Geolocation-based services: the key to improving your app's engagement

The development of mobile technology is rapidly changing the purchasing behavior of many potential customers thanks to geolocation, a fact that has not gone unnoticed by mobile marketing experts. In an increasingly mobile environment, where smartphone penetration and use is increasing exponentially, The value of geographic location becomes a key tool to take advantage of information which comes as a result of the user's behavior regarding their position in relation to our business.

How is our position geolocated?

Currently, the easiest way to geolocate a position is through our mobile phone. Technically speaking, there are two ways to do it: one is via your smartphone's GPS, through the satellite network that surrounds us, allowing us to locate ourselves anywhere on the globe. The second option is to triangulate our position on the map, calculating the signal strength of our mobile phone in relation to the nearest telephone antennas. In any case, from a technical point of view, the way in which our phone calculates our position is irrelevant, since today, any smartphone is always geolocated. The important thing for us, as an organization that wants to take advantage of this quality, is that Geolocation allows us to launch marketing actions that bring us closer to our customers. Let's imagine for a moment that we are in a new city and we want to find a restaurant nearby. Our mobile phone, based on our position, can locate all the nearby restaurants and make recommendations based on ratings from users with profiles similar to ours or even present us with special offers designed specifically for us, which arouse real interest.

What are geolocation platforms?

We could define them as social networks of opinions based on geolocation where those establishments with which other users have interacted (visits, purchases, etc.) appear, leaving an option related to their experience. This is what has always happened when a friend or family member recommended the new business that opened on the street opposite, but instead of doing so in the form of a comment, they will do so through digitalized content with all that this implies. It is an “amplified word of mouth”. Yelp platform, for example, is connecting the world on and the off By appointing community leaders in areas (usually in large capitals) so that they themselves can identify and highlight certain businesses while providing an opinion that is, in principle, objective. Geolocation allows the consumer, based on their position, to find our business, obtain the route to get there, and even open a communication channel, which facilitates the creation of attraction and loyalty strategies.

How will geolocation affect retail?

• Increasing your online presence can lead to viral marketing with a local focus for those businesses that know how to do it really well.
• In the short term it may create a special connection with digital consumers, which can influence their acquaintances and closest circles. In the medium term, when all consumers are digital natives and the weight of the traditional consumer has been reduced, it may be the main way to gain new users.
• It will be possible to connect with the best customers to reward them and thus increase the chances of promotion.
• Greater customer loyalty, as contact can be extended over time.
• Better quality due to the direct relationship with customers.
• Greater knowledge of what they think about our business, which will facilitate its adaptation to the needs and tastes of the market.
• Identifying and obtaining information about user statistics by monitoring their behavior.

This won't be "free." The business owner will have to dedicate time to it, but managing marketing actions based on geolocation will allow him to advertise, understand customers, adapt his products to demand and know what they think of his services in order to differentiate himself from his competitors.

What advantages can geolocation offer?

Visibility: We are talking about visibility on geolocation platforms, but also about visibility on social networks, since every time a user reports on social networks that he is in a certain establishment, he updates his status and makes it visible to his friends. Another important point that we must not forget is to establish an appropriate strategy with Google My Business, where we can improve our SEO, that is, our natural positioning in Internet search engines. We need to specify the details of our business in this free Google tool. Also if we have a blog of our business, when we make a new post, it would be convenient to geolocate from where it was published. This option, if you use Google Blogger, can be done directly, which will gradually improve your ranking. Generate new customers around a given location: The explore function included in many geolocation-based services allows us to see nearby businesses and, most importantly, recommendations left by other users. Through these channels we can launch offers seeking to incite consumer action. Improving our geolocation strategy This type of platform allows us to design loyalty strategies. For example, it is possible to easily reward a consumer with a series of additional benefits depending on the frequency with which they interact with us. Notoriety: If the customer likes the experience in our business, we can invite them to share it, because when people enjoy and have fun they want to let their friends and acquaintances know about it. These recommendations written on geolocation networks will give notoriety to a business and will facilitate the entry and capture of new clients. As you can see, geolocation services from mobile phones are widely used. When someone is on the street and needs something, it is very common for them to rely on their smartphone to find it. If your company is registered on one of these platforms and knows how to use them, it will gain visibility and, if it also offers an advantage over other similar companies with a promotion, for example, it will increase the chances of being chosen by the user.