There’s a problem emerging in marketing.

The number of connected devices in the world is increasing dramatically – an estimated 30 billion by 2020. Each device generates data points every second of every day.

This isn’t just online, browser-based behavior data collected anonymously. Not anymore.

Our devices go everywhere with us. They’re personal and tied individually to each of us.

This means, as marketers, we can now use location data to glean so much information at a one-to-one level about consumers – where they go, what they do, offline purchase habits and much more.

By itself, this obviously isn’t a problem. In fact, it’s great. We can capture so many more detailed and contextual insights on consumers to power marketing and advertising that’s relevant. Finally.

The problem is that using all this physical world data is hard.

Mastering Location Data Isn’t Easy

There are hardly any tools to collect location data. Organizing all this data is equally difficult.

And even if you have managed to both collect and organize the data, if your tools for collection aren’t integrated directly into a marketing platform, then it can be tough executing against that data.

In short, you may never get to actually use location data to run any kind of relevant, personalized marketing. Your time wasted. Your efforts all for nothing.

Because here’s the reality. While understanding a consumer’s digital footprint is important (i.e. what websites they visit, where they click), if it’s not paired with physical world data (their actual footprint), then as marketers you’re missing out on a massively significant portion of consumer activity.

8% of all commerce happens online. That means a staggering 92% of commerce still takes place at physical locations across the world. And if you’re not harnessing that data, then you’re really only viewing 8% of the entire picture.

We really want to fix that.

In order to fix this, you need to harness the power of always-on location data.

We call this Location 2.0

Location 2.0 represents a new marketing paradigm that, if harnessed correctly, provides marketers with the ability to use real-world triggers to personalize marketing and advertising efforts.

Imagine not having to rely on anonymous, 3rd-party audience segments that might contain the people you’re trying to reach.

Instead, imagine building custom audiences continuously – every time someone takes a physical world action that provides a clue to their purchasing habits.

Unlock the power of Location 2.0

The post This eBook Explains Why Your Marketing Still Isn’t Relevant (And How to Fix It) appeared first on Infillion.

When utilizing location-based marketing solutions to improve customer experiences in stadiums, venues and brick-and-mortar retail environments, the goal should not be to send notifications to a user’s device, but instead to proactively provide the content they are likely interested in to make their experience at your physical site more intuitive and convenient. This concept describes the holy grail of customer experiences, and is the mindset someone should have when trying to leverage Gimbal’s platform successfully.

Picture this: you walk into a bar prior to attending your favorite football team’s final playoff game and you use your TouchTunes™ app to play your favorite song on their electronic jukebox. Simultaneously, the bartender gets a notification that you’ve arrived and prepares your favorite order and your digital payment is seamlessly triggered. As you leave the bar, your Uber™ app automatically requests a ride and your driver quickly arrives to take you to the stadium. As you near the location, your digital ticket appears on your mobile device, keeping you from fumbling in your bag looking for a ticket. You enter the stadium then receive a 10% off your next purchase at the fan store near your seats. You purchase your home team’s memorabilia and once again pay on the fly via digital payment. The list of possible experiences goes on and on, but the takeaway is that location-triggered experiences and engagements can be used in a wide variety of use cases and are only limited by your imagination.

While the tools to view live events and experiences remotely have improved (e.g., your 50” plasma TV), it is hard to rival a real-world experience that is enhanced with digital technologies. How do you pull fans/customers from their comfortable couches and into the physical world? The answer is a location-aware mobile experience that provides a unique journey to a fan traveling through your physical environment.

A better customer experience triggered by location can equate to many positive impacts for your business. In one example, location-specific offers were shown to have fast results (since they happen when and where it matters), with a recent MediaPost article stating that on mobile, “the majority (65%) of customers redeem an offer within five minutes of seeing it.”

In addition to shortening coupon redemption times and increasing conversion rates, location-based marketing solutions can also help you learn more about your customers and gain insights (analytics) which measure the success and impact of your real-world campaigns. This can help you achieve measurable business objectives like increasing frequency of visits, higher basket sizes, larger order size, and more engaged mobile app users. All of which marketers can use to reward loyal customers, and ultimately drive revenue.

Location-based marketing and the technologies that make it possible should be viewed as tools to enhance the user experience as your customers move through the physical world and your locations, similar to how marketers and businesses have tried to optimize web-based, digital experiences. Doing so correctly not only creates a new high conversion channel to engage customers, but also allows you to optimize and increase the lifetime value of your customers. Things every business can be excited about!

The post Using Location to Improve the Customer Experience appeared first on Infillion.

MYTH #1
Having beacon hardware is all you need to do location-based marketing.
It is definitely a step in the right direction. However, the beacon hardware needs to be integrated with your app through SDKs and you will need a platform to manage messaging and analytics. Beacons are ideal for enhancing a user’s micro-location experience. Did you know that geofencing is available to provide you with your user’s macro-location? In fact, the combo of these two technologies blended with our platform solution results in less false-positives and helps ensure you interact with users when and where it matters the most.

MYTH #2
Adopting this technology means a lot more work for developers.
We apologize in advance that this answer is somewhat self-serving in order to be accurate. If your developers are integrating the technology into your app AND building the platform to manage, analyze and manage the messaging, then yes, it is a ton of work. However, Gimbal is the only comprehensive solution that provides enterprise grade hardware, and a turnkey platform.

MYTH #3
Using location-based technology to market in real time is intrusive to our customers.
Remember, your users are opting in to your app which means they care about what you have to say. As with any marketing messaging, it need to be targeted, and relevant. When you send an email to a segmented audience it is probably both of those things. However, the missing piece is that you don’t know where your user is located when they receive the email. Are they out of the country? In a meeting? In the hospital? One could argue that the timing of your email is “intrusive.” Unquestionably, sending a targeted relevant message to your user while they are in your store or venue enhances their experience and adds value to your brand.

MYTH #4
Marketers will have to adapt to an entirely new way of marketing using location-based technology.
Actually, this technology is just an addition to your Omni-channel, and uses the same funnel you have already established. The advantage is that you can serve up relevant messaging to the user when they are in the proximity to physically take action. Side note: You can even do physical A/B testing.

MYTH #5
It’s impossible to determine attribution/ ROI for physical (real world) Omni-channel strategy.
Wrong! Gimbal technology can provide the most accurate first party location data for real world attribution and is truly a game changer. As the digital experience that your customers have with your brand moves increasingly away from a PC toward smart, connected devices, the need to know a user’s context increases. This is a new ballgame for leading brands that want to deliver rich experiences to their customers and followers in environments as varied as retail, social, entertainment and sports venues.

The post 5 Location-Based Marketing Myths BUSTED! appeared first on Infillion.