We are so used to browsers, apps, and software that requires our location. Being as lazy as we are, we often do not even care about why a calculator needs our location. It is easier to press accept and go with it.
When you think about it intentionally, it gets pretty scary. Your phone tracks where you are all the time. Moreover, it can listen to what you say. There is no other explanation why that add popped up a minute after you have first mentioned it to your friend, right? Sometimes you only think about the product, and here it is - shoved between your friends` Instagram stories.
Still, sometimes ads are really helpful. You seek some cafe nearby or a furniture store and here you have it - an email with the shop right for you and hey look, they have offered me a great discount.
In times like this, customers do not mind their location being tracked (but honestly, they probably do not even know that you used geomarketing). They are even happy and a bit relieved that they have a loving spy that their mobile phone or a laptop is. At any other time when they get absolutely unrelated advertisements, they might get angry not only at geomarketing but at your brand as well. That is why it is so important to target the right audience, at the right place, and at the right time.
In this article, we are going to talk about what geomarketing is, take a look at the tips that will help you to catch a customer at the right place and at the right time, and about the big issue that collecting customer data is (the best practices of dancing on this edge of the knife are to be expected too).
Table of Contents
What is Geomarketing?
Geomarketing is a location-based marketing strategy. You offer your product or services to those whose location is the most profitable for your business. Thus, advertisements vary a lot within cities or districts even.
Geomarketing is extremely useful for:
- logistics companies
- gas stations
- entertainment companies: cinemas, children’s centers, etc.
- cafes, restaurants, hotels, etc. (Denny`s, for example, managed to increase their customer visits by 34% with the help of geomarketing)
- real estate
- transportation.
Top Benefits of Geomarketing That You Should Be Aware Of
To be honest, though, it can be useful to any type of business: manufacturing, retail, banking, insurance, research, etc. 58% of businesses use location in their marketing strategy, and the popularity of it only grows as time goes. It is not very surprising, since geomarketing has a bunch of undeniable benefits.
1. Target Accurately
Before you set up an online store or an offline one, you have to know your target audience. Location targeting is quite easy to understand. If you have an offline business, people in nearby areas are likely going to visit. If it is an eCommerce store, you can easily find out where your customers come from. Basically, the only criterion that matters is a location, and analyzing your customer location is much simpler to find out than their habits or shopping behavior, for example.
2. Optimize Your Money Usage
It happens quite often, especially within eCommerce, that customers suddenly stop buying your products. Maybe they do not need it at the time or everyone uses it already. If you see that certain areas do not buy anymore, or they will not need it in the foreseeable future, you can stop advertising and wasting your money on it. For example, you sell outerwear but the summer has come into town and no one needs it anymore. You can stop running ads there and explore the locations where it is cold at this time of the year.
It does require constant analysis and run-throughs of local news but it is worth it: you will be sure that you invest your money wisely.
3. Discover New Business Possibilities
Have you noticed that people from certain areas order delivery of your product a lot? Maybe it is time to investigate their area and open up an offline shop there. We are used to ordering online but, in fact, a lot of us will want to see, touch, and check the current state of a product before we buy it. Moreover, if your product is suitable for any age, older generations will be definitely delighted with the possibility of offline shopping. They will not notice your product otherwise. Consequently, you will grow the network of your shops and attract potential customers that would not have noticed you otherwise.
Opening a new business in a new area by using location is very secure too. You do not need to worry about whether they will like it or not - you can already see from your delivery orders that they, in fact, need your product.
4. Gain Customer Loyalty
By analyzing locations, we also can analyze customer behavior. We can define why they like to buy in certain shops in your chain, even though they have to drive further for that, what time is the best for shopping, whether there is something near your shop that makes them want to buy more. This kind of analysis helps you to understand the needs of your customers better and behave accordingly in order to fulfill them. Fulfillment of needs will definitely result in customer loyalty because they are likely to feel that you are doing your best to make them more satisfied, to take care of their personal needs.
You are all ready for implementing geomarketing in your marketing strategy because now you know what it is and how beneficial location-based is. We have prepared some tips that will definitely help you to get the best out of geomarketing.
3 Tips on Using Geomarketing in Email Newsletters
1) Make Sure You Know What You Want to Get
Every marketing email campaign has its own goal. Within geomarketing you can aim at the following.
Getting More Profit From a Specific Location
Have you noticed that this exact shop does not bring as much to the table as it used to? It makes sense to put more effort into reminding your customers about its existence via the email newsletter, in order to make it as popular as ever.
In your newsletter, you can show new products that you have got or give out coupons. In the first case, customers who know you and grew tired of the same things that you have sold will gain new interest in your business. In the second case, everyone will be attracted by the pure will to save money or get free stuff. You can also make it more affordable for certain buyer personas who are interested in your products but they did not have an opportunity to buy it before.
Increase Brand Awareness Within the Region
Are you new in town and people have no idea yet that you exist? Do you want to get the attention of potential customers? Then send a newsletter about great openings with cookies, music, and discounts. Make your newsletter as festive as possible.
Remember that it is the very first interaction that you will have with your customer so do your best. The first impressions do matter and if you did not manage to grab their attention, unluckily, the possibility of drowning among other businesses is big. No pressure, huh?
You may also want to get more traffic from certain areas to measure whether customers will be interested in your product there, improve lead generation, or promote a local event that will get you more signups and attendees.
Set your goal straight and build your newsletter accordingly.
2) Right Timing Matters
We are going to clarify this idea with the help of an example.
Let's imagine that you own a cafe. You decided to run an ad campaign within geomarketing by showing off your tasty-looking breakfasts. You made a juicy newsletter that makes people want to eat their phones because pictures and descriptions are that good. It will engage your customers early in the morning. Will it be that attractive after they have eaten? No, because they are already full and your pictures make them feel even fuller. Will the newsletter work in the evening? Eggs and bacon for dinner looks so weird!
We can look into season offers. You are running a business with pro essay writers. In your newsletter for local students, you showcase amazing grades that people get for the essays and how beautifully written they are. However, does it really matter if it is summer and all students can think of is summer and fun? They can even get angry at you for reminding them about the existence of schools.
So you see, the right timing is crucial for not only the effectiveness of your geomarketing but for the satisfaction of your customers too!
3) Personalize Content for Certain Areas
82% of marketers report that they managed to increase open rates in email marketing with the help of personalization. It means up to a 20% increase in sales!
Personalized emails are extremely beneficial.
Firstly, it improves the customer experience. For a customer, personalization means that they are not just bombarded with all kinds of information where they have to find what may be interesting for them but the information is tailored according to their needs. For example, they do not have to look through sun loungers and sunscreen when it is pouring outside and get even more depressed by a rainy weekend in the middle of the summer.
Secondly, personalization in email marketing increases your revenue because it does not only bring new customers but helps you to keep people coming back to you. Maybe customers were unsatisfied with angry or rude assistants in your shop on X street. Send them an email that your employees have gone through the customer experience workshop in order to ensure that you offer the best experience to your client out there.
Thirdly, it increases brand loyalty. Personalization means that you are on the same wave with the customer, that you understand their needs and pains, that you share happy moments with them. It feels good to be understood. To be precise, 87 percent of consumers think so. Try to create a newsletter that resonates with your customer by sharing the joy or the sadness of the latest news in town.
“The roads on X lane have become our constant nightmare - (insert the ads of your service station here and add a coupon to show that you try to help people in this situation).”
In order to create personalized emails in geomarketing, you have to know the news of the location, its weather forecast, timezone, preferred language (or location slang), the state of your shop in this area, and the pain points that people face while living there.
These three simple tips will surely make your customers open that email and take a look at that. Is there a chance that they will be angry right after?
Privacy and Geomarketing
As we have mentioned at the beginning of the article, geomarketing uses location data. Not everyone is satisfied with being followed 24/7. It means that their data can leak to unwanted third-parties that can put their lives in danger. So it does make sense that they may get angry because of your email.
However, the issue is not an issue anymore if you can ensure that the data is safe - anyone will not use it for non-commercial purposes. There is nothing to be afraid of when your data is collected only to sell you teddy bears, right?
It is also extremely important to make sure that your customers know that it is safe. State your privacy policy very clearly.
If you are not able to protect the data, then consider other marketing strategies. Otherwise, you will simply ruin your reputation and hardly ever get it back.
Conclusion
Geomarketing is an always growing marketing strategy that gains more popularity every year. It is relatively easy to implement and you can get an amazing result if you use it successfully. In order to do so, check our section with tips twice! Location-based marketing strategy has a big con that makes it not suitable for every business.
Ensuring the privacy of your customers is a key to success in geomarketing and if you can not promise protection from data leakage, try to invest your time, effort, and money in other marketing strategies. If you can, you are good to go and enjoy the success of your location-based marketing campaigns!
FAQs
1) What is Geomarketing?
Geomarketing is a location-based marketing strategy, in which you offer your product or services to those whose location is the most profitable for your business. Because of this, advertisements vary a lot depending on the customer's location.
2) For whom is Geomarketing useful?
Geomarketing is extremely useful for companies that are into logistics business, gas stations, entertainment industry, eateries like restaurants, real estate, and transportation.
3) What are the top benefits of Geomarketing?
The top benefits of Geomarketing are as follows:
- Accurate targeting of the audience.
- Prevent unfruitful investment of time and money.
- Increase returns by investing in areas that will fetch more purchases.
- Run timely campaigns using customer data by location and gain customer loyalty.
4) How can I use Geomarketing to good effect?
Here are some tips on using Geormarketing effectively:
- Be clear about your Geomarketing goals after analyzing customer data thoroughly.
- Time your Geomarketing emails suitably.
- Personalize your Geomarketing email content suited to specific locations.
5) Since Geomarketing uses location data, how can I assure my customers that their data is safe?
The issue of customers being worried about their data privacy can be addressed by ensuring that the customer data is safe, and that it is never used for non-commercial purposes. Not just that, you also need to state your privacy policy clearly to prevent future hassles.
Additionally, helping your employees invest in the best VPN services like ExpressVPN can help secure your customer data betHow to use Geomarketing in Email Newsletters [With Tipster.
