Anyone in the midst of the house hunting process will be familiar with the phrase ‘location, location, location’ – said to be the three most important aspects when looking to buy.
However, the role of location and the impact this can have on a decision to purchase isn’t just a consideration in the property sector.
A consumer’s location can have a huge impact on their behaviour and propensity to buy. For marketers on the eternal quest to provide the email marketing campaign that’s personalised, going to resonate and stand out above the rest, geolocation should be a critical consideration.
Real-time location-based marketing tactics can bring the added sparkle to email campaigns and websites. Making use of dynamic content that changes depending on the location at the moment of engagement can transform the impact. From providing useful information, to recommendations that inspire, it delivers a more relevant and customised experience that will catch the attention of a busy consumer and help drive conversion.
Yet, despite how powerful location can be, many brands are failing to make the most of this tactic. With that in mind, we’ve provided a round-up of the key considerations to drive a successful location-based email marketing campaign.
Keep finding ways to enhance the experience
Brands can earn consumer loyalty by continually providing a seamless and convenient experience, something that location-based tactics can really tap into effectively. Consumers want an easy path to purchase and expect the brands they favour to provide this.
Sharing details of opening hours and the nearest store to a customer’s geographical location at the point of opening the email might not be the most exciting tactic. But it is helpful and effective at driving footfall in the physical store to see products in real life, try them on or out and have questions answered by sales staff.
Travelodge uses geolocation within emails to provide a more seamless experience for customers coming to stay at their hotels. Customers with upcoming bookings receive an email containing useful information specific to the hotel they will be visiting, including check in and check out times and parking information.
The brand encourages visitors to feel excited about their upcoming trip by including the links to menus and amenities. Incorporating Google Maps within the email also helps the consumer get directions to the hotel from their starting point.
The weather has a huge impact on purchasing inspiration, so using the local weather forecast to personalise your marketing can also bring a significant boost to sales. For example, a sunny weekend in London is an opportunity for a fashion brand to share email content that taps into this and showcases the season’s best-selling summer dresses and the London-stores currently stocking them.
Layering user generated content via Instagram feeds on top of this can help boost the impact, for example showing images from real life customers wearing the dresses to provide styling ideas and give further confidence to buy.
Halfords is one retailer leveraging the weather well within email campaigns, helping its subscribers make the most of a heatwave. Not only does the retailer display the upcoming weather forecast for the subscriber’s location at the moment the email is opened, but it offers inspiration on things to do during the warmer weather – such as beach trips and camping – and product recommendations related to these activities.
Incorporating useful content like ‘five things you might forget when cleaning the car’ encourages consumers to click through to read more, creating additional opportunities for brand engagement.
From a practical perspective, international brands should also be mindful of a customer’s location in terms of the prices, language and currency they see when clicking through from a newsletter to the website. Ensuring the currency matches the location of the customer will create a more seamless experience and make them less likely to abandon the purchase.
Don’t give a reason to walk away
Using the customer’s location data when sending a browse abandonment message can often provide the final push shoppers need to buy. A shoe retailer, for example, could use live inventory to make a customer aware how many pairs of red high heels that they were previously browsing are in stock in their size at their nearest store. This is certainly a relevant message that is likely to bring them into the shop to try on the shoes and complete the purchase.
The key to this effectiveness, however, is this combination of real-time information and contextual data at the moment of engagement, to determine dynamic content and ensure emails are always up to date. Failing to do so could result in the consumer going into store to find that the shoes aren’t in stock. Not only is this going to leave them disappointed, but it could result in the sale going to a competitor.
Remain mindful of privacy
Technology is transforming the location-based marketing capabilities for brands, but with this sophistication comes more consumer data privacy considerations. The buzz around GDPR may have died down slightly one year on, but it remains the marketer’s responsibility to ensure data is being collected and used responsibly and in line with the current data protection practices.
Giving consumers full control over their data and being transparent about how it’s used ultimately means they will be more likely to remain open to sharing their location with a brand. Apple recently announced that iOS 13 will include several new privacy features, including a more detailed view of how apps have been using the user’s location in the background and enabling consumers to grant apps access to their location just once. In the age of growing privacy concerns, this is a great example of how you can help consumers make informed decisions.
Tapping into these tactics can have a significant impact on conversions and long-term customer loyalty. Whilst location may be better known in the property sector, it’s becoming increasingly important for marketers to consider and use within their emails if they want to drive better personalisation and ROI.