User retention and engagement can mean either success or failure for your mobile app. When it comes to your proximity messaging program, it will not be sustained if your program does not generate loyal, trusting customers who are compelled by your messages to take action. Effective proximity messaging ensures that marketing messages resonate with target consumers and motivate them to take further steps. Today we want to share some tips on improving your proximity messaging program in your mobile apps.
Be precise, clear and engaging
Apple iOS for iPhones and iPads has imposed limits on messages. You will have around 107 characters before you exceed the maximum amount of characters and the message gets truncated with ellipses. For this reason, your message has to be precise, clear and engaging.
Be aware of the time of day
Use proximity to target shoppers with mobile messaging at specific times. If a consumer is already near your place of business during business hours, they are much more likely to come to your shop when you message them.
For example, telling a customer to come in your store within the next 45 minutes and receive a 25% discount can prompt an immediate response if they are already nearby. Remember to utilize this during specific times. Messages sent during rush hour while customers are on their commute and happen to be driving by your location may not be seen by users as useful information for some businesses. You can develop an understanding of when the best times to send out messages to your customers or if you pay attention.
Mention specific categories or brands
Using specific categories and brands for notifications increase user interaction as well as open rates. Specific products such as sports shoes or brand notifications such as Adidas also assists stores to precisely target shoppers based on individual customer segments.
Being aware of consumer product and brand preference allows stores to send targeted messages that will match the consumer behavior and get their attention.
When you indicate a specific brand or category that the customer is in the market for, the shopper is motivated or compelled to take action. It is important to bear in mind that general messaging such as mentioning sports shoes to every customer can have a negative impact on open rates. That is why it is advisable to target your offers to specific potential customers. If not, some users may feel as if you are taking advantage of the special permission they have granted you.
The more specific a marketing message is to a consumer, the more effective it will be.
Take advantage of third-party endorsements
Though there are many marketing strategies that every digital marketer is looking to gain traction within the consumer market, the most effective strategy is developing relationships with third party influencers. These third party influencers could be bloggers, designers, experts, news agencies, etc. depending on the industry in which you compete. For example, when an unbiased expert or reviewer speaks positively about your brand or product, credibility is attained which is nearly impossible to achieve in any other way. Expert opinions are very important to buyers when making decisions about whether to purchase your product/service or not.
In addition, third-party influencers have large social media following as well. This means that when you develop a strong relationship with them, you can potentially gain access to the customers who follow advice and insights on their Facebook page, Twitter account or blog.
Including their endorsements in your notifications can bring your brand or business a whole new level of credibility and exposure it just cannot get on its own.
Run tests as often as you can
It is important to keep in mind a mobile phone is a personal item that is with its owner frequently. Mobile users who have given your brand permission to send them relevant messages have entrusted you with responsibility. Since they have trusted you, abusing that trust is a sure way to lose the ability to send future notifications to that user. It is therefore recommended to run tests as frequently as possible to ensure that users are responding and engaging with your brand as expected. Provide ways for users to opt-out if they are not willing to receive similar future messages. Encourage user feedback as well. This way, you will be able to maximize the effectiveness of your mobile proximity marketing campaign.
Include compelling offers
We cannot stress enough how important it is to make your offers exclusive and unique. Sadly, most offers are bland. They do not include compelling reasons for customers to take action. So if you are not using them to your advantage, they are not going to do much good to generate more leads. A relevant, compelling offer, delivered to the user at the right time can increase click-through rates as well as store visit rates.
Leverage hyper-local marketing
Businesses of all sizes can benefit from hyper-local advertising as it offers low cost per target. It also allows time-sensitive promotions. Basically, hyper-local marketing refers to niche marketing. It can be a marketing campaign aimed at a particular geographical location or a specific audience for the purpose of delivering relevant marketing messages. In other words, hyper-local marketing offers marketers a cost-effective way to engage their target consumers in a way that matches ads to the context of their geographical location. The new hyper-local marketing trend offers agencies an incomparable opportunity.
Final Thoughts
Proximity advertising is all about marketing to customers at the right place, at the right time, with highly relevant and tailored messages. Over the past few years, we’ve seen several brands try to increase their ROI using proximity marketing technologies.
Proximity messaging programs have tremendous revenue-generating potential, allowing businesses to deepen their connection with customers, encourage customer loyalty and improve the customer experience. Proximity marketing is changing the rules of advertising, delivering value to merchants and consumers alike. It has already been proven to improve sales, retention, and customer experience. There is no doubt proximity marketing is poised to profoundly revolutionize the mobile marketing world.