Retailers are beginning to realise that online shopping doesn’t mean the end of brick-and-mortar stores. In fact, research suggests that 40% of shoppers spend more than planned in a physical store compared to 25% who do so online. So what can you do to get customers in the door and increase sales?
Location-based marketing is a great way to help boost footfall, and it doesn’t have to be as complicated or high-tech as it sounds.
Of course, the right data is essential – you’ll need customers’ postcodes and email addresses at the very least. But with enough information, you can personalise your email and SMS marketing to get customers in store at key times.
Let’s take a look at how this might work in practice.
Phase 1: Newsletter
Imagine a fictional retailer called “Creased Jeans.” This month they’re highlighting a one-day sale to promote their Super Creased line.
To start with, they send a monthly email newsletter promoting the sale to all of their subscribers, regardless of location.
Phase 2: Follow-up emails
This is where location comes into play. They start with everyone who clicked through from the newsletter to find out more about the sale, then split this into customers who live within 20 miles of their location and those who live further than 20 miles away.
A few days before the event, they send a follow-up email with two different versions to everyone who interacted with the sale link. The local subscribers receive an email encouraging them to check out the deals in-store, while those outside of the 20-mile radius are reminded to shop the sale online.
Phase 3: Real-time SMS
Finally, on the day of the sale, they send an SMS reminder to all of the locals who opened the follow-up email.
This is a great way to create a sense of urgency and motivate nearby customers to head in store.
SMS messages also have high open and engagement rates and are usually read within seconds of being received, making them ideal for real-time messaging.
A campaign like this is a relatively simple way to integrate location data into your marketing strategy, and it can have a significant impact. Mobile ads targeted by location can be twice as effective as non-targeted ads, especially when combined with other customer data.
By delivering the most relevant content for each subscriber, wherever they are, you can build better customer relationships and increase sales.
It sounds very good as long as it is done responsibly. Some companies snow me under with newsletters, often recommending an item that I already have because I bought it from them. I would be extremely cross if the SMS was overused similarly.
Of course this shouldn’t be such a problem with location-based (as opposed to national or international) marketing. If I get more information about things I have a good chance of buying and less of the “blunderbuss” type, I will be very happy.
Hi Norman,
I couldn’t agree with you more…
Companies really should be targeting offers to make sure they only go to people who haven’t bought the exact same thing!
Much of it comes down to the common-sense use of customer data to make sure that marketing messages are relevant – and a software platform that makes this possible. Using location as part of this targeting can really help. There’s nothing worse than being invited to “pop into our store” if it’s hundreds of miles away.
I definitely prefer brands that provide me with choice and control over what I receive. If I don’t want SMS messages about product sales, but DO want a monthly email newsletter, then please give me the choice, and an easy way to set my preferences.