Major brands are shifting significant marketing resources to proximity marketing, according to an independent study of brand name companies commissioned by Airspace, the proximity engagement specialist. Almost all respondents (99%) are either already investing in (28%), are in the process of doing so (51%), or are considering (20%) trialling or investing in a proximity marketing campaign. It was also revealed that of those, 79% x are planning to implement proximity marketing campaigns within the next six months.
Proximity marketing allows UK brand managers and retailers to understand consumer behavior, not just by what is bought or not bought, but how factors such as position-in-store or relational products can affect sales.
In store, proximity marketing can up-sell, cross-promote, incentivise, engage, educate, entertain and, increasingly, handle the sale itself. The survey revealed that 80% of respondents say this ability to gather more accurate data to better understand their customers is an important benefit of proximity marketing.
Almost four in five (79%) respondents say proximity marketing is useful for knowing how much time customers spend in-store, and 81% say it is useful for understanding which products customers dwell near but do not buy; 84% say store analytics is helped by understanding hot and cold spots.
Half of those surveyed say they would use proximity marketing to draw people to specific locations within company stores or sale points, and 47% report they would use them to encourage passers-by to enter or investigate company stores or sale points. Four in five (80%) say the ability to drive loyalty with their customers is an important benefit, and over three quarters (76%) report the ability to better engage with their customers is extremely beneficial.
In contrast, the survey also revealed that 95% of respondents say that having more knowledge on how to conduct a trial or start a proximity marketing campaign would encourage their company to invest more.
Similarly, 94% say they would be likely to invest more if there were more cases to demonstrate success with 96% saying they would invest more if there was the ability to gather deeper analytics to measure success.
Airspace recently launched Airspace Pilot in response to this demand from brands, marketers and retailers who see the potential in proximity marketing but want a low cost, low risk and easily manageable way to trial the technology. Using Airspace Pilot, brands, retailers and marketers can, for the first time, quickly and cost effectively trial proximity marketing networks with little upfront investment.
Airspace CEO, Ian Malone, explains: “This research neatly matches our own conversations with high street retailers and other high footfall locations, who feel they need to act now. Brands that utilise proximity marketing to deliver relevant, contextual messages will see an upturn in conversion rates and arguably more loyal customers. Even the brands that use the technology simply to understand their customers better will gain a competitive advantage over those without access to the rich data and insights delivered by proximity networks.”
