Everyone who owns some type of business knows how important marketing is. We all want to be better than our competition and we all want to use the right tools to get more customers to our store. No matter if you own a land-based or an online store, you know that doing the right advertisement can make the difference between your brand getting recognized everywhere and your business going out of work.
There are a lot of different tools available on the market that you can use to promote your business and become more recognizable than your competitors. Here we are going to talk about location-based marketing tools and why you should use them.
One thing you need to be aware of is that the market is changing every day. With the rise and the changes in social media, things are getting better and worse at the same time for every brand out there. On one side, more people can see your business and you will be able to make more sales. On the other hand, your competitors are doing the same thing. Because of that, you need to choose and use the best tools there are to help promote your brand.
Overview
The great thing about location-based marketing is that every possible customer, you have will be notified on their device about your deals. These tools work in the way that whenever someone is near your location, they will be informed on their phone about the things you are offering.
This is a great thing for both businesses and for customers because as customers, it is a lot easier when your phone is telling you that the thing you need to get is close. It is a lot easier than looking for the store on the map and going there just to find out they don’t have the product you need.
You have to use these location-based tools like IP geolocation, more info on this page, to your advantage, and to attract people and make sales. Other types of marketing are great as well, but with location marketing, you will get people to visit your store right away.
Text message marketing
We all have our phones in our hands most of the time. We usually turn off the notifications we get from social media or emails, but there is one thing we always check – the text messages.
Use the SMS alerts to promote your business and send a message to potential customers that are getting near your store. With location-based SMS marketing, people can be notified about an offer or a deal your store has and they will definitely notice the message.
One thing you need to be careful about is not to over-do it. If you send too many messages to potential customers, they will turn them off. Make sure you go straight to the point and tell them what you offer, what the discount is and the working hours of your store. Check here to learn more about the best practices when using text message marketing for your business.
Reviews
Reviews can make or break the business. People who get location-based marketing will most likely check for online reviews. There are so many platforms that offer this option, starting from social media networks, to search engines and specific applications that allow users to rate a business.
If you have this option available on your profiles, make sure you do your best to make the customers happy. The more positive reviews you have, the bigger the chances are that someone else will want to visit your store.
Check-ins
This is something that everyone uses. And it is great because with the check-ins the business is getting more customers and a different type of marketing. You should always find a way to make people check-in to your business. Some brands have unique stores that make people take pictures and put the location. Others offer another type of excitement that attracts customers to check-in.
There is one thing that’s recommended by experts – offer some type of discount or a small gift for everyone that checks-in your store. People will be attracted by that and chances are, they will use every opportunity to pay less or get a deal. With that, you will attract more people.
Coupons
Coupons are something that everyone loves and you need to use that to your advantage. You can offer discounts and coupons for things that people are interested in or sell something that is left from last season.
With services like GoMontana people can see the deals that are offered online and use the discount to visit your store. You can use different services to get the customers to redeem that coupon in the store or to make online purchases. You can test and see which option works better for you and for your business.
You can even combine several of these things to get more people to come and shop in your store. Just make sure you don’t overdo it because not everyone likes it when they get too many advertisements and notifications at the same time.
Search Engines
Last but not least, you need to make sure that your brand exists in places people are going to check. This means that you have to do your best to rank high in the search engines and you need to do the right marketing online.
One thing that is crucial is that all of your information is correct. If you change the number of your store or if you relocate, make sure you make all the changes everywhere. If your store shows up on the map and it was relocated a week ago, chances are, the customers won’t turn every stone to find the new location.
Make sure you update this information both on the search engines and maps and to update your social media platforms with the new information. The same goes for your email and other vital information.
What do you do to promote your business? Everyone has a different approach, however, there are some things that are proven to work. One thing you need to do before starting any marketing plan is to decide on your target audience. That will help you choose the right tools and it will give you a starting point. Try to do as much research as you can before making the advertisement plan. And don’t spend too much money on campaigns that are not going to work.
Experts say that A-B testing is extremely important if you want to get the needed results. Don’t be afraid to try new things and new tools. Remember that all good things take time and stick with your plan before drastically changing it. Make sure you are up to date with the latest trends and in case you don’t have the needed marketing skills, it is better to hire a professional than to miss on making sales.