What Is Bluetooth Proximity Marketing?

Before we dive into what is Bluetooth proximity marketing? Let’s first get a little head’s up about what proximity marketing is? 

Proximity marketing is a technique to target customers at the right time and place, based on their precise location.  It delivers one-of-a-kind results for businesses in combination with the right advertising strategies and tools. With time most companies, brands, and shopping malls are shifting toward new technology like proximity marketing as it offers vast potential not just to deliver coupons, vouchers, and discount codes. On top of that it helps you to learn more about your audience and their interests. As it’s a great medium for storing data.

Proximity Marketing Campaigns 

Proximity marketing campaigns are also known as “Hyperlocal marketing.” It’s a little different from traditional old-school marketing techniques. In this marketing, a targeted campaign is designed to target a specific location. People will interact more with those campaigns to which they can relate too.

So how is a proximity marketing campaign run? Well, smart beacons are used to send advertisement packets (which contain information like introduction statements, access address, CRC, and Bluetooth sender addresses) as short-range signals in remote locations. The sole purpose of this marketing strategy is to boost the footfall of consumers in a store. By target, people go for keywords search like Shopping malls or cinemas “near me.” Intel from Google ^[1] shows us that if a user goes for a “near me” or “nearby” search, Google will automatically display results nearest to them.  

One of the pros of using such marketing campaigns is that it’s cost-effective compared to any other marketing strategy. You may be wondering how so? Well, it is simple, it doesn’t exhaust all the budget while marketing to an audience who won’t make a purchase but instead target the custom-tailored audience. 

Hyperlocal marketing also delivers a high return on investment. It is observed that people who go with search queries like “near me” have more chances of converting into potential customers or making a purchase. It’s easy on the pocket & to manage as it doesn’t require a marketing team to checkout performance metrics. These campaigns target local market segments to a limited geographical location, making it less hectic.

How does Bluetooth Proximity Work?

Bluetooth proximity marketing consists of a setup in which BLE beacons are used to send info (like text, audio, or video) to Bluetooth-enabled devices. A personalized promotional advertisement (Get discounts, buy one get one free) will appear when a customer enters the store with an Android or an iOS app that supports Bluetooth low energy. Although users can turn these notifications off, most prefer receiving personalized content. Besides that, brands also provide Wifi service to send customers promotional adverts. 

Therefore, going for Bluetooth technology is a good option as it has a high success rate. Bluetooth beacons are less costly, have a relative-to-the-point implementation procedure, and operate as planned. Beacons are deployed across different sectors, from large retail stores (like Walmart) to small-scale businesses, bringing a much greater ROI.

As we have discussed above, brands with a strong physical presence, such as stores and shopping malls, restaurants, or hotels, are shifting towards this marketing technique. Someone running a business or outlet that doesn’t know how to perform such marketing techniques can go for services like IoT PROXIM. 

So, if you’re probably wondering how it works, it uses channels like beacons and Bluetooth technology to transmit information close to mobile devices. So, when a mobile device comes in proximity range of the beacon, the customer will receive a notification or request asking permission to connect with their mobile device. Finally, when they accept that notification or allow permission. They will receive promotional text messages or displayed ads in images or videos related to the product or services of the brand.  

Stores can gather information about customer movements by placing beacons around their stores to make their in-store experience more personalized and create highly targeted marketing campaigns. 

Suggested Read: What Is Mobile Marketing & Its Types?

The technology used in  Bluetooth Proximity Marketing? 

Well, a variety of technology is currently used in the world regarding Bluetooth proximity marketing. The use of these techniques depends upon what kind of results you desire, what infrastructure you have & who you are targeting. But here we will talk about one of the most well-known & used ones. 

QR Codes 

QR codes are one of the most old-fashioned compared to others, but it’s one of the easiest to install and cheapest. Used by different marketers widely these days and over the last couple of years. The concept behind a QR code is to create a scannable image on a smartphone. QR codes contain web address information and links redirecting users to a particular website.

Nowadays, smartphones can scan QR codes, so for someone running a business who decides to go for QR code service, you only need a QR code generator that is easily available on the internet and a printer to set things up. Retail customers can scan the code at your outlet, redirecting users to your website. See how social media platforms are using QR codes.^[2] 

GPS

Similar to BLE, Geofencing with GPS also requires the user to enable location services on their phone and have a way to communicate with you – such as an app for their smartphone. You might have thought that whenever you cross a store, you get an app notification that says, “Flash sale 50% off” or Buy One Get One Free! Well, that’s because every time a mobile device enters or leaves a geographical boundary, known as a geofence. Bluetooth, GPS, geotargeting, and geofencing can target a specific customer location. 

These notifications are known as push notifications; they are clickable pop-up messages sent to a user’s device by a mobile app that appear on a lock screen or in the top section of a mobile device even when the app isn’t open.

These are designed to grab attention and show reminders, updates (match score), promotions (downloading a coupon or bout an event, such as a flash sale), etc. 

BLE Beacons 

As we talked about earlier, BLE, also known as Bluetooth low energy, functions similarly to wifi access points as its widely accessible technology. You can easily track and engage with customers by installing mobile applications and setting BLE beacons around the premises. 

BLE provides the highest accuracy through proximity detection and doesn’t drain your device battery as it consumes less power. 

FAQs

How do you make the best use of proximity marketing?

Well, anyone running a business through an outlet can either encourage users to make a purchase through sales or discount coupons. If there are people who have already visited your store and still didn’t make a purchase then you can go for retargeting ads. 

What are some examples of BLE devices? 

Following are some BLE devices that consume low energy and have built-in apps triggered with Bluetooth.

• Devices using Proximity sensors 
• Fitness devices  like a fitness tracker
• Echo devices like Alexa 

 

What is the range of a BLE device?

BLE devices can communicate up to 300 feet away or 100 meters away.

Final Thoughts 

In the end, we can say with all the information mentioned above. You can choose the technology that best works for you and use it in various ways, depending on your business infrastructure & your target audience. You can boost your sales and number of store footfalls by using different BLE devices and proximity methods.

Also Read: 

• How IoT in the supply chain can help manufacturers?
• Your Complete Guide On IoT & Smart Cities
• 6 Prominent Benefits of IoT For Consumers

References:

[1] Micro-Moments Now: Why ‘near me’ intent is a ‘near you’ opportunity – ThinkWithGoogle

[2] How to scan a WhatsApp QR code – WhatsApp