Why are so many businesses switching to LBS messaging?
In this article: ► The benefits of LBS messaging ► Six advantages of LBS messaging ► Two categories of LBS message
LBS messaging has a long list of advantages and considerable marketing potential.
Have you ever been walking through a shopping centre when a special offer arrives by text from a shop inside it, and gone in and spent money as a result? That is what makes LBS (Location Based Service) messaging so effective.
As soon as a mobile user enters the configured area during the configured window, the prepared LBS message arrives on their phone. Put simply, a merchant can find the right consumer in the right place at the right time, and watch revenue climb.
What is LBS messaging?
LBS stands for Location Based Service — also called mobile positioning or handset location service. It obtains a user’s handset location (latitude and longitude coordinates, for instance) through the telco’s wireless network or an external positioning method such as GPS.
As soon as a mobile user enters the configured area during the configured window, the prepared LBS message reaches their phone. In other words, a smart merchant has already laid the net, catching the target audience at exactly the right time and place so they receive and read the promotion immediately — the best possible promotional effect.
The merchant simply configures the message content, the region and the time window three to four weeks in advance; the telco then schedules the send. It strengthens a business’s development potential and lifts profit another notch.
The advantages of LBS messaging
Convenience City dwellers are never without their phones and love checking notifications wherever they are. When a consumer receives an LBS message and realises the offer is this close, they are far more willing to go and spend.
Immediacy When target customers are near the shop, the merchant can send news of a major promotion right then, sharpening the intent to buy.
Cost effectiveness Compared with other expensive marketing methods, LBS messaging is economical and its effect is more direct and more visible. It allows businesses to plan advertising strategy and resources more effectively and reach a wider target audience.
The right advertising location Rather than advertising aimlessly across channels, a business should use LBS messaging to reach its target audience within exactly the right geographic area and time window.
Higher customer loyalty LBS messages can carry a dedicated promo code, prompting nearby existing customers to visit the shop and earn an extra reward. Over time, existing customers get used to this pattern and loyalty to the brand rises.
Attracting new customers LBS messaging can put an irresistible special offer in front of potential new customers, sparking enough curiosity to bring them in for a look — which gives the merchant a much better chance to explain the product or service and develop new business.
Two categories of LBS message
Advertising messages
Merchants can place resources in any of Hong Kong’s 18 districts and send LBS messages to target customers at the right moment.
Cross-border messages
Merchants can choose to send an LBS message the moment a traveller crosses into Hong Kong. This is particularly suited to merchants near the border, so visitors feel Hong Kong hospitality the moment they arrive and can start spending straight away.