Location Based Services: My Phone Doesn't Do That

What do Location-Based Services (LBS) like Wi-Fi, beacons, Bluetooth low energy (BLE), geo-fencing, etc. have in common? For mobile developers, they allow mobile apps to interact on a local and personal in a ground breaking way.

I was telling my wife about location based marketing (we were in a store shopping, I was bored) and she told me, “My phone doesn’t do that.” I happen to know that we just bought her new a phone and it would definitely do that. When I told her that location technology would allow Ann Taylor to send her a coupon when she is at a competing store or in the Ann Taylor store, she said “I want that!” 

I mention Ann Taylor because my wife has an Ann Taylor charge card, the Ann Taylor native app, and is signed up for Ann Taylor emails. So something is really broken if they can’t engage her in the store, with all of the LBS technology at their fingertips today.

I tell this story because it highlights a number of the challenges behind location based marketing. I know most of the stores that my wife goes to and a number of them are large national companies. And they have not found a way to reach my wife with mobile location based marketing. It probably not because they don’t have a program in place, but whatever they are doing, it is not working for my wife as a customer (trust me, she does some serious shopping, so they are missing out.)

Location based marketing and location-based services are not just the province of large companies. It’s a rich opportunity for any mobile developer, if you know how to take advantage of the opportunity.

But most of us don’t. And that’s why I was interested in a recent blog post by Vincent Montero on the Phunware website. In the post, he discusses how to choose a partner for LBS activities and how they can help integrate LBS into your mobile strategy. And he provides a guide titled: “5 Questions to Ask a Potential Location-Based Marketing Partner” which provides a thorough discussion on the opportunities and pitfalls when doing so.

He points out that a strategy for beacons is different from a strategy for Wi-Fi. BLE and geo-fencing are entirely different animals. Its not important just to have a strategy for each, its how you tie it all together that truly unleashes the impact of LBS.

You can learn more by going to Vincent's blog post. And if you’d like to ask him a specific question, feel free to shoot him an email.