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How to Use SMS Proximity Marketing

Dec 23, 2021

Reaching your target audience at the right place and time is a widely shared objective in digital marketing. Whether you want to increase brand recognition or drive sales, proximity-based marketing helps to enhance the customer experience. But what is SMS proximity marketing, and how can it benefit your business?

What is SMS Proximity Marketing?

SMS proximity marketing, sometimes known as proximity-based or location-based marketing, sends text messaging campaigns to a customer’s mobile device using wireless Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) signals. These messages are typically sent to customers through your brand’s app and vary based on their location.

When implemented, SMS proximity marketing creates highly personalized marketing messages in real-time, meeting your customers’ desires. For example, a retailer can install beacons throughout the store and configure them to send targeted messages with special offers based on individual customer preferences. Using proximity-based marketing strategies to reach your customers can create marketing campaigns that drive sales and nurture customer relationships.

How SMS Proximity Marketing Works

Location technologies use customer data and geotargeting to send personalized marketing messages when customers are within range of an active beacon. These beacons emit signals that transmit messages and other locational data to nearby devices.

To receive messages, a user must first enable Bluetooth on their mobile device, download your brand’s app and then consent to receive marketing messages from the app. Once active, a beacon scans for Bluetooth-enabled mobile devices within range while broadcasting its unique ID number at regular intervals. Your proximity-based mobile app should also record each activated beacon’s ID numbers, which are associated with their locations.

Once a consumer agrees to receive messages from your brand, the app will send notifications for personalized marketing messages that include anything from text and images to audio and even product videos. For example, a customer might receive a promotional message for products located near the beacon, like a “buy one get one” deal.

How to Use SMS Proximity Marketing

SMS proximity marketing offers enormous potential beyond just sending special offers to your customers. If you configure your marketing tools right, you can leverage them to collect customer data, giving you valuable insight into your customers’ needs, wants, and expectations of your brand. Collecting all this data also enables you to identify patterns in buying behavior to predict future shopping trends better.

Here are three ways to use proximity-based marketing in your business.

Notify Customers of Targeted Sales and Promotions

One of the most effective ways to implement SMS proximity marketing in your business is by sending targeted messages to notify customers of current promotions and upcoming sales.

Although you can use proximity-based marketing to send more generic messages to all customers when they enter your store, personalized messages will enhance the in-store shopping experience. For instance, you can send messages about discounts on products they have bought before with a customer's purchase history.

Send Helpful Updates

Thanks to the near-instant nature of SMS proximity marketing messages, you can quickly inform customers about any time-sensitive information, from hours of operation to low-stock items.

For retail locations that offer buy online pickup in-store (BOPIS) services, SMS proximity marketing can prompt customers when they arrive and tell them where to pick up their purchases. You can also use proximity-based marketing messages in the banking sector to remind customers when they qualify for an account upgrade, like a credit limit increase, when they visit their local bank branch.

Promote Loyalty Programs

SMS proximity marketing can help boost your loyalty program by sending targeted messages to your customers when they walk into your store.

By installing beacons at critical points on the store floor, such as entrances and checkout stations, you can remind customers about how many loyalty points they have accumulated, upcoming rewards and product recommendations to help them earn more points.

Benefits of Proximity-Based Marketing

Below are four benefits of proximity-based marketing.

Increased Revenue

In general, people prefer buying products from the location nearest to them, where proximity-based marketing comes into play. For example, a retailer can send coupons for popular products when they detect customers are in the vicinity. When customers receive these marketing messages, they are much more likely to make a purchase, particularly if the message is personalized to their previous purchase history.

Improved Customer Engagement and Retention

With SMS proximity marketing, you can connect with your customers on their smartphones while they’re shopping in your store. According to a study from IBM, 72 percent of consumers will act on a call to action from a marketing message if they receive it while in sight of the retailer. So ensure your proximity-based marketing messages are valuable and targeted to your customers, so they don’t unsubscribe or lose interest in your brand.

Increased Referrals

Although digital marketing offers enormous benefits for your business, nothing beats word of mouth. By collecting data about your customers, you can retarget them via proximity-based marketing to encourage them to continue supporting your business. Eventually, they might refer your brand to their friends and family, particularly if you offer them an incentive like a referral code that saves them money on future purchases.

Personalized Customer Experiences

SMS proximity marketing can be a powerful tool in creating a rich, personalized experience for individual customers. This type of advanced personalization brings the benefits of online services to the brick-and-mortar location, creating a new hybrid experience.

For example, suppose a customer is in front of a display of video games. In that case, an SMS proximity marketing platform can send them a coupon for 20 percent off on video games today only. By sending targeted messages like this to your customers, you can enhance the customer experience and quickly see the ROI of proximity-based marketing.

Partner With Textedly for All Your SMS Marketing Campaigns

SMS proximity marketing can open up a whole new world of possibilities for your business, from real-time updates to personalized special offers for your customers. If you’re wondering how to get started with proximity-based marketing for your brand, Textedly can help.

With our powerful SMS marketing software, you can start sending personalized marketing messages to your customers with just a few clicks. In addition, Textedly can be integrated with 1,000+ apps so you can connect your existing systems and leverage the power of customer data to create targeted proximity-based marketing campaigns almost immediately.

Sign up for a free trial with Textedly and start texting your customers today.

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