Geo-Fence Push Messages – Adding value to customer interactions

By now, we are all familiar with push messages and how they can be an invaluable tool in helping businesses connect with their customers. Whether it is a special offer, event or reminder, push messages can really help place small/medium sized businesses at the forefront of their customers’ thoughts. Recent studies have found that push increases app user retention rates by an average 100% and that the use of push leads to an average of 26% more monthly opens.

With that being the case, we are proud to unveil an upgrade to the push messages function, namely “geofencing”. Geofencing allows businesses to create a virtual fence around a predetermined area, thus allowing push messages to be sent when the user enters the area.

This opens many possibilities for all businesses although some examples to get your mind flowing includes:

• Restaurants – push messages to customers when they walk past the restaurant at lunch time promoting a special offer.
• DJ/Bands – send messages to customers when they walk past a venue that the DJ/Band will be performing at.
• Estate Agent – push messages to customers when they are near a property for sale.
• Wedding Planner – alert customers to useful tips when they visit various wedding related venues.

The business can set the radius of the geofence to any size they wish; offering flexibility, but the key is to make the geofence size relevant to the business and the message being conveyed. If a business has a high level of competition, it is best to focus the geofence in close proximity to the business. On the other hand, if the business has little competition a wider geofence may be helpful in drawing customers to the business from further afield.

One the best things about this is that businesses are not limited to their own locations. For example, a restaurant could send out a push message when to a customer when they walk into a competitor’s restaurant! A wedding planner could send a push message to fans when they walk into bridal shops! The possibilities are limitless!

When it come to geo fencing, the smaller the radius the better. It obvious that businesses can set whatever perimeter they want this could be city wide if they choose to. However there with geo fencing, they should always be a link between the message and proximity to get the best out of this! So advise your customers to focus on their own backyard.

One cautionary note, geofencing should not be used to spam customers with messages as that will lead to people opting out of messages or deleting the app. The customer should always be placed first and a business should think about the value that their communication is adding to the customer. Geofencing should be regarded as a natural way to connect with customers and add real value by improving their experiences!

A business can really benefit by implementing geofencing as part of their mobile marketing strategy to drive customers back again and again. If a business embarks on geofencing, placing the customer ahead of the business is paramount to ensuring success. If done correctly, geofencing can be an additional tool in helping businesses connect with customers with great results!