Proximity Marketing With Beacons

Beacons have the ability to accelerate the mobile shopping experience and create increased engagement with consumers. Here are some examples of companies utilizing the technology to influence purchasing behavior.

The entire planet is going mobile, according to a report by eMarketer. There are now 4.5 billion mobile phones and 1.75 billion smart phones in use, resulting in a new generation of technology and apps that are changing how we spend our time, how we communicate with each other, and how we shop.

As smartphone usage increases every day, the field of proximity marketing is heating up, and one of the hottest trends of the moment is beacon technology. A beacon is a low-cost piece of hardware - small enough to attach to a wall - which uses a low-energy Bluetooth connection to pinpoint a visitor’s location on a shop floor. Tailored messages are then sent to that phone, promoting offers relevant to the products in the area the shopper is.

Marketers have a great opportunity to use this technology to engage with consumers on mobile devices, which they never leave home without. The technology is essentially invisible and can work without the consumer having to do anything – usually a major hurdle for any mobile shopping technology. The shopper only has to agree in advance to receive such messages as they shop.

Implementing beaconing is less about installing the actual beacons and much more about rethinking the overall shopping experience they can help shape. Here are some examples of how companies are using beacons to influence consumer behavior in-store and inform their buying decisions at the shelf-edge.

Hudson’s Bay Company (HBC): Hudson’s Bay was the first major retailer to launch a North American beacon deployment, in its U.S. and Canadian stores. A shopper with the SnipSnap app on their iPhone could receive messages and offers from a number of in-store, beacon-triggered advertising campaigns. The beacon program runs on the advertising platform of Boston-based Swirl.

Universal Display: This global mannequin company based in London and New York is putting beacons inside mannequins in store windows. Why? To allow passers-by to instantly see the details of the outfit the mannequin is wearing and purchase any of its components from their phones. The beaconed-mannequins are only currently active in the UK, in the House of Fraser, Hawes & Curtis, Bentalls, and Jaeger.

The possibilities for beacon technology are vast. It isn't just a useful tool in terms of capitalizing on mobile commerce to increase consumer value. It can also be used to track shoppers’ journeys around the store, in order to gather important data on the in-store journey. By collating this data, retailers can examine where consumers go, how long they stay there and their route around the store, from which profit-making business decisions can be made.

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5 Ways to Grow Social Media with Email Marketing

An effective marketing strategy integrates multiple marketing mediums and tools. One beneficial medium marketers should consider blending into their online marketing mix is email marketing. As mind share and consumer awareness become increasingly important, email marketing and social media have emerged as a complementary strategy. The most pronounced reason for their compatibility is how well their marketing cooperation optimizes brand exposure through integrative techniques.

Social media provides a platform to share information and reach a wide audience. Therefore, you can boost your email marketing campaign through social media channels.

Check out five tips in successfully merging your email marketing activity with your social media strategy.

1. Add Those Buttons: This may seem like an obvious suggestion, but marketers often overlook this simple step. It’s strongly recommended that your business utilizes multiple social media networks to maximize outreach and promotion. Input social media buttons on all of your email marketing material so your email subscribers can easily access your brand’s social networks. Most email marketing software has this feature built into the email template so you can conveniently add them.

2. Cross-Promotion: As soon as your email reaches your customers, your social media followers can view the link as well. An easy tool like Simple Share is all you need. This feature can be found on Constant Contact Email Marketing Software. Simple Share is an extremely helpful tool that reduces the amount of time and effort in sharing information across marketing channels. Furthermore, this tool drives your customer acquisition strategy by allowing social media followers who are not on your email contact list to choose to opt-in.

3. Just Ask: While having social media icons on your email templates prompts your subscribers to share and connect with you, it’s sometimes not enough. Don’t be afraid to make a request to your subscribers to follow and/or connect with you via social media. It never hurts to ask! You can also be creative and use a bit of humor when asking people to connect such as, “Let’s Get Social.”

4. Social Media Invite: Use social media to win more email subscribers. You can approach this several ways. Ask them to sign up and briefly let them know how they can benefit. You can also provide an incentive if they do sign up to your email newsletter and/or mailing list. For example, if you’re a retailer, you can offer them a discount on their next purchase if they sign up to your email list.

5. Integrate: Display a tweet, Facebook offer or promotion, or Pinterest campaign in your email. By integrating a social media campaign into your email marketing strategy, you increase the awareness of that campaign, cross-pollinate, and extend your reach.

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