Technology keeps making it better and easier for both customers and businesses, with Bluetooth beacons as one of the coolest innovations in the past couple of years. Location-based marketing is really big and promises to provide a more effective way for businesses like you to reach out and connect with your customers. While it used to be more common for bigger enterprises, smaller businesses are now catching up to this trend.

How do Bluetooth Beacons work?

Basically, businesses install a small, Bluetooth-connected device to the wall or place it on a countertop inside the store. These can detect and connect to visitors’ smartphones and then send relevant information like special deals and discounts, as well as personalized shopping recommendations. For you as a business owner, you can engage your customers where their attention is typically focused. Instead of them cross shopping your prices with their phones you can now influence them via your own marketing messages. For the consumer, it makes it easier to find out what is on sale and what they might find interesting.

• It Is For Your Customer’s Convenience

Many customers do not have the time to go through every shelf looking for good deals. Beyond the time issue, it is also not as easy and comfortable browsing from top to bottom as simply looking on the smartphone. Since most of them are anyways looking on their phones, you can simply use this technology to send information on great deals and special offers directly to their phones. You may also make it easy to access coupons or loyalty cards on an app or browser so that they will not have to bring more than just their phone and wallet. Because of the less effort required, you can expect happier customers being able to finish their purchases more quickly.

• You Can Influence Their Purchase

More than ever, the use of Bluetooth beacon technology like Google Beacon can allow brands to sway customers to buy their products instead. For example, someone looking for shampoo with brand X may decide to buy a different brand (brand Y) upon realizing that brand Y is on sale.

You can also enjoy higher sales through impulse buying when customers discover your items on discount. Even if they did not plan on buying these items, finding them at cheaper prices might encourage them to simply put it in their carts.

Another amazing feature is you can now turn analog visitors into digital visitors. While in the past this was not really considered, today you have most of your best marketing on your website. Bluetooth Beacons can be set to simply kick a visitor in your physical store over to your website or a special landing page. Now you can take foot traffic and turn it into opt-ins and digital fans. T

The opportunities are really endless with videos and other rich media that can all be triggered via this afordable connection.

• You Enjoy A Customizable and Cheap Marketing Option

Investing in Bluetooth beacon marketing is not expensive, with your setup being complete at $20-40 per device. You will also need good management software that will send messages on discounts and details. We also connect Bluetooth Beacon Marketing to our WIFI marketing platforms so digital loyalty cards and offers are coordinated as they hit vistor's devices. For a technology that can significantly increase your sales, this is a tiny cost. One of the greatest ways to leverage these signals is by reaching out onto the street or agacent areas to your business where there is good traffic. By doing this you can engage shoppers who otherwise would be walking right by. Moreover, you might be able to learn more about spending habits of consumers to be able to target your ads even more.

• Bluetooth Beacons Work 24/7 all the time and don't take breaks or have attitude problems

Beacons can deliver a marketing message or offer consistently all the time every time. You can split test your offers -- collect data and learn what your customers respond to. You don't have to worry about them changing the script/pitch or ignoring customers. They hit every eligible device in the programmed area with the offers you program. This makes them probably one of the most reliable hyper-local digital marketing tool to come along since the easel-board.

Google Business page users recently got a notice that Google will send a free beacon out to help give Google mobile users a more accurate navigation point and to support reviews and other listed interests related to a business listing. If you get a notice like this from Google we suggest you select yes and get a free Beacon from then to start. Then you can look into beacons you control.

Bluetooth beacon marketing is truly an exciting way to market specific products and deals to your customers. The potential gains will make it truly an easy decision to adopt it. Your customers will also be grateful and happy about the ease it brings them too.

To learn more about how to set up location-based marketing using WIFI, beacons and digital loyalty -- contact us and learn what can be done for your local business.