Location is still a major buzzword in social media at the moment, as the initial hype around Foursquare, Gowalla etc.. died down and was replaced by even bigger hype with Facebook Places. It’s one area that many companies still find difficult to adapt to, largely because the userbase is still unknown. It’s a fairly advanced social technology that requires investment to make it work, but do the numbers justify the effort and spend? I take a look at 5 case studies of small and large businesses to see how location based advertising is being used, and whether it’s driving real business value.
Sandwich shop advertises lunch specials
Showing how small businesses can use specific location tools to market themselves and gain case studies, The Columbus Sandwich company is a good example in direct targeting through location services. The company owner, Lad Dilgard, used a specific location service : Seven Lunches, which is a mobile app that shows you daily specials from restaurants and cafes nearby, helping you get the best deals and the best information. Now while this is a fairly niche app without a huge userbase, for The Columbus Sandwich company, it provided the right kind of audience that they needed to target. They used the app to share their daily specials and made sure to train their staff on how to use the app, to ensure it was used across the company. It’s a good example to show that sometimes the best tools might not be the biggest, but the ones that can deliver very targeted customers, and cost-effectively (or even for free).
Subway join location based texting service
Showing that location services aren’t just about apps, Subway in the UK has joined a campaign led by O2 called ‘You Are Here’. The campaign works through targeting users on a location basis, depending on what retailers/businesses they are near. For users that are currently opted in, when they are near a Subway store, they’ll be sent an MMS to alert them, and vouchers can then be redeemed by scanning them with your mobile in the store. The campaign has been introduced to experiment with an easier way to track vouchers that are distributed. It shows that SMS/MMS still works as a marketing tool, but can be brought up to date by integrating with location services.
McDonalds & Facebook Places
McDonalds in Singapore has just launched a campaign to coincide with Singapore’s national day, using Facebook Places. The campaign is run through a microsite that shows how many people have checked into McDonalds’ restaurants around the country. They set an aim of 46,000 checkins, in celebration of Singapore’s 46 years of independence. The aim is that when the target was reached, a special surprise will be revealed, and people can keep up to date with the checkins so far, via the microsite. They have now tracked over 50,000 checkins, unlocking the special deal. This is a high profile campaign for McDonalds, as the online element has also been supported by billboards and TV advertising, showing that they’re taking social seriously :
Chrysler’s location-based sponsorship
A good case study for showing location-based advertising, Chrysler experimented with in-app advertising, in a partnership with JiWire, who launched an app to allow users to find wifi hotspots across the country. The ad launched by Chrysler gave a complete in-app experience, allowing users to browse through the model and specifications without having to leave the app to do so. The in-app ad was accompanied by homepage sponsorship of the JiWire app. While this campaign didn’t directly utilise a location based app in the more traditional sense, it showed smart advertising by partnering with an emerging app that targeted people with a popular trend : location marketing and services.
Level up your Burrito
This is an excellent campaign, combining 2 popular trends : location based services and daily deals. Boloco ran a campaign with SCVNGR, who offer a location based app that combines challenges for users. In the promotion, Boloco took advantage of a new aspect of the service, which rewards customers for repeat visits. One of the most common problems business owners experience with daily deals sites, is that it’s great for driving a rush of customers to your business, but the majority of these are often just deal seekers who never returns again. In Boloco’s campaign, they wanted to reward frequent visitors and also encourage repeat visits. While an initial offer through SCVNGR might offer the customer $10 of burritos for $5, they would then get the option to ‘level up’ on their next visit, and get a better offer – say $30 of burritos for $10. This is a great way of encouraging customer loyalty combined with location services, showing that there’s a real monetary value in location marketing, providing you run it smartly :
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