Proximity Beacons Are the Most Effective Devices for Proximity Marketing and Other Purposes

Technology is bringing more and more convenience in the lives of people with time. Today, we talk about convenience and ease before anything else when buying a new thing. Back in 2013, we saw a massive development in the technology stack after Apple introduced their iBeacon technology.

The iBeacon technology made location tracking so convenient through mobile devices with great ease. Today, proximity beacon technology is helping event planners and other businesses in proximity marketing. This technology has brought a significant change in the industry and the technology is still on the rise.

In our today’s post, we will talk about how this technology is helping different industries, especially the event industry. If you want to take advantage of this technology in your business, you should learn from this article.

Proximity Beacon and ‘Proximity Marketing’

The proximity beacon technology was first used by retailers that just changed the proximity marketing concept. The beacon technology allows event organizers to deliver messages in a timely manner to devices according to different locations.

It helps in creating relevant and unique experiences for users so that they can take appropriate actions. For instance, Best Buy utilizes beacons for offering rewards through a mobile application to their customers when they step into the store.

Nordstrom combines in-store experience with online shopping by messaging its customers about the available products. All this happens by using the beacon technology at the store’s front door.

Many companies are using beacons to run individual discount campaigns using ‘reveal codes’. Apart from triggering customers’ buying behavior, the company can also monitor the efficiency of its beacons. Possibilities are unlimited when it comes to the role of beacons in proximity marketing.

Location-Based Promotions

Location-based promotions are critical in driving potential customers to the event. The meetings and events industry can take advantage of the findings of the proximity marketing of the retail industry.

They can do this by simply using the beacon location technology in their attendee experience. There are endless possibilities as the beacon technology assists in completing the space between the location of an attendee and the event app. Take a look at the following facts.

■  Registration will be automated, eliminating annoying line-ups.

■  An attendee can be a part of the session by just entering the concerned room.

■  It is possible to measure the crowd traffic for determining the worth of particular booth locations.

Location-based promotions also hold more exciting potential when we talk about proximity marketing. With proximity beacon, you can offer information or promotions through selective push messages when an attendee is around a specific exhibition or booth. You can send a brochure during the product/service demonstration or a list of items for the attendee who is entering an auction room.

You can enhance the ability to connect attendees with promotions by combining relevancy and proximity. It is a difference between stepping into a store and window shopping. Beacons utilize location technology for getting benefits from the time duration according to the focus of an attendee.

Unique Attendee Experiences

Beacon technology-based proximity marketing allows us to ensure unique attendee experiences, constructing prospects at optimum moments. Promotional events, such as demonstrations, booth visits, or prize drawings will have more significant impacts when you deliver them in a timely and relevant manner.

Combining mobile event application and beacon technology offers us an opportunity for crafting interactions while personalizing the experience of an attendee. Unique attendee experience is so important for both businesses and customers.

Working of Proximity Beacons

Beacon devices are so simple. Beacons contain batteries, a radio, and a CPU. This device works by broadcasting identifiers repeatedly. The device, such as a mobile, picks up every single identifier and highlights a specific place in the environment. Identifiers are unique identification numbers that smartphones recognize uniquely to beacons.

After establishing the connection, beacons carry out specific functions according to the program it needs to perform. Beacons have become so popular across the globe and helping various industries, such as event management, healthcare, transportation, and logistics, etc.

Beacon Platforms

Google and Apple are the biggest beacon players at the moment. Both companies have unique beacon implementation standards. Apple introduced its first beacon in 2013 in iOS 7. Developers can build apps using their iBeacon platform that gets transmissions, like location-aware notifications. We saw the very first beacon technology, Eddystone, by Google in 2015. It is much like iBeacon, but it is an open0source technology unlike the implementation of Apple.

Both Android and iOS users can get messages through Eddystone and iBeacon platforms. Therefore, you shouldn’t be worried about choosing between Eddystone and iBeacon beacons.

However, there are a few things that differentiate the two platforms. The most notable difference between the two platforms is that you can communicate URLs to other mobile devices through Eddystone. After that, you can open them in other mobile browsers. However, the iBeacon implementation of Apple, till now, can only interact with the mobile applications on the smartphones of users.

How Much Beacons Cost?

Interestingly, Apple and Google do not manufacture beacons themselves. Various vendors are available who manufacture beacons and sell to these companies according to their implementation standards.

Fortunately, beacons are not expensive devices. A proximity beacon may cost you around $5 to $35, depending on the model and features. The main factors deciding the price of a beacon are their signal range, batteries type, battery life, and overall build quality. Before buying beacons, businesses must learn about their types and qualities so that they can choose the most suitable beacons.

Summary

Proximity beacons are known to be the most effective devices for proximity marketing and other purposes. Beacons are evolving rapidly with their use in different products in various industries, such as healthcare, logistics, and marketing, etc.

SKYLAB has multiple beacon platforms, such as Android and iOS that we can choose from according to our projects. Before you buy beacons, you need to know your project requirements. It is important to know about the beacon signal range, battery life, how many beacons you need for your project.