With mobile devices becoming a staple of modern society and the preferred way of accessing digital content, today’s successful marketing professionals will need to understand how to connect successfully with mobile consumers. Smartphones have made proximity the most popular consumer technology. With reports of smartphone users skyrocketing and expecting to reach a staggering number of 2.5 billion in 2019, Proximity undoubtedly makes for the strongest and most compelling marketing strategy for enterprises to reach out to their digitally connected customers.
Over 19 industry verticals are investing in and deploying proximity technologies with the top five being Retail, Shopping Malls, Hotels & Tourism, Stadiums & Sports, and airports. Retail, in particular, has been more aggressive in deploying the latest location-based marketing strategy and investing in proximity platforms.
Proximity marketing uses location-based technologies such as Beacons, Wi-Fi, Geo-fencing, GPS, and Near Field Communication (NFC) to engage customers directly through their mobile devices. One of the key benefits of proximity marketing is that its messages reach a high percentage of potential customers who are in the area.
A few Proximity Marketing Strategies are:
- On-the-Spot Digital Coupons: This strategy allows retailers to send digital coupons to all of the shoppers that are in proximity to their store via the Bluetooth or WiFi network. It can be a powerful tool to capitalize on high-traffic times, test out interest in a new product, or stimulate sales on a slow day.
- Interactive Digital Signage: Eye-catching digital signs, while not having the penetration power of a digital message sent to all mobile phones in proximity, can still be highly effective in engaging customers. A digital kiosk outside a movie theater, for instance, can allow customers to browse their choices and watch previews based on their own individual tastes and preferences.
- Bar Code Marketing: One of the latest advancements in proximity marketing is the bar code. Similar to what is used as price tags at grocery stores; companies have now taken to using a simple bar code (sometimes called QR codes) as a way to connect with customers. Again, this strategy is somewhat passive, in that passersby need to choose to scan the bar code with their smartphone, but it requires less time and attention than digital signage. Shoppers can scan on the fly and connect with the content on the spot or bookmark it and come back to it later.
