Hyperlocal by definition means that a product or service offers unique value, and is relevant, to the consumer. The mobile platform ensures that information reaches consumers 24/7, right in their pocket or pocketbook, often in the way they most want to be reached. Together, they’re a marketing strategy that guarantees that a company’s message will rise above the noise and get results.
In the past week I’ve heard three instances of combining hyperlocality and the mobile platform to target customers with laser precision, and to build a deeper relationship between a brand and its consumers. It’s not just about using new technologies–it’s about using them smartly, to get the most ROI in terms of loyalty as well as measurable revenue. Read about them after the jump.
Rollercoaster lovers, make sure you’ve a secure pocket for your phone. Cedar Fair, the company that owns thrill ride meccas like Cedar Point, King’s Island, and Dorney Park, is hoping to upsell visitors to its parks this summer with mobile campaigns powered by HipCricket. Using cross-platform ads on Facebook, radio, and in-park signs, and in email newsletters, Cedar Fair will entice attendees to sign up for special promotions, valid within the parks and also for return visits. ( I guarantee that a food coupon would help me decide which eatery to visit after riding the Top Thrill Dragster, with its 90-degree face-first drop, 420-foot height, and 100mph speed, since my adrenaline would be pumping too hard for me to think straight.) “We’re always looking for new ways to further connect with visitors while they’re in our parks and also in between visits,” Lee Alexakos, vice president and corporate division head of marketing and advertising at Cedar Fair Entertainment Company, said in a release.
TLC blurs real life and reality shows. Thanks to Justin, MMW’s readers know all about Foursquare, the combination location-based service/social network. The cable channel TLC is now using Foursquare to get people engaged with its docu-drama shows set in various locales. No, you won’t be able to find out where TLC-disowned Jon Gosselin will be partying. But you can earn badges by visiting the bakeries and restaurants where certain shows are filmed. You can also promote your favorite local business that is in the same industry as those featured in shows–for example, your go-to neighborhood cupcake place. “Our goal is to continue to offer value beyond TLC Summer and to keep them interested and engaged with our brand,” Rose Stark, director of marketing strategy at cable channel TLC, told 1to1media. Simon Salt, CEO of Incslingers and author of the upcoming book Social Location Marketing, said in the same news story, “What this can provide marketers, especially for those with multiple sites in different geographic locations, is an overview of what works well in different markets and where their traffic is. This enables big brands to act as though they were a very local store.”
Mobilized website targeting hip, well-to-do local shoppers. New York Magazine recently named the Park Slope area in Brooklyn as the top neighborhood to live in NYC. It’s full of young, creative, yet professional people with disposable income and the desire to purchase unique item,s or to hang out at a great restaurant or bar that’s a short walk from home. The same people often rely on their cell phones to find businesses while they’re on-the-go, but a local business organization admits in a press release that “our site was almost illegible on iPhones.” Mobile Meteor, a company that helps small businesses optimize their websites for mobile phones, fixed the Park Slope Fifth Avenue Business Improvement District’s online presence–making it not just readable on all smartphones, but also more interactive with social media integration. Sure, mobile website optimization is hardly a new concern. But smaller, more localized businesses are now realizing that what works for national companies also works for them. And since most smartphones have GPS, more localized searches mean that the organization’s site needs to be ready for its close-up.
