Much as showrooming received attention entering last year's holiday shopping season, beacons is on the minds and plans of more and more marketers as we head toward fall.
Here's what I told cmo.com when asked about the importance of beacons:
"I remember interviewing Patrick Flanagan, a vice president from Simon Malls, for my "Mobilized Marketing "book. He talked of possible ways to get more folks to come shopping. One, he said, was to pick up the mall and move it to a better location in town. Of course, that wasn’t viable. Two, he said, was to change out the store mix in the mall. But, he said, that was a long and difficult proposition. The third, and best way, was to use mobile to drive traffic and more sales.
Beacons are the latest and brightest hope for brick-and-mortar retailers like Simon, which recently expanded its beacon network arrangement with Mobiquity Networks to 240 malls. Why? Pre-recession, during the recession, and post-recession, consumers want deals. But they need to be relevant. Three dollars off of a pizza available 50 miles away isn’t just an annoyance for the consumer, it’s a stupid use of marketing dollars.
But you have something when you combine location, an individual user’s past shopping behavior as seen through app activity, and permission given by a mobile user to be sent compelling information and offers.
Of course, marketers need to be wise and always provide value to the mobile user. Just because an opted-in consumer invites you into their house, so to speak, it doesn’t mean that you can stay as long as you want."
The complete article by Giselle Abramovich is here - http://www.cmo.com/articles/2014/8/29/CWTK_Beacons.html
