Tag Archives: hyperlocal

Hyperlocal Marketing Technology and How It Can Help You

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There has been a lot of talk recently in the marketing world about a new concept: hyperlocal marketing technology. Hyperlocal marketing uses the GPS feature and a mobile app on your smartphone to send targeted messages from a nearby franchise. The marketing is hyperlocal because the messages are for a small, specific area. This specific area can be specified through setting virtual perimeters around a specific location, an action referred to as “geofenching”.

Geofencing technology allows businesses to track when customers enter a defined area nearby their location through the GPS software on a person’s smartphone.

This technology means big things for a franchise.

Say you’re a Papa Murphy’s franchise in the Charleston,SC area. You can set up specific perimeters around your location so that when someone enters your virtual “fence”, you can send that discounted pizza coupon directly to them via their mobile phone. As they are within say one mile of your business, they will receive an alert on their phone with the pizza coupon and, hopefully, stop in at your shop. The key here is that these are also customers who have opted-in to receive offers; therefore, you are reaching a market of people who are already interested in special deals and offers.

The rapid growth of smartphone technology has delivered an entirely new platform to marketers. Businesses are now reaching customers in ways never thought possible in the past. How can this be translated to your business?

What are your opinions on hyperlocal marketing? Do you think that this could lead to an overflow of information to customers, causing them to become disenchanted, or is it an effective marketing tool that has an ever-growing presence in our future?

Technology and Franchising: The Future in Google Glass

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Franchising World, the International Franchise Association’s official magazine, published a really interesting article this month about Google Glass and the role it will play in franchising in the future.

As many know, Glass is the latest in technology innovation: a sleek (albeit slightly dorky looking) pair of glasses that acts like a smart phone. You can take phone calls, read and send emails or text messages, search the internet, translate simple phrases, receive turn-by-turn directions, take pictures, record videos, post updates to social media sites, automatically track your flight status or other events, and even make video calls. When you place the device on your head, a small display hovers just in front of your right eye (not in front of it, so you can still see normally.) There is a small touchpad on the side of the glasses’ frame that allows you to navigate its computing platform.

If all of that isn’t enough, technology analysts are now looking at the way that this device could eventually change hyperlocal marketing as we know it. What are some of the ways that they might change the franchising industry? Here are some of the speculations Ken Colburn has:

1. Training. The device could reduce the cost of creating video training libraries. With the ability to record high-definition videos from the first person perspective, training videos no longer need to be filmed by an expensive videographer. First-person training videos could capture point-of-sale interactions. Just by having seasoned employees wear Glass for a couple of hours, you could have a bunch of great, real footage for new employees. Trainees could also wear the glasses during their first few shifts, with the manual or reminders available literally right in front of their eyes.

 

2. Field Support. Glass makes it easy to gather information, complete with time and date stamps. Field support teams could quite easily document their visits with photographs, videos and verbal notes that can be backed up to Google’s cloud resources. The possibilities are almost endless.

 

3. Marketing.  Here’s where the money is at. Apps on Glass can alert users on local points of interest based on their location. For example, an app called Field Trip currently makes a sound every time you walk past a historical site. This technology could help franchises bring advertisements and coupons closer than ever.

 

While Glass is nowhere near its prime yet, as the technology evolves, I can expect we will see big things. The device’s technology offers a whole new platform for franchises to utilize. What do you think is in its future?

Leave thoughts below!