TECHNICAL AND OPERATIONAL CONSIDERATIONS FOR PLANNING YOUR FIRST BEACON DEPLOYMENT
Year 2017 saw a great start with some really exciting news from the proximity marketing industry.
The global Bluetooth beacons market size was estimated at USD 1,364 million in 2017. Growing number of mobile app companies tapping the proximity solutions market, along with increasing investments in the beacon technology, is expected to propel the industry growth.
The introduction of beacons technology has revolutionized the adopters’ operations by driving a new level of customer engagement through personalization. The growth prospects can be attributed to the surging eminence of location-based marketing in the retail industry. Combining the benefits of physical shopping experience with digital ecosystem has become important for brick-and-mortar retailers. Moreover, investments in proximity solutions are witnessing an upward swing, thereby reducing their marketing and advertising costs.
Target, the second largest general merchandise retailer in the U.S. just finished deploying beacons in all of its stores nationwide. With beacon technology, the company says it will be able to send information about deals as well as recommendations directly to consumers’ smartphones, provided they opt in to receive these alerts. Initially, the beacon technology will work with those users who have the latest version of the Target app installed on their phones and have Bluetooth turned on. The app will then prompt customers to “opt in” to share their location with the retailer while in the store, and allow it to send push notifications to their phones. The company says that it will limit these notifications, so as not to overwhelm customers with alerts. There will only be two push notifications sent per shopping trip.
Screenvision, a movie theater management company installed beacons in about 300 theatres as a part of their initial beacon rollout, while Rite Aid, a popular pharmacy chain deployed beacons in more than 4500 stores across the U.S.
A number of businesses in the retail industry have already begun to test beacon technology, which uses Bluetooth to connect with shoppers’ phones in close proximity, in their locations. For example, real estate developer Simon said last fall it would outfit nearly 240 malls and shopping centers with beacons. Macy’s in September also rolled out a sizable beacon installation involving 4,000 devices. GameStop said it would pilot both geo-fencing and beacons in 36 stores in Q2, and Lord & Taylor stores rolled out beacons last year.
According to a November 2014 study by marketing platform provider Swirl, 73 percent of consumers even indicated that beacon campaigns increased the likelihood of purchase during their visit.
However, even today not many marketers are very clear about how to go about deploying beacons. In fact, this is one question that always turns up in most of our client conversations. Few questions that most marketers have when deploying beacons are:
We’ve realized that while there are a number of media publications that talk about successful beacon deployments, what businesses really need is a simple guide that can help them keep track of the things that they need to keep a check on to ensure a smooth beacon deployment. Keeping this in mind, we have come up with this ultimate checklist that will help businesses with the same. Without much ado, let’s get started!
The Ultimate Checklist for Planning & Managing Your Proximity Marketing Campaign
The global Bluetooth beacons market size was estimated at USD 1,364 million in 2017. Growing number of mobile app companies tapping the proximity solutions market, along with increasing investments in the beacon technology, is expected to propel the industry growth.
The introduction of beacons technology has revolutionized the adopters’ operations by driving a new level of customer engagement through personalization. The growth prospects can be attributed to the surging eminence of location-based marketing in the retail industry. Combining the benefits of physical shopping experience with digital ecosystem has become important for brick-and-mortar retailers. Moreover, investments in proximity solutions are witnessing an upward swing, thereby reducing their marketing and advertising costs.
Target, the second largest general merchandise retailer in the U.S. just finished deploying beacons in all of its stores nationwide. With beacon technology, the company says it will be able to send information about deals as well as recommendations directly to consumers’ smartphones, provided they opt in to receive these alerts. Initially, the beacon technology will work with those users who have the latest version of the Target app installed on their phones and have Bluetooth turned on. The app will then prompt customers to “opt in” to share their location with the retailer while in the store, and allow it to send push notifications to their phones. The company says that it will limit these notifications, so as not to overwhelm customers with alerts. There will only be two push notifications sent per shopping trip.
Screenvision, a movie theater management company installed beacons in about 300 theatres as a part of their initial beacon rollout, while Rite Aid, a popular pharmacy chain deployed beacons in more than 4500 stores across the U.S.
A number of businesses in the retail industry have already begun to test beacon technology, which uses Bluetooth to connect with shoppers’ phones in close proximity, in their locations. For example, real estate developer Simon said last fall it would outfit nearly 240 malls and shopping centers with beacons. Macy’s in September also rolled out a sizable beacon installation involving 4,000 devices. GameStop said it would pilot both geo-fencing and beacons in 36 stores in Q2, and Lord & Taylor stores rolled out beacons last year.
According to a November 2014 study by marketing platform provider Swirl, 73 percent of consumers even indicated that beacon campaigns increased the likelihood of purchase during their visit.
However, even today not many marketers are very clear about how to go about deploying beacons. In fact, this is one question that always turns up in most of our client conversations. Few questions that most marketers have when deploying beacons are:
- How do I decide on the right beacons for my campaign?
- Some of the beacons tend to fall off after being mounted. What should I do to ensure that beacons stay intact at their positions?
- How high and where should my beacons be mounted?
- How do I educate my Customers on Nearby Notifications?
- How do I manage My Beacons once deployed?
We’ve realized that while there are a number of media publications that talk about successful beacon deployments, what businesses really need is a simple guide that can help them keep track of the things that they need to keep a check on to ensure a smooth beacon deployment. Keeping this in mind, we have come up with this ultimate checklist that will help businesses with the same. Without much ado, let’s get started!
The Ultimate Checklist for Planning & Managing Your Proximity Marketing Campaign
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