giving the power to adapt to growing traffic and manage peak times.
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