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The ongoing pandemic has led to extreme growth in the digital markets, while brick-and-mortar sales could not meet expectations. Nonetheless, many companies still own and rely on physical stores. Mapp Cloud makes it possible to intertwine on-and offline shopping, leading to offering the “best of two worlds”. The main goal (and challenge) is to connect physical stores to the online presence while strengthening the brand identity and finally increase ROI.
Mapp Cloud enables you to extend your marketing mix. It offers various marketing options to reach your customers both digitally and physically at all touchpoints. I would hence like to present two geo-marketing options Mapp Cloud currently has to offer. The first one, geofencing – also known as location-based targeting – is quite straightforward. The second one is a bit more specific, using the geocoding technique, which incorporates each sole or particular requirement.
Refining location-based marketing with geofencing
A geofence is a coinage of geographics and a fence. This technique literally adds a virtual fence around your store(s) and shop(s). Whenever your customers enter or leave a predefined radius of your fenced locations – be it a shop, an event venue, or a department store, you have the opportunity to contact your customers directly via mobile push. The technology is imaginably quite time-sensitive, so you need to be able to rely on your real-time marketing strategy to trigger highly relevant messages that drive engagement. The technique of location-based targeting enhances your customer experience, and you may end up with 2.5 higher response rates!
Interacting with your customers based on their location turns passersby into consumers. The use cases are numerous! You can redirect people from competitors into your store, alert customers about a new store location, advertise special deals or offer incentives like a complimentary drink. Just take the chance to start the dialogue with your customers! You may also create more complex marketing scenarios. To create the so-called “ROPO” (Research Online, Purchase Offline) effect, think about sending highly personalized promotions based on online and website behaviors. Digital marketing insights help you understand where your website visitors come from. For a marketer with this skillset, segments like onsite usage, interests, loyalty, and conversion opportunities are easily created. If you would like to find out how to connect Mapp Intelligence with Engage and exchange segments for email Marketing usage, please get in touch with your CSM. Consequently, digital analytics findings and segmentation can be taken into consideration for your geofence marketing to address only the right people at the right time – and to delight your customers with super relevant messages that genuinely make a difference.
Enrich geotargeting with geocoding
According to Wikipedia, Geotargeting is a method of delivering different content to visitors based on their geolocation. In digital analytics, this information derives from the visitors’ IP addresses. It can be broken down from country to region, city, and organization, making it an easy option for targeting even in email marketing. Yet, it leaves little room for personalization. However, using personal information like CRM data, combined with a home address, may overcome this shortfall. I am referring to the ability to target consumers based on the distance from their home address to the next point of sale or event. The method which comes into play here is geocoding.
With geocoding, specific addresses are resolved to longitude and latitude coordinates. Just like a GPS position, such coordinates precisely describe a geographic location. To identify an address, we need the help of geographic information systems that offer APIs for request coordinates. These systems may even provide much more geoinformation and services for various scenarios. When both the coordinates of customers home and shop addresses are identified, the distance calculation is simple math.
An email marketing use case would be activating customers who live near a physical store, informing them about special offers and how physically close they are. Based on the consumers closest store, the email content may be personalized, listing your other store locations ascending with distance. This may even be a good start to engage customers in choosing their favourite shop. ROPO-effects may be enforced by using digital insights on product interests. All this can be leveraged by adding SMS and Push Notification Channels into the cross-channel mix or by making use of other services of geoinformation systems. The display of a map containing the shortest route to your shop or event and how long it will take the customer to get there are only a few suggestions – the options are endless!
Real-time, relevance, and reach
Geocoding and geofencing are helpful ways to drive your business and develop successful campaigns to achieve your marketing goals. With the additional activation of CRM- and digital analytic data, you can start creating highly personalized campaigns. Match your website to the storefront of your physical stores or use your shops to establish strong relationships with your customers and generate trust in your brand. If you’d like to learn more about boosting your campaigns with geomarketing features and for further guidance, reach out to your Customer Success or Account Manager.
This article was first published by MAPP. Permission to use has been granted by the publisher.