25 Nov Geomarketing and communication: how to improve performance and results
Have you ever heard of geomarketing? It’s a local approach to marketing that helps companies reach new customers organically and effectively. If you want to find out how the perfect combination of geomarketing and communication can help your business truly take off, our new article has plenty of helpful tips in store.
As every entrepreneur and business professional well knows, the world of marketing is constantly evolving.
Until a few decades ago, advertising campaigns were almost exclusively run through billboard ads or – for the luckier among us – through radio and television ads. The advent of the Internet led to a real revolution in the advertising industry: with over five billion people connected to the Internet, the possibilities of online campaigns are potentially infinite, and the right digital marketing strategy can reap truly outstanding results.
In this mare magnum of marketing techniques, today we want to delve into a specific approach that, despite being little known, actually holds enormous potential for companies and entrepreneurs: we are talking about so-called geomarketing, which as the name suggests is a geographical approach to marketing.
In this article, we will explore how companies can improve performance and results through geomarketing and, of course, how geomarketing and communication can become the perfect allies for your marketing strategy.
Shall we get started?
What is geomarketing?
When we talk about geomarketing, we are referring to a marketing strategy that uses data on the geographical location of users to design advertising campaigns and support business decisions.
Today, most Internet users tend – pretty much unconsciously – to leave behind a real trail of information as to their movements and geographical location: just think about the location check-in feature on Facebook or public stories on Instagram that indicate where we are, not to mention all the apps that, perhaps without even thinking about it, we have given permission to access our location, or even routes searched and taken on Google Maps.
All this information can be extrapolated and processed manually (for example, by looking at the number of social media posts in a given location) or this can be done in a more structured way by turning to companies that specialise in collecting this type of data.
All pretty simple so far, right? But how do you ensure your geomarketing and communication efforts are profitable, and how does this information benefit your business?
How geomarketing can enhance your communication strategy
Imagine you want to open a new store (or you want to finally add to your eCommerce offering with a physical store). Of course, the first key decision you will have to make will relate to the location of your new store.
Even at this early stage, geomarketing can be of great use to you: by analysing users’ locations, you will be able, for example, to gain information on the locations of services more or less similar to yours, on the areas most frequently searched by users (perhaps on Google Maps) when looking for the services you would like to offer, and on how much users like and visit your competitors’ stores.
By focusing on geomarketing and communication, you can use the data you obtain to better design your actual marketing campaign, before and after launch: where is the best place for a poster or billboard, to catch as many eyes as possible? Where is the best place to run direct marketing campaigns, such as handing out flyers or coupons?
In short, information about the location of your current and potential customers (as well as your competitors) allows you to fully understand where and how to advertise your business to literally reach as many people as possible.
Improving performance and results through geomarketing
Now that we have discussed the potential of geomarketing, we want to offer some tips for getting the most out of your users’ location data. In other words, we will explain how to leverage geomarketing and communication to improve your company’s performance and results.
1. Using data intelligently
Imagine you have a chain of stores with branches in various cities and over the years you have gained a solid base of loyal customers who have even downloaded your app to get access to discounts and information.
When a loyal customer of yours, from a small town and with your always-up-to-date app on their phone, takes a trip to a big city, by taking advantage of geomarketing you will be able to pinpoint their location and let them know that “Hey, did you know we have a store really close to where you are now? Why don’t you come in and browse?”
And the opportunities don’t end there: once that customer has entered your store, if they then walk into their favourite department, you can even let them know that in that very store, that product they just can’t live without is available at a superb discount!
In a nutshell, when we’re talking about geomarketing and communication, we are mainly referring to the ability to communicate with your customers at the right times.
2. Creating a local business
If, thanks to geomarketing data, you have found out that a lot of people often walk by your store, you can also use this information to your advantage, for example by creating an Instagram profile and adding your location to every post and story.
This way, a user is more likely to find your store among recommended places/posts, or simply by searching for your location on Instagram.
Once you have identified which places are most visited by your current and potential customers, you might then consider collaborating with local micro-influencers to further advertise your business to the right audience.
3. Communicating in a friendly, consistent and inclusive manner
We might be stating the obvious, but no one likes an unfriendly company: so, make sure that, in your communications with customers via social media posts, push notifications or emails, you always maintain a friendly and engaging tone. And away with formality: don’t inform your dearest clientele that the nearby store will be staying open; instead, write “Hey, remember we’re open until 9 p.m. today!”.
Along the same lines, it is also important to ensure communicative consistency: if you post an informal communication on your store’s Instagram profile in city A, our tourist on holiday in city B is likely to get an unpleasant surprise when they read a push notification written in the third person with a haughty, aloof tone. The key word is consistency!
Of course, never forget inclusiveness as well: no one likes to feel excluded from communications.
4. Not forgetting the linguistic aspect
If, after some time, you have finally decided to open a new store in a big city, it is essential to pause to consider the linguistic aspect: are we sure your new customers will all speak and understand English, or perhaps tourists will also want to be able to understand what you offer?
In curating your social media presence by making the most of geomarketing and communication, you should never overlook the multilingual aspect – nothing drives a potential customer away (literally!) as much as failing to understand what the brand is trying to communicate.
Think, for example, of when you are abroad and you find yourself looking up a restaurant’s Instagram profile and giving up on making a reservation because you can’t even understand the opening hours, which are only written in the local language.
Taking advantage of the perfect partnership of geomarketing and communication therefore also means paying attention to the linguistic side of things.
If you are thinking of expanding your business and need support to build a genuine local presence in multiple languages, contact us: at Creative Words, we have countless years of experience working with businesses and stores across various industries to create inclusive, multilingual experiences for every user and customer.
