The following is a guest contribution by Rip Gerber, Founder, President & CEO of Locaid.
The biggest consumer brands are fattening up their marketing budgets and adding LBS. Not pounds, but Location–Based Services (LBS). The possibilities for LBS go way beyond check-ins and store finders. Location is becoming an integral driver of any mobile campaign.
Why? Location-based advertising lifts response rates with relevancy. That’s why the mobile ad networks are boasting 5x lifts in CPMs when a lat/long turns a campaign into high click-through rates. Expect to pay hefty premiums for location-based ads over the next three years.
Should you pay to play in LBS?
You want relevance, you want to reduce spam and annoyance in your customer ranks, you want meaningful click-throughs and mobile purchasing and drive-to-action. All of which means you have to fatten up your mobile marketing budget. Mobile is innovative and effective and, as a result, expensive. The question is how can you cut through the hype and negotiate a good deal on mobile marketing, stand out from the noise and drive the growth of your business all at a high ROI?
Each week I meet with CMOs who share their mobile concerns and plans. Here are the three “Must-Do’s” I always hear:
Get high on smartphones and tablets. There are 1.2 billion smartphones in use worldwide today. It’s not a phone. It’s a computer, camera, browser, shopping assistant, communicator, game platform, wallet, tracker and more. Think beyond your app. While smartphones present a marketer’s dream and endless opportunities to reach out to customers via a device they voluntarily interact with daily, consider this: how is that smartphone or tablet integral to my customers’ lives? And how can I make my brand and products relevant in that relationship?
Go deep on relevance. You’ve probably realized that your mobile app and mobile-friendly website is no longer enough. Daily, as I speak with my company’s clients, they tell me about abysmal download and engagement rates for their apps. My first question to them – are you offering anything that a customer needs? Or are your just pitching your stuff on a smaller screen? Be relevant.
Go wide on location. Knowing the location of your message/offer/service is the #1 way to be relevant. Any mobile campaign you’re running without location should be stopped immediately. After you add location, you will double your ROI at a minimum. Location not only enables greater personalization but adds a layer of verification to help prevent fraud and reduce the unnecessary admin costs of many mobile marketing campaigns. And use geofences. Geofencing provides a unique opportunity for you to target your ads at nearby consumers. When a customer enters a set radius, you can push a discount on that customer’s favorite item through your mobile application. Combine the use of geofences with a targeted mobile advertising strategy and you will increase engagement, footfall and ultimately, wallet share.
So start putting on the LBS. Get high on smartphones and tablets, do deep on relevance, and go wide on location… and start fattening up your mobile marketing ROI.
About The Author:
Rip Gerber (@Locaid) is the founder of “Location-as-a-Service” (LaaS) and has built Locaid into world’s largest location company. He has served as the CMO of two public companies and as a senior executive at two of the largest worldwide interactive agencies. He started his marketing career running card acquisition direct mail programs for American Express. Rip holds several patents and is the only mobile CEO to be certified by the International Association of Privacy Professionals (IAPP).
