You might think maps are just good for showing people where to find you, but maps can do so much more. Here are 5 ways to use geolocation services, create better customer experiences, increase customer engagement and get more for your marketing budget:
1. Make it easier for customers to buy from you
A store locator integrated into your website and mobile app makes it easy for customers find their closest store, check opening times, get directions and – if you integrate it with your operational systems – tell them if they can get what they want, whether that's a pair of shoes, a restaurant table or a hair appointment. You can also use their searches to provide tailored promotions, such as offers if they visit their nearest store in the next two days.
2. Get relevant messages to customers at the right time
Use a geofence – or virtual perimeter around a geolocation – to send text messages or push notifications to customers when they're near or in one of your stores. You can even set up a geofence around a single display, so you can tell them about the specific items on display and where to find them in the shop.
3. Target your marketing spend more precisely
You can use geomarketing to make better marketing decisions. By combining your own customer data, information on your locations and those of competitors, and third-party data on demographics and lifestyle, you can gain insights into consumer trends, as well more detail on your ideal customer personas and where to reach them. That lets you target advertising such as Google Adwords, billboards and mail drops more precisely, and tailor your messages so they're more relevant and engaging. According to research from KISSmetrics, 60% of advertising professionals say geo-targeted ads deliver a stronger ROI.
Developing interesting applications that customers find engaging and want to use because they are fun or do something different from other sites can also help build your brand image, create hype and get more people using and interacting with your offering. These types of applications if done correctly can be one of a marketeers best assets.
4. Improve customer engagement
Send targeting advertising with geomarketing. Use maps to provide something extra alongside your product or service that helps you stand out from the crowd. Let customers view the layout of your restaurant and book a specific table. Give customers buying your hiking gear a map of hiking trails. Or just add some fun: Coca-cola in Israel grabbed the number one rating spot for an app that used geofencing to display a user's name on a billboard when the user approached.
5. Improve your view of your supply chain
Let customers check stock levels in a store before they leave home. Help stores redirect customers to the nearest store with stock if they've run out, or offer to transfer the item across from the other store. Allow customers to return purchases made online to any store, and use location data to manage and track those items back into the supply chain.
Working with a Google Maps Premier Partner
A Google Cloud Partner like Ancoris can help you apply the power of Google Maps to solve current business challenges and develop new digital models using location-based services.
We’re not only a Google Maps Premier Partner but have achieved Google’s Location-Based Services Partner Specialisation. This means we’ve demonstrated both technical proficiency and proven success in building and managing applications using the best of Google Maps Platform and Google Cloud Platform in both web and mobile environments.
If you’d like to find out more about how we can help you, why not take a look at some of our customer success stories or talk to the experts in our Google Maps team.
Article updated February 2021
First published October 2017