September 14, 2016 | Posted in Quick Bits | By B2the7

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This past week was fun for engagement, for comments and for feedback from my LinkedIn connections. Beacons and Geo-location services are very exciting and all the feedback shows how important this technology is and where it us going. The feedback shows that if you are not thinking about Beacons and how to use them with your business, you are missing an opportunity to engage with your customers in different ways.

We are at the beginning with Beacon and Geo-Location services, the time is now to research, plan for and begin setting your strategies around how this technology will enhance your business.

Below are the topics of discussion from last week and some direction as you being your quest to use Beacons.

Tuesday Update

My focus this week is on Mobile Apps and Beacon Technology – To get started, what is needed to use Beacons? You need an App and a relationship with a provider who has a platform that supports Beacons.

How does a beacon work? Beacons work using Bluetooth low energy and are often powered by batteries that have a life from anywhere from 1 month to a couple of years. The range of a beacon can be up to 70m without any obstructions and they work with both iOS and Android devices.

Tomorrow I will introduce use cases of using Beacons.

Wednesday Update

Beacons are a great way to engage with consumers at your brick-n-mortar locations, at sponsored events, sporting venues and so on. With Beacons you can offer an experience that is something other than an offer (and it can be an offer etc) but more of a “Utility.” Think the data you can get back from this engagement – it is this data that you can now identify the customer within your database and target them with other eCRM channels with messages that are relevant to their behaviors or interest.

Wednesday Questions++++

In your opinion, who are some of the best “Location-Powered” platforms for Beacons and Geo-Location services?

Not looking for sales pitches but as a resource for other professionals/businesses that are looking for these type services. Just a “why” the provider is good.

Thursday Update

Beacons and Geo-locations services in Sporting Venues is another great use-case for this technology. Think how the two can work together – The customer enters the venue and receives a Welcome message. From there you can engage with the customer with an experience for potential seating upgrades, selling of team merchandise, concession sells, fan experiences, contest etc. The great thing about this is all the data you are collecting from these customers that you can then use to re-market to them at a later date.

Beacons and Geo-locations services has been a great topic of discussion so far this week – thank you to everyone so far for all their thoughts around this technology!

Friday Update

Beacon technology makes the retail shopping experience more personal and interactive. Imagine walking into your local grocery store to receive a welcome message, then based on your past purchases, you receive coupons that are relevant to you. It is this targeted, real-time communication where you are using your customer data and beacon technology to interact with your customers in your place of business. Beacons are also helping customers to re-engage with a brands app that they may have forgotten about. The real challenge is delivering the relevant message at the exact right time.

Saturday Update

On Thursday and Friday of this week, I discussed 2 use cases for Beacons/Geo-Location for Sporting Venues and Retail stores. There are so many other use cases for Beacons, use your imagination on how you could interact with a consumer and they data that you could be collecting.

What are some other use cases that would change the way others could use beacons?

About Bernie

With more than 23 years of experience in marketing, Bernie is the Director of Digital Marketing at Papa John’s International, based in Louisville, KY. His current focus is building and scaling a progressive digital marketing foundation that balances the needs of both consumers and national/local stakeholders —  all while delivering measurable ROI to the business.

Additionally, Bernie oversees brand representation for Papa John’s digital properties and manages direct-to-consumer channels including email, SMS and push messaging. Recent initiatives have centered around bringing together larger promotional efforts with targeted campaigns to engage the consumer at the precise moment of interest.

Follow Bernie on Twitter @B2the7 or @B7_Design & the B2The7 blog @ http://b2the7.com/b2the7