Switchfast Blog: The Future of IT
Small Business Strategy: Utilizing Location-Based Mobile Services
Monday, August 23, 2010 by Bryan Anderson
It's one approach to build a strategic website-it's another to
play an active role in the emerging mobile location-aware service
market. As any business can point out, mobile users are glued to
their respective devices for plenty of important
tasks-communication, moderation, and regulation. The idea of
"local" has taken off over the last couple years. The internet may
highlight every corner of the world, but users want relative,
immediate choices and in this case the options and deals of near-by
companies. The solution combines the surge of social media and the
desire to connect with local properties. Are these local
"properties" ready for the potential shift in marketing power?
Online marketing can be a complex project depending on what
aspect a business wants to tackle - search engine optimization,
social media optimization, search engine marketing, or other
potential services to grow a thriving small business. When it comes
to these strategies, each business caters their plan to a certain
"radius," or how far and how many people they are expected to
reach. In return, a certain percentage will react and an even
smaller percentage will respond or engage. Through data and
analytics, small businesses can monitor their investment in online
marketing.
Adding a social feature complicates the marketing scene for two
reasons. The first is the power of word of mouth, a variable still
heavily considered by small businesses but undoubtedly difficult to
measure and plan. Social media has brought "consumer engagement"
and "consumer criticism" to a new level - websites like Yelp and
Google Maps have helped build a location-based business reputation
(good or bad) while attracting potential leads for future
transactions. Previously, this consumer behavior was primarily
found among the techno-educated crowd. This will not be the case
with the arrival of Facebook Places.
According to a write-up from NetworkWorld.com, Facebook Places is designed
to do three things:
1. Help people share where they are in a social way
2. See which friends are nearby
3. Discover nearby places and new places through friends'
profiles
From a small business perspective, that third bullet point
should excite marketers. Aside from taking on companies like
LinkedIn and Quora with Facebook Questions (and maybe grabbing the
attention of small business lead generation departments),
Facebook Places will compete against established market competitors
like Foursquare, Gowalla, and Google Places. All these services
have targeted and refined a consumer-location service that allows
potential customers to reach small businesses otherwise
overshadowed by big company brands based on their current
location.
With small ventures already offering similar services, why is
Facebook Places relevant? We've pointed it out in the past, but we'll say it
again - the amount of users now 'aware' of location-based services
will significantly increase. As proof, Foursquare saw a spike in sign-ups the day that Facebook
Places, its competitor, officially launched.
The problem didn't seem to be interest but instead access - the
general mobile user avoids signing up for multiple applications and
prefers monitoring all their activity in one platform. In this
case, Facebook has taken over the "mayor" of internet places and
has set the table for location-based services to take off, whether
through their own product or its competitors.
How will small business marketing strategies adjust to take
advantage of this evolving service? Here are some tips on what you
can do to promote your small business efficiently and hopefully
cost-effectively:
Get your business in the location-based service
spotlight - now. If there's ever been a time for small
businesses to take a leap into social media marketing, now appears
to be better than ever. Social media has evolved from a
consumer-driven platform to a business analytics tool. Reaching out
to potential customers for a relatively cheap cost is a golden
opportunity for small business marketers, especially considering
the amount of stress being put on "location-based" services - a
promising attribute that allows small businesses to compete against
brand-name products and services.
Offer your current discounts and deals to the mobile
audience. Most of the users accessing Facebook Places or
other location-based services won't have any idea who you are. You
don't have to go over-the-top to draw their attention - put your
current offers out there and see what happens. Offering free
products or services doesn't always work and in some ways can cost
you. Getting involved with services like Groupon can increase your market reach and establish your
local business in another arena.
Local search will witness a fundamental shift.
In addition to searching and finding products that you want or
need, the process of integrating your social opinions and criticism
with that of your "internet" circle will drive different search
results. For example, searching for a local place for coffee in a
big city can be overwhelming. However, upon searching, you discover
that a couple of your friends have made positive comments about a
certain coffee shop close to you. This reliance on personal and
trustworthy experience will drive location-based searches and
search engines as a whole.
Reward your "mayor" and they will reward your
business. Once you've got your small business all the way
in the water, you'll have the ability to identify your most loyal
users, aptly named "Mayor" by the popular application Foursquare.
The easiest way to promote your presence through mobile marketing
is to reward your biggest users and let their voice spread the good
news. Give exclusive deals to your top user (or users) and let the
social media wheel churn, producing more local results for your
small business.
Until next time -
Matthew Hymel
Switchfast Technologies
Chicago IT Support &
Consulting
Rochester
IT Support & Consulting
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