Best Location-Based Marketing Software
Best Location-Based Marketing Software At A Glance
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Learn More About Location-Based Marketing Software
What is Location-Based Marketing Software?
Location-based marketing is a marketing strategy in which a company delivers timely, relevant marketing messages to users based on their physical location. Using location data and technology, location-based marketing platforms trigger a targeted marketing action to a user’s mobile device when that user enters a specified geographic location.
Proximity marketing or location metrics is one of the relevant applications of location-based marketing software. It involves sending customers targeted and highly personalized push notifications to enhance their experience. Demographics are yet another factor that helps in accurately executing campaigns by targeting relevant customers. This, in turn, can help improve user experience.
What are the Common Features of Location-Based Marketing Software?
The following are some core functionalities of location-based marketing software that can help users set up geofencing parameters and create location-based marketing campaigns:
Geofencing: This functionality allows users to designate geofences for location-based marketing campaigns. These specific location-based advertisements help marketing teams target their advertisements based on the earmarked area. With this feature, marketing strategies are created for people in the geofence. A geofence is a physical boundary of any target location. The software sends in-store push notifications when customers enter this target area (like a store). Mobile apps on the customer’s phone help the software provide location updates.
Wi-Fi marketing: Retailers usually provide users with free Wi-Fi access and request for their email or a social media follow in return. The data thus collected is used to communicate promotions and offers. This feature of location-based marketing targets customers based on their Wi-Fi connection.
Beacons: Beacons are physical devices that receive location data from nearby devices that use Bluetooth technology and thus fall under proximity-based marketing. Beacons transmit Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) signals to execute location-based marketing campaigns. They are placed in stores where there usually is a poor cell network. Once the beacons connect with the users’ phones, personalized messages are sent once they are in range over the Bluetooth network.
Campaign automation: This feature generates an automated notification, text message, or in-app message to users in a predefined geolocation. Marketing automation or campaign automation automates the repetitive campaigns meant to convert leads.
Analytics: Analytics tools in location-based marketing help marketers with a data-driven marketing approach. These features analyze the performance of location-based marketing campaigns based on foot traffic, POS data, and what further action is required.
Security compliance: While marketing campaigns are developed on the basis of consumer data, the data collection must meet compliance standards like GDPR and CCPA regarding personal data privacy.
What are the Benefits of Location-Based Marketing Software?
Location-based marketing software offers several advantages for brick-and-mortar businesses that rely on foot traffic.
Cost-effective: Location-based marketing is one of the most cost-effective types of marketing to target customers. Mobile phones have become central devices for marketing. Thus the investment required for location-based marketing software is less. By tracking the budget utilized for each campaign, marketing teams can route more funds depending on the campaign’s needs. Routing funds and increasing ROI are important benefits of location intelligence or location-based marketing software. Location-based marketing software can be most helpful for small businesses.
Reaching the relevant audience: Location-based marketing is very specific to a geographic location and thus can gain a group of customers relevant to the offering and business. This software can help increase store visits and, therefore, conversion rates.
Software Related to Location-Based Marketing Software
Related solutions that can be used together with location-based marketing software include:
Geofencing software: This software uses GPS, wifi, or cellular data of mobile devices to send targeted messages, push texts, marketing messages, and advertisements after it detects a new mobile device that enters the set virtual boundary of the geofence. With geofencing software, marketers can run highly targeted campaigns using the target customer’s data and location.
Visitor behavior intelligence software: Visitor behavior intelligence software tracks and monitors the behavior and actions of visitors through data sources like Wi-Fi and point-of-sale (POS) systems. This software can also connect to social media and customer data platforms (CDP) to give a holistic view of customer behavior at a venue.
Mobile marketing software: Mobile marketing software optimizes and automates marketing campaigns. This type of software uses a target customer’s mobile data to create campaigns that are delivered to the user’s mobile device.
Challenges with Location-Based Marketing Software
Location-based marketing can help marketers target their audience by tracking their location data. There can be some hurdles when it comes to using location-based marketing tools:
Ineffective location data: If a user has VPN on the mobile device permanently and reports to a different location than the physical one, targeting becomes ineffective. Location-based marketing largely depends on location data and thus can lose out if the target audience uses a VPN.
Allowance-based service: Mobile apps are relied upon heavily for location-based marketing. However, most permission rights stay with the users after downloading the app. And most users want to keep their locations private. In such cases, it becomes a little tricky to locate the exact location of the target audience.
Non-smartphone users: A certain percentage of users still do not have a smartphone. Since location-based marketing relies on modern technologies like wi-fi, GPS, and Bluetooth, it cannot be used to target audiences without smartphones.
Which Companies Should Buy Location-Based Marketing Software?
Retail: Retail companies can make the best use of location-based marketing software. Marketers create location-based advertising campaigns on the basis of real-time and historical data. Historical data for product sales can help marketers attract customers for specific categories of products. Merchants can then keep stock of the goods depending on the high demand period for that particular category.
Food and dining: Geofencing, geomarketing, and other proximity-based marketing strategies are widely used at restaurants and other food businesses. National and local food chains usually benefit from location-based marketing software.
Travel and hospitality: Resorts, hotels, amusement parks, and other hospitality businesses use proximity marketing to improve guest experiences and engagement. These businesses can send promotional messages, reminders, and feedback requests using location data.
Consumer-packaged goods (CPG) brands: Location-based marketing software can help brands that sell unique products at selective geolocations. The brand image helps to attract new customers to a third-party store.
How to Buy Location-Based Marketing Software
Requirements Gathering (RFI/RFP) for Location-Based Marketing Software
Location-based marketing software helps businesses gain visibility in their specific locations. Searching for software based on the marketing automation stage can help purchase the most suitable location-based marketing software.
Compare Location-Based Marketing Software Products
Create a long list
Making a list of all the vendors selling location-based marketing software can give businesses a direction to look for potential vendors in the market. This list depends on the software's features and pricing plans.
Create a short list
After going through the long list, vendors that fulfill the buyer’s requirements are shortlisted. Vendors that satisfy the company’s feature requirements and fall under their budget requirements are chosen at this stage.
Conduct demos
While selecting a suitable location-based marketing vendor, it is advisable to have vendors conduct demos. This allows the buyers to understand the features and benefits of using the product from the specific vendor. Usually, business users, decision makers, and IT professionals are involved in this stage.
Selection of Location-Based Software
Choose a selection team
The selection team consists of business users who can also be decision makers in some organizations, such as the chief marketing officer and an IT professional who can help install the software.
Negotiation
After shortlisting specific vendors, negotiations occur based on the buyers' required features and the software's pricing plans. This also depends on the end use of the software. Depending on that, certain customizations can also be requested.
Final decision
After settling on the vendor, the decision makers make the final choice after discussions with other team members.
Trends in Location-Based Marketing Software
Mobile app localization: Marketers increasingly understand the importance of customization in campaigns and that customization of strategies in vernaculars can help retain customers. This is because the relevance of the brand’s campaigns will draw the customers targeted in these areas. Location-based coupons are used for loyalty building. They make optimum use of targeting and integrations with multi-channel marketing.
Using CRMs to access location-based services: Companies benefit from easily accessible CRM tools in their smartphones which help build relevant campaigns for better customer experience and retention. CRMs in mobile phones can explore location-based technology by providing direct extensions.
