Tweak Your Biz » Marketing » Place And Time Promotions In 2011

Place And Time Promotions In 2011

by Anne Perez on April 7th, 2011
18 Comments



From Sandwich Boards and street corner fliers, place and time promotions have always been important to retailers. They are still an effective type of advertising to generate interest in your offering within a local area.

A newer form of place and time promotion has emerged in recent times however, due to the increasing popularity of smart phones. One of three things people rarely leave at home these days (the others being a wallet and keys) a mobile phone is an ideal way to communicate with local people to let them know of special promotions you have available that day.

 

Have you opted in to receive SMS messages and coupons from selected retailers? It’s possible these days to receive a coupon for coffee at Starbucks when you are carrying your mobile phone within a certain distance of a Starbucks branch.  Similarly L’Oreal has a discount coupon for its products which appears within a certain reach of Superdrug stores. The beauty of such advertising is that it targets consumers who are already interested in the product you offer since they have to opt in to receive them. In addition the consumers are already close to the advertised location so might well be tempted to come in and use the coupon.

How successful are these SMS campaigns?

According to research from a programme called ShopAlerts “55-79 percent of consumers find location-based alerts from retailers appealing, and 11-34 percent report making a purchase, depending on the brand and the offer”, a good Return on Investment for local businesses.  Rip Gerber, President of Loc-Aid Technologies Inc.  San Francisco points out that  “Adding location or geo-targeting to a marketing campaign dramatically increases the results, the click-through and the action, because that campaign becomes locally relevant for that individual.”

When marketing your business the key to success is to be in the right place, in the right time with the right message. Mobile phones may well offer this. The huge numbers of people iPhones and Androids now has enabled the development of location-based versions of place and time promotions. The Sandwich board may be a thing of the past but what it represented is still around. Just with a modern twist. What’s your view?



Category: customer, Marketing Strategy, social media, The Fours Ps

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The Author:

Anne is passionate about helping businesses succeed in marketing their business in today's world. As traditional ways to promote businesses are becoming less effective Anne and her team at Bison Mobile Web Consulting focus on providing clients with modern marketing methods that are proven to work Currently Anne lives in beautiful South Somerset with her husband, 3 children and 2 dogs. Let her show you how you can get more clients for your business and increase your income so you can spend more time enjoying life and less time working and stressing in your business. http://www.bisonmobilewebconsulting.com

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  • http://twitter.com/fredchannel Fred

    Welcome to Bloggertone Anne.nThose that use social media correctly and new ways of marketing will realise that the entire world became local, even for the big brands.nI’m shocked at the amount of retail businesses that haven’t embraced mobile marketing yet. You don’t have to be a techie. In fact, the first and obvious step is to own a smart phone and with location-based marketing in mind, test different apps, see how they work, see how people interact, behave, react. Then simple open an account with them and throw in your business and offer.nHere’re the latest figures on how important is mobile marketing and how fast is changing our lives http://boagworld.com/business-strategy/why-mobile-matters/

  • Anne

    Thanks for the comment Fred. I love the graphic representation of the importance of mobile marketing at boagworld. Thanks for sharing.

  • http://www.tweakyourbiz.com Niall Devitt

    Welcome to Bloggertone, Anne! It’s great to have you join us. The levels of successful ROI you mention are excellent, I would say that 11-34% is a great return considering. I think the key point must be, as Rip says is that the campaign becomes locally relevant for that consumer. What I like is that, traditional businesses can easily afford to implement campaigns that will give them a competitive edge within the area. Thanks for sharing, Niall

  • http://www.tweakyourbiz.com Niall Devitt

    Welcome to Bloggertone, Anne! It’s great to have you join us. The levels of successful ROI you mention are excellent, I would say that 11-34% is a great return considering. I think the key point must be, as Rip says is that the campaign becomes locally relevant for that consumer. What I like is that, traditional businesses can easily afford to implement campaigns that will give them a competitive edge within the area. Thanks for sharing, Niall

  • http://twitter.com/annedepuryperez Anne Perez

    Thanks for your comments Niall. It’s great to connect with you.

  • Facundo

    Welcome to Bloggertone Anne. Some interesting facts in your article. I wonder also about the opportunity for partnerships, where for instance pubs could provide selected offers to patrons from surrounding restaurants, etc. Hopefully this won’t become spammy, but with proper opt-in, both partners and consumer could benefit. I’m also a fan of Boagworld, come great thoughts there, worth subscribing :)

  • http://www.cgonlinemarketing.com/ Christina Giliberti

    Mobile marketing is not the future; its the now! Its a fab medium to for advertising, and a powerful one. It’s moved from ‘right time and right place’…….then ‘right promotion, at the right time, in the right place’. Loving the geo-marketing ideas….

  • http://www.encouragingexcellence.ie/ Mairu00e9ad Kelly

    Welcome to Bloggertone Anne. nnLogically I’m behind it 100%, emotionally I’m the opposite as I think it’s far too intrusive and would be among many business owners who have still to get over that block, I don’t like Foursquare or Places either for the very same reason. nnHaving said that I won a marketing mobile text bundle which I had left on a slow burner up to yesterday, so am about to dip my toe in the waters….watch this space.

  • http://twitter.com/annedepuryperez Anne Perez

    You make a good point Facundo. Its so important to get a proper opt in. As a business with a good opt in you’re only communicating with people who are interested in what you have to offer so its a win win situation.

  • http://twitter.com/annedepuryperez Anne Perez

    Can’t wait to hear more about your adventure. It shouldn’t be too intrusive if good opt ins are required.

  • http://twitter.com/annedepuryperez Anne Perez

    Hi Christina. So true but a lot of business owners are still planning their radio and billboard campaigns. Did you see Adam Hartung’s forbes article recently “Throw that slide rule away! Use Facebook, iPhone, iPad, Groupon tools!” on March 4th?

  • http://www.cgonlinemarketing.com/ Christina Giliberti

    Then I can only assume that they cannot be measuring the drop off or going with the ‘do what you’ve always done’ approach. nnI do find that companies can be scared of new media and technologies. Such a pity, I see something I don’t know and love the challenge of learning it. If they could adopt that thinking, then this market could be a whole lot busier.nnI didn’t see that article. Would you send me the link if you can? Cheers ; 0 )

  • Roisin Bell

    I’d love to know how many businesses are using location based marketing here in Ireland, and what theiri experiences are. Does anyone have any success/failure stories to share? n

  • http://www.capitalsteelbuildings.com.au/ sheds

    I think it’s far too intrusive and would be amidst numerous enterprise proprietors who have still to get over that impede, I don’t like Foursquare or Places either for the very identical reason.

  • http://www.encouragingexcellence.ie/ Mairu00e9ad Kelly

    The intrusiveness is the complete lack of privacy. I am basically a very private person, so when I’m not working I don’t want the world to know where/what I’m doing, who I’m doing it with and how long etc, local marketing intrudes on all of that…..a lot!nnI know there are many out there who think that privacy is a thing of the past….it’s not and won’t be for at least another generation and I seriously believe we are becoming far too intrusive in everyday life as well as work life and that for many the boundaries are blurring.

  • Anonymous

    Niall,nnSmall businesses may not be thinking expansionu00a0but many are thinking growth.u00a0While writing thisu00a0 post,u00a0I thoughtu00a0about what a growth phase might mean to many business owners right now. nnReturning to basics andu00a0returning to pre-recession levels isu00a0the goal for many. This is a growth phase.u00a0Not a particularly sexy one but a growth phase nonetheless. Evaluating the type of customer that is wants what you offer, the relevance of the services/products one offers and what systems are still working becomes a crucial processu00a0for keeping the doors open.u00a0I’m notu00a0convinced that thinkingu00a0bigu00a0is key here.u00a0Keeping one’s head clear and not reacting to every bit of bad news is job #1 for the small business owner. Leading and managing during times of uncertainty means a business owner has to be willing to tell himself or herself the truth and set clear expectations for their employees. nnI think you may have inspired my next post. Thanks for the comment.

  • http://www.tweakyourbiz.com Niall Devitt

    u00a0you’re right! think big can mean think differently here :) you’re right! think big can mean think differently here :)

  • jeck nicolson

    I can not find that the companies may be afraid of new media and technology. I see something I do not know and love a challenge in learning. If they could think to do so in these markets would be much more popular.

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