Mapping Out the High Street

Consumers are increasingly happy to receive marketing messages via their mobile phones, as long as they offer something of specific, targeted value. Location-based marketing is a great way for brands to do just that

The first stage of the web was about ‘what’, and the second stage was about ‘who’.  The Third stage will be all about ‘where’.”

This is the view of Diana LaGattuta, marketing director of Nokia’s Location & Commerce business unit, which powers location-based marketing for brands.

There’s plenty of evidence emerging to back her up. Google figures show 40% of searches already have a local intent, and mobile search is growing dramatically. Morgan Stanley predicts the number of searches done on phones will overtake those done on desktop PCs by next year.

The retail sector is on the frontline of these changes, for a number of reasons. The high street needs to respond to changing behaviour that is seeing customers researching purchases while they’re in store, comparing prices between onand offline outlets. It’s also an opportunity to add location-based information to existing demographic data, allowing for much better targeting. And location gives retailers a way to link their onand offline messaging.

Figures suggest there is much enthusiasm for location-based services, with 19% of mobile users worldwide already using them, mainly via maps. That amounts to 15.2 million people in the UK, according to ComScore.

More importantly for marketers, O2 Media figures suggest seven out of 10 smartphone users are positive about receiving location-based messaging. This is backed up by research from location-based marketing specialists JiWire last year, which discovered that 69% of UK users would be happy to share their location to receive relevant content.

For brands that have experimented with location-based marketing, results have been encouraging. Now comes the need to understand how the approach fits with their other marketing activities.

Brands will need to consider an insight from the US that redemption of vouchers is surprisingly time dependent.

Most location-based marketing has been focused on ‘nearby’, so time is an interesting factor, If you’re trying to catch people near your venue, you’re not going to get them to change their behaviour in the moment. It’s more about awareness so they come back the next day. Ultimately, retailers will use mobile as a loyalty tool; vouchering will still be present, however i may not change behaviour in the moment very often.”

For more information on Mobile Marketing contact CFL Marketing on 01225 782669, whether it integrating SMS into your marketing mix or for more information on the CFL Media Console.