Quick: Name a company that is making effective, sticky use of geolocation?
(Foursquare, Loopt, Britekite and Gowalla don't count. It's their entire business model.)
Stumped? You should be.
Geolocation for the moment is cool and largely useless. No company has taken the lead in the development of applications that utilize geo-targeting and fill a need. Yet, with GPS enabled smart phone growth skyrocketing this shouldn't last for much longer.
Let's move past the novelty and start talking about geolocation as an effective marketing tactic. Here are a few ways to make sure your company does just that:
Make use of mobile WiFi.
Ford has already taken the first step in turning cars with WiFi into a reality. The interesting rub? Pandora just unveiled geo-targeting integration recently. Take these two variables into account and you have the potential for a huge moneymaker for both the platform creators AND the advertisers.
This raises all sorts of potential for savvy marketers. Walking or driving past a McDonalds? Get a text message or be served an ad on Pandora for immediate savings. The goal? Turn brand recognition into a sale.
Geo-tag videos and pictures.
Most pictures and videos already have this technology enabled. It's up to you and your brand to make use of this on an effective level. Don't rely on customers to do the hard work for you by tagging the picture or video with your brand.
Actively seek out this content using geo-tagging and serve this up on a localized feed either on-site or on your corporate website. Easy way to make use of social with minimum effort.
Create incentives to "check in" at your business.
Foursquare spawned a change in behavior for users of smart phones. Take advantage of this (and the free press on Twitter/Facebook) that it elicits.
Creating a reward or competition around checking in at your business will raise your profile considerably. It will also create integrate your online/offline marketing efforts.
Create an experience that utilizes geolocation.
Sometimes the best buzz is built via an offline event. Think a scavenger hunt, product launch or rocking tweet-up could benefit from the usage of geolocation? Absolutely.
Now it's your turn: Can you think of some other ways to integrate Geolocation into your marketing?
Photo Credit: criminalintent
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tagged as community integration, geolocation, geolocation for events, geolocation marketing, geolocation pr, pandora using geolocation, use geolocation
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
This isn't meant to be a new year prediction, but I think we will begin to see more of this in 2010. There was an adjustment period for businesses and Twitter/FB/etc, and there will be one for geolocation.
On the others side, or the movement towards consumer power, I also see possibility. Businesses need to prepare for this, too. There are already apps on my phone to tell me what the best BBQ/Mexican/Chinese/whatever restaurant near me is, based on what others are saying. But what about products?
Take a look at Google Goggles. Sure, for now it's a fun toy, but I think it could become a crucial shopping tool. College students tend to rely on energy drinks as legal crack, I know because I am one. We all have our 'go-to' drink, but they get old after awhile. However, there are so many possibilities, it's difficult to know what's good. Enter Google Goggles. I go into the gas station and snap a picture of 3 different energy drinks and my mobile gives me a short review and rating of each one, based on how other college kids have reviewed it. A fews years have passed and I'm a new dad shopping for diapers. I don't know what the hell the difference is between the 896342 kinds, so I snap a few pics and the people tell me which way to go.
Admittedly, that doesn't have much to do with geolocation. But geolocation is just a segment of a new wave of mobile marketing. Mobile marketing used to be text messages, but it is going to become so much more. If I take a picture on Google Goggles Grader (my fictional name for fictional app) at Target but my phone tells me there's a better deal for 2 of those 3 products at the store across the street, well shit, I know where I'm going.
When I get my computer and/or blog back, I'm definitely writing about this. Your post is going to be cited as awesome inspiration.
Thanks Colby.
I like the inclusion of being able to review things on the fly. (It could be extremely helpful to corporate home offices on how their individual franchisees are doing.)
Geolocation is just one small part of mobile marketing. I'm going to try and explore that and other interesting topics moving forward here.
P.S. Can't wait to read your article.
Some great points, Stu, and I definitely agree that most businesses have yet to really encourage customers to use geolocation, instead they've really just been happy when they did (or didn't even know about it to start with).
On businesses parts, in an app like foursquare, it seems pretty obvious that they could do something like whoever is the mayor of their business gets free lunch for one friend each time they visit. A tangible benefit apart from just getting a badge for your friends to see. Even something as little as a sign on the door reminding customers to check in on foursquare as they enter and asking them to rate them on Yelp as they leave.
I'm also totally with you on the geotagging of photos and video, which really isn't mainstream yet. Imagine if Facebook, which is really largely a photo sharing site, got some tight integration with geolocation and, just as you tag people, it says what business/bar/store/younameit you're at. That'd be money for small businesses.
So, there's a few thoughts to add, but this is definitely an interesting topic.
How is Google not leading in geolocation apps? Did not they begin the concept of Google mashups with those pins you allude in your above image? Google Maps, Google Earth, Google Latitude.
I think they are technically. Was looking at it more from a biz usage/behavioral perspective though.
I think they are technically. Was looking at it more from a biz usage/behavioral perspective though.
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