Marketers have been searching for ways to segregate the audience based on location for ages. For instance, if you run a location-specific business like a real estate agency or a dental clinic, you wouldn’t want to drop flyers halfway around the country. Hence, geography plays a crucial role in how you target customers and influence their purchase decisions.
You must have heard of location-based advertising if you have read enough marketing journals. If you aren’t sure what it means and how it works, we can help you understand the basics and show you how to form a location-specific SMS marketing strategy. But, if you can’t find the time to implement it yourself, contact Textback for professional assistance.
Table of Contents
What is Location-Based SMS Advertising?
At its core, location-based advertising promotes your business through text messages to a local clientele. For instance, let’s say you have physical stores in New York, Tampa Bay, and Austin and want to promote your business to walk-in customers. There are three ways of doing it;
- Send the same text message to all your customers and risk frustration and higher unsubscribe rates.
- Send the same SMS to customers in all three locations, limiting your outreach potential.
- Run location-specific SMS campaigns to help customers find their nearest store.
As evident, the third option is the most flexible and best-suited for your customers. And this is how location-based SMS advertising works.
How Does Location-Based Marketing Work?
As the name suggests, location-based marketing combines the benefits of running SMS ad campaigns with location tracking for a double-dose of relevant content. For instance, say you walk by a coffee shop and instantly receive an ad on your mobile with the unique daily menu. That’s the perfect example of a location-based SMS campaign at play.
Location-based SMS campaigns need to be direct. It can be used to target customers on a much larger geographic scale. For instance, you might want to target customers in New York with a specific campaign, the ones in Tampa Bay with a second advert, and those in Austin with a third promotion.
How to Set Up a Location-Based SMS Advertising Campaign?
While location-based SMS marketing sounds like science-fiction to the uninitiated, chances are you have used it several times. Have you ever ordered stuff online? If so, you allowed the company to know your location.
This allows businesses to find their nearest store to prepare the order. Retail chains like Starbucks, Amazon, and Domino’s Pizza use location-based marketing to streamline delivery and self-pickups.
There are several ways to set up location-based SMS campaigns. Before starting, let’s walk you through the three most popular strategies.
Request Customer Location Information
Web forms are a vital tool for gathering customer credentials. This helps you send text messages to subscribers based on zip codes for greater accuracy. If you are running offline ad campaigns, include QR codes for collecting client information, including state, city, and zip codes for your SMS campaigns.
Leverage Location-Based Keywords
Keywords play a crucial role in your marketing strategy, allowing customers to receive location-specific content. In this case, you can ask potential customers from New York to text NY to sign up for your subscription list. Similarly, your Tampa Bay and Austin clients can text TB and ATX for clarity.
Use Specific Area Codes
Using phone-specific area codes is a great way to segregate your audience based on their location. This works perfectly while operating in a vast region like an entire state. You can easily segregate customers based on geolocation, as interstate movements are uncommon. This is an excellent strategy for startups with a resource crunch. You can use more sophisticated targeting methods as your business expands and revenue starts flowing in.
The Benefits of Location-Based SMS Marketing
These are the top perks of location-based text marketing.
Higher Open Rates
SMS marketing has a significantly higher success rate compared to email marketing.
Ad Relevance
Targeted ads add value for clients by only showing relevant campaigns.
Customer Engagement
Targeted ads boost customer engagement by sending information they relate to.
Boost Outreach
Location-specific SMS campaigns are targeted toward mobile users in a region. Hence, they benefit from all the perks of SMS marketing, like high open rates, while being relevant to the local population.
Higher Conversions
Better customer engagement combined with greater outreach results in higher conversions.
Why Should You Use Location-Based SMS Marketing?
The popularity of location-based text message marketing is on the rise, with 90% of marketers posting improved sales figures. An additional 86% of marketers believe location-based campaigns boost customer growth.
The truth is that customers today prefer customised content over generic promotions for a personalised experience. By leveraging the potential of location-based SMS campaigns, you can create bespoke experiences based on a client’s demands and interests. And that’s what counts at the end of the day!
Final Thoughts
Your customers will happily agree to share their location data if your offering adds value to their lives. With the help of location-based SMS campaigns, you can give your customers exactly what they need without invading their privacy.
