Messaging and push notifications are two of the most oft-used mobile marketing tools that have been known to yield excellent results. With billions of people around the world now opting to use smart mobile devices, mobile applications have now become a viable channel of communication for marketers. If you have a branded app and want to drive engagement and customer participation, messaging and push notifications can be incredibly effective when used in the right way.

The appeal of messaging and push notifications lie in the fact that they encourage users to take immediate action on the information provided by opening the concerned application and carrying out a set task. App-based notifications that are compelling and arouse interest have been extremely successful when it comes to driving engagement, and are being used to facilitate easier sales, acquire more customers and keep old customers interested in a particular brand or business.

How going local helps?

When it comes to using messaging the push notifications for marketing purposes, it is important to remember the local context. Most people use their mobile devices to gather information to help with their purchasing decisions. More often than not, these decisions involve purchases in the immediate vicinity or surroundings. Therefore, it is important as a business to focus on geo-targeting when it comes to the efficient use of messaging and push notifications to provide real utility for customers and providing enough value to encourage better adoption.

The benefits of geo targeting

The whole idea of marketing campaigns using messages and push notifications verges on a single concept- providing useful, actionable information that encourages users to make purchases. Most customer needs are local in nature (think daily needs items, plumber, electrician services etc.), and it makes sense to use geo-targeting to provide information that is really valuable and in context with the locality of specific users. Geo-targeting helps you meet your needs when it comes to the geographical boundaries of your target market. Here are some compelling advantages –

• Geo-fencing – With geo-targeting come the advantages of geo-fencing, which allows marketers to establish a virtual fence around a particular, defined geographical area for targeted marketing efforts. You can device the radius and coverage of the area, and use messages and push notifications to send important information to users who are inside the area.This way, you can leverage the local preferences of users to establish your business as a viable local milestone. The trick is to stress on the advantages of proximity between the value offer in your message and the user. This process is significantly useful for making the most of seasonal sales, answering surges in demand and trends for various products and services, and providing highly targeted value offers.

• Proximity-based Offerings – For particular business locations, messages and push notifications can be used to inform customers about the special offers and new products and services that you currently have on offer whenever they walk by your physical selling location. This way, you do not only provide value, but also convenience which becomes a convincing selling point, enticing customers to make a purchase and provide you with more business.

Have you used geo-targeting to take your business marketing endeavors to the next level? Write in to us and let us know your thoughts.