As companies “lean up” their teams, they are finding that recruiting new talent is more than just a part time chore for “that guy in accounting”. And as the talent pools out there become more competitive, prospects are expecting more red carpet and less assembly line treatment from employers. “Why should I work for you?” vs. “Why should I hire you?”
Enter Bash Foo. Our teams for years have been mining leads for our clients, poring over gigantic spreadsheets of useless data to find just the right segment of engaged prospects and turning them on to our client’s products and services using persuasive copy and tried and true sales pitches.
So what happens when the experts in lead persuasion try their hand at prospecting job candidates in addition to sales opportunities? *Cue suspense-filled background music…
Something awesome happens, that’s what!
Job candidates appreciate the approach of a marketing agency. We understand that they are a valuable asset to our clients and we treat them like gold, not just a job order. Reason being is that our clients trust us with their valuable marketing dollars and we know how precious those are. When used wisely, recruiting dollars are just as efficient at printing money for a small business as new sales are.
So. Just What is Sourcing as a Service?
Instead of bogging down your internal recruiting team or “that guy in accounting” with hunting for candidates and qualifying them, we do the legwork of building lists of ideal candidates for the job description supplied by the hiring company. This kind of partnership helps businesses boost productivity and save money by Bash Foo doing the “legwork” of recruiting.
Finding the right candidates, and those who are serious about the job market, is one of the most tedious tasks in the recruiting field. In fact, recruiters spend as much as 50% of their time sourcing candidates.
But, Bash Foo can procure the right candidates for the position, and all you need to do is focus on the actual hiring process. It saves time, money, and productivity.
Here’s how our marketing agency can empower your hiring team to make better placement decisions for your company.
#1 We Free Up Your Team’s Time and Productivity
If your team is 100% focused on scanning job boards, resumes, and LinkedIn profiles, they will have little time to focus on actually recruiting your potential job candidates.
By utilizing our sourcing service, you can keep a list of qualified candidates in the hopper for any upcoming opportunities that may arise in the company. Then, your recruiting team simply reviews without the pressure and distraction of hunting for candidates.
#2 We’ve Already Got the Tools…without the Fees.
Bash Foo has invested in quality tools to procure the right candidates for the job. Have you ever looked into what it costs just to HAVE LinkedIn Recruiter, let alone pay someone to use it? That’s right. It’s expensive. And there is no reason why you should carry that full burden of those tools alone. Bash Foo spreads those costs out across all of our hiring companies.
This allows you to find quality candidates for your job position, trim back on expenses, and increase productivity in your recruiting departments.
The lists of candidates you receive will include verified contact information and background details, so you know exactly who you are getting in front of before the interview.
#3 We won’t be Hounding You to Hunt
We do a good job of staying in our lane. As a marketing agency, we’ve got plenty of tasks to focus on, so we won’t be dogging you for job orders to go hunting.
We simply provide the sourcing we promised, deliver on that promise – nothing more, nothing less. We aren’t about fluff around here, but we will be here when you need us to take on the next opportunity.
So, how does the process work?
If recruiters are constantly stuck behind a computer researching and vetting potential candidates, they aren’t spending their time getting to know future team members.
By utilizing our sourcing service, your team can focus on finding the right fit for a company’s culture and the job position.
There are three general steps to sourcing as a service:
1. Identify your ideal candidate. This can be a short form or questionnaire to determine the exact candidate you are looking for, immediately disqualifying anyone who does not meet the criteria for the position or culture.
2. Within a few days, we provide matching profiles to review against your ideal candidate. At this time, we ask for feedback so we can continue to narrow down the search.
3. Then, we deliver a full list of qualified profiles (with contact information) which you can reach out to and begin the hiring process.
Companies of all sizes utilize sourcing services as a way to free up their internal departments. As your chosen marketing agency and now sourcing expert, you can trust us to get the job done.
If you are interested in learning more about hiring Bash Foo to source your next employee, reach out to us today. A member of our recruiting team will help you find the best fit, and do so easily and affordably.
Chances are you were not trampled down by the crowds if you went out Black Friday shopping. The sales data is in… And it should be eye opening to any business and retailer.
Black Friday Sales Comparison
In store: Sales in physical stores dropped 6.2% from last year, AND the number of shoppers in those stores fell by 2.1%
Online: Black Friday purchases made online increase by 20% to hit a record $7.4B.
I’m sure you are not shocked to learn that ecommerce outpaced physical shopping. Buying new pajamas while in your pajamas is the way to go!
The surprise found in this year’s sales data is the way that mobile online orders lapped any other form of shopping this Black Friday.
Mobile Phones Rule Black Friday
Mobile Orders: Shoppers were apparently too tired to open their laptop. 65% of Black Friday’s online deals happened on smartphones. That’s the biggest day ever for mobile ecommerce transactions. Up a full 35% from last year!
Pickup Orders: Why wait for 2 day shipping when you can pick it up at the store RIGHT NOW! The buy-online and pickup in store sales jumped 43% from last year.
Bottom line, if you retail anything. You really need to get a website. AND you really need to consider making it a “mobile first” website.
Bash Foo offered discounts again and we netted 2 new clients, and 2 existing clients who opened their wallets this weekend to take advantage of a great set of discounts on digital marketing for 2020.
Where do leads come from? This is a question that has spurred thousands of marketing campaigns and tactics. It’s true that some channels are going to be more productive for your brand and customer base than others. But the fact of the matter is that modern leads come from everywhere. They come from search engines, from friend recommendations, from affiliate links, and from social media. Leads will come to you from all directions. Therefore, to build a complete full-funnel experience, it’s vital to consider every entry point for the top of your funnel.
Today, we’re here to talk about mapping your top-of-funnel entry points so that you can map the full funnel experience for each lead, no matter where they may have come from.
Every marketing team knows that videos are a powerful experiential asset. When users see a video on a site, in a blog, or on social media, they are more likely to stop and pay attention. Videos create a story, a journey, and a visual experience that users enjoy and often sticks in the mind more effectively than a pithy phrase or even a compelling still image. Despite the power of video when you’ve already got a user’s eye, video is also notoriously poor on the single most important aspect of modern marketing: SEO.
Web-crawlers and search engines can’t listen through the audio to know what your video is about or all the cool details you cover in your videos. Search engines can’t help users looking for an awesome animation of an apple on fire of a product demonstration even if that’s exactly what is in your video. But you can make it happen.
That library of videos you’ve been building can actually be SEO assets, but only if you know what to do. Today, we’re here to share this comprehensive guide on ten different ways to use both old and new videos to boost your SEO and help search engines know the real value that your videos have to offer.
Developing and releasing a new product is an exciting time for any business. Naturally, you’re eager to see your product in the hands of customers to start getting that enthusiasm back ten-fold. Of course, releasing a new product also means collecting and converting new leads. The audience for your latest release may not be exactly the same as those for your previous products. Not to mention your desire to grow your audience by expanding your offerings.
One of the best places to look for new lead generation for a new product is your channel marketing partners. Why? Because channel marketing is all about expansion. When you reach out to other businesses for whom you are part of their supply chain, you also potentially reach their network of customers and business partners. By using the creative outreach process of channel marketing, you can kick-start lead generation for a new product as well.
Let’s dive right into the five ways that channel marketing can put your new product lead generation into high-gear.
1) Channel Business Partners Have Their Own Clients With a Market for Your Products
Often, channel marketing involves selling to companies that either sell your product directly as retail partners or those who use your product as part of their production or packaging process. What makes it channel marketing is that you are selling to and partnering with other businesses instead of just trying to reach consumer-level buyers.
The primary benefit of channel marketing in this way is that you gain access not just to your direct buyers, but to the clients and audiences of your channel partners as well. In fact, your channel partners have every reason to hype your new product to their audience in order to promote how your product upgrades their own products.
Example: You sell bicycle accessories and have just released a new advanced safety bicycle light. Your channel partner sells assembled bicycles and will be proud to feature your new light as an upgrade to their products
2) Channel Partners Have a Unique Perspective on Marketing Your Products
Channel partners also have a completely different perspective on how to market your products and reach new demographics. Because they have their own client base and a completely different business model from your own, they have the advantage of a third-party viewpoint not only on your potential buyers, but on the value of the new product itself.
Consulting with your channel marketing partners is a great way to expand your campaigns and your targeting capabilities for the potential buyers of your new product. Your channel partners can point out that your new product is more versatile than you realize, or even point you toward new channel marketing leads who have a different use for your product than you initially imagined.
Example: Your bicycle-selling channel lead also sells scooters and mopeds. They point out that your light is equally ideal for these personal vehicles and then point out that the senior-scooter market would also be a great channel for your new bike light.
3) Channel Partners Want to Be on the Cutting-Edge of Their Industries
In fact, your channel partners are often your best allies when it comes to both developing and marketing new products because they want to be on the cutting edge. They have partnered with you for a reason and enjoy the value you add through your channel marketing campaigns. Each time you update your products and services, they benefit by staying on the cutting-edge, ahead of their competition.
Your channel partners not only want you to develop new products, but they want to be the ones to innovate the latest-and-greatest way to put those products to use. An enthusiastic channel marketing partner is one of your best possible lead-generating assets when they are as eager as you are to get the word out. The upgrade will have their customers clamoring for their new products that incorporate your products as well as creating interest for your stand-alone product for other uses.
Example: Your bicycle partner is not just offering new bikes and scooters with your light, they’re also offering to refit their own older products with a new light while simultaneously marketing your light as the cutting-edge of personal vehicle technology that they have special early access to.
4) Channel Partners May Refer Interested Partners of Their Own
Your channel partners may also be interested in introducing your new product to their own business partners. To do this without adding to their own logistical overhead, they may recommend you to their manufacturers, their retailers, or their shipping partners. These referrals are to streamline their own services while also, incidentally, expanding your channel marketing leads.
Channel partners may be primarily interested in boosting their own success, but the synergy you’ve already worked hard to create with value-added channel marketing can really pay off. Especially when you have a new product that your channel partners realize would be more efficient to send straight to their partners to streamline the production process.
Example: Your new bicycle light can be bolted to the handlebars with the wires threaded through a hollow bike frame rather than creating a catch-hazard by clipping to the outside. So your Bike-assembly channel partner hooks you up with their manufacturer to install the lights directly instead of threading the wires after the bikes are assembled.
5) Finding New Channels for New Products
Finally, there is the pure benefit of channel marketing, even without relying on existing partners. Perhaps your product is outside the purview of your previous channels, or you are just now getting into channel marketing for the first time. When you develop a new product, this opens doors to new potential channel partners.
Channel marketing is all about thinking creatively about the supply chain. Your new product might be better suited to restaurants where before you catered primarily to hotels. Or you have developed a new tool for small hands and thus open the door to partnering with children’s brands or brands that cater primarily to women. Every innovation and change in a new product can allow you to seek out new channel partners who, once connected, provide all the previous benefits in terms of generating leads and expanding your potential client base.
Example: Your new bicycle light includes a GPS feature that you market directly to parental safety brands and eco-travel brands in addition to your bicycle assembly partner.
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When it comes to generating whole new audiences of leads for both existing products and your brand new releases, channel marketing cannot be beat. Once you forge relationships with other businesses that sell, manufacture, or package with your products, their customers become your customers and their partners potentially become your partners. Contact us today to find out more about how to expand your channel marketing network and your buyer audience in one graceful lead-generating campaign effort.
In the past decade, mobile phone use has increased drastically. Funnily, in 2011, more people owned phones in the world more than toothbrushes. In 2018, there were approximately 3.7 billion mobile phone users across the globe. The number is projected to increase to 4.6 billion by the end of 2019. As opposed to the past, when a phone was just a phone -a communication device- today, things are different. A phone has become a fundamental part of life used for communication, entertainment, information, and guidance.
A fast website is essential to fostering a positive user experience and achieving a favorable search engine ranking. But how do you know if your website is running slowly? And what should you do if you discover that your site is too slow? Below are five proven ways to find out if your site speed is under-performing and some simple steps you can take to speed up your site.
How can you find out if your website is running slowly?
The best way to determine if your website is performing too slowly is to run a test. And thanks to the variety of free, user-friendly tests available online, you can find out quickly whether your site is in need of a jump start. Here are five free tests you can run to determine if your website is running slowly.
Sucuri’s load time test measures two key performance indicators: the length of time it takes to connect to your site and the length of time it takes for one of your pages to fully load. Sucuri also emphasizes the “time to first byte”, which specifies the amount of time it takes for content to be sent to a browser to begin processing a page.
Pingdom is a free user-friendly testing tool that offers a performance grade along with an analysis of your page load time and the bottlenecks affecting your site’s speed. Here is a list of the current locations from which you can choose to launch your test:
UPTRENDS offers a free online platform that allows you to test your website’s performance in some of the best browsers on the market. You can choose to test your site speed from cities such as Paris, Berlin, Singapore, Beijing, Amsterdam, and others. You can conduct testing from your desktop or favorite mobile device and manually select whether you wish to use Chrome, IE, or Firefox.
Google’s site speed testing tool evaluates your website and assigns a score using a scale of 1 to 100. Any score above 85 suggests that your website is performing well in terms of speed. The tool offers reports for mobile and desktop versions of your website and offers specific suggestions designed to improve your site’s time to fully load a page and time to display above-the-fold content by the browser.
GTMetrix has analyzed hundreds of millions of pages in an effort to detect slow performance and identify opportunities for improvement. Their free tool enables you to test your page on a real Android device or a variety of simulated device options. You will be able to see how fast your site operates from seven different locations across the globe.
What can you do to speed up your website?
If you run one or more of the tests above and receive the news that your site speed is below average, it is time to swing into action. Fortunately, there are some straightforward steps you can take to address the problems above. From optimizing your files to removing “bad” plugins, you can provide a more enjoyable experience for customers who visit your website. Here are five things you can do to speed up your website:
1) Remove unnecessary plugins
A large number of plugins can really bog down your page loading time. Carve out some time to review your plugins and remove those that are not absolutely necessary. You can also examine your remaining plugins to see how they are impacting page load time by using Google Chrome’s “Inspect” feature to access the plugin developer’s tool panel. By clicking on the “Network” tab and reloading your website, you can view how long it takes for loading to occur.
2) Explore compression
Compression can help you reduce your page size and minimize the need for visitors to download data. Because compression is a setting on your server, the way that you implement it will hinge on the type of web server you have. If you hit any roadblocks with compression, your hosting company should be able to provide guidance.
3) Use a browser-friendly image format
In general, larger file sizes require more time to load in a browser. If you are using heavy formats like BMP or TIFF, you could be hindering your load time. Take some time to review your images and consider switching over to JPG, PNG, or GIF if you discover any heavy formats.
4) Consider a new web hosting service
Sometimes a poor quality web hosting service is responsible for your slow site. If you use a free web hosting service or a service that fails to deliver proper support, you should consider exploring a new web hosting service that is known for delivering stellar support and resources.
5) Identify and repair broken links
Broken links drain your bandwidth, which can cause your site to operate more slowly. They also cause frustration among visitors, which can cause people to abandon your site. Make sure you periodically screen your site for broken links and either remove them or replace them with valid links to help speed up your site.
What is the single best step you can take to maintain a fast website?
Maintaining a fast website is vital to helping your business attract customers and keep them happy. By following the tips above, you can keep your finger on the pulse of your site speed and prevent a poor customer experience with your site. But the single best way to speed up your website and keep it running fast is to seek the services of a trusted web development expert.
For over 18 years, Bash Foo has delivered fast, responsive web design services to thousands of customers. Our skilled web design specialists have the tools and expertise to keep your site running fast. We invite you to contact us at Bash Foo today to discover how we help customers increase sales by 40 percent. We look forward to helping your business thrive!
Google Maps is undoubtedly among the most valuable tools the tech-giant Google has offered the world. When traveling to an unfamiliar place, you don’t have to resort of paper maps or ask people for directions. You simply open your Google Maps, indicate your destination, and you are good to go.
Google Maps is the most-used navigation app by mobile users. It ranks first in the US among the most popular mapping apps. In April 2018, Google Maps record 154.4 million unique users. Google Maps ranks fourth after YouTube, Facebook, and Google Search in the list of leading smartphone apps in the US. In May 2019, an estimate of 64.5% of mobile users in the US accessed Google Maps.
Google Maps is not just a navigation app; it is great for locating businesses. For instance, using Google Maps, you can find a business like a car wash, plumber, barber, or restaurant near you. As a business, Google Maps have numerous benefits for your business. You can use Google Maps advertising in your digital marketing strategy to help customers locate your business.
What is Google Maps Advertising?
Google Maps advertising refers to harnessing the power and functionality of Google Maps to make your business easier to locate. It is useful for not only large organizations but also small businesses. Today, using Google Maps will spice your marketing strategy and give you results, because nearly every person looking for services locally needs the help of Google Maps.
Benefits of Google Maps for Businesses
As the owner of your business owner, you can enlist your enterprise to be added to Google’s platform so that it is located on Google Maps. It is an easy process because you only need to provide your business details on Google My Business. This way, people searching for the name of your business or the services you offer can easily locate you. Also, your business location is mapped for easy access. Among the benefits of Google Maps include;
Improve business visibility: customers can locate your business and even get directions to get there. Increased exposure for an enterprise means more revenue for the business. For instance, when a user searches for a restaurant near them, and your restaurant appears in the search results, the user visiting your restaurant increases sales.
Offers an online presence: Google Maps provides an excellent way for your business to get an online presence. Even if your small business lacks a website, Google Maps lets people know you and where you are located.
Ranking well for SEO: listing on Google Maps helps your business to rank well for SEO. It increases the likelihood of your business getting a first-page ranking on search results. Google Maps are essential in local SEO.
Increase competitiveness: Google Maps helps your business to stay competitive because it maps your business for all to see it.
Changes in Google Maps
Google is committed to continuous improvements of Google Maps to enhance its users’ experience. The tech giant spends much time and effort refining and improving the app to make it better. Advertising agencies recognize the importance of you getting your business found. Any feature and change that encourage people to use Google Maps are good for business because they promote brand discovery. Here are some prominent changes to Google Maps and how they help your small business.
1. Explore Feature
Although this is not a new feature on Google Maps, an updated Explore tab will improve this feature while presenting more top options. The Explore tab allows users to search for nearby restaurants, ATMs, barbershops, and pharmacies quickly and conveniently. The restaurant, pharmacy or grocery users are looking for maybe your business.
2. Voice actions
This is an effort to make the user interface easier to navigate. For instance, a customer can find out how long it will take to get to a business or the current traffic situation without using controls. This feature is great when customers are driving to your business because it increases their safety.
Unlike in the past, where customer experience started when a customer walks in your store, currently, things are different. Customer experience begins when a customer searches for your business and the process of getting to it. The seamless the journey to your business, the better the experience you deliver.
3. Proximity-based Google Maps Results
Google allows for proximity-based Google maps results whereby results depend on your location. For example, if you are in Denver, Colorado and search for a plumber, you will get results of plumbers in or near Denver. The plumbers will be organized into positions based on your location. The closest to you will be given the first position. You don’t get one result of plumbers but several so that you have numerous options. If your business is listed on Google Maps and a customer near you searches for your services or products, you are given priority. Such a customer is a qualified lead who has a high likelihood of converting.
4. Google lens, Street view Integration, and AI technology
Google lens and street view use the power of AI technology to help users get directions on where to go and decrease the probability of getting lost. AI technology guides the user on their destination and assists in choosing the best routes. Google Lens allows a user to identify street signs and landmarks.
5. Alternative-method travelers
Not all customers will drive to your store, others will use alternative methods like cycling. Google Maps has made several changes that benefit bikers. It has elevation data for bicycle routes and bikers can compare different routes. Also, Google Maps allows your customers to connect with private drivers like Uber and Lyft. All these alternative travel methods are valuable for modern travelers.
You may be nostalgic about the old-fashioned paper maps, but they were never as useful for businesses as Google Maps today. Businesses should capitalize on the changes that Google Maps make to improve user experience and make a company’s information accurate and accessible. Importantly, enhancing your business visibility and advertising on Google Maps takes time and effort. Google Maps don’t give you the quick fix to your marketing woes but is a long term strategy that bears fruits. You must be patient if you want to reap the rewards. Contact us to learn more about digital marketing ideas that work.
As a solopreneur, you’ve got work up to your ears and the pressure is high because you’re doing everything alone. From generating leads to retargeting, you find it hard to keep up.
To keep your solo business afloat, you must multitask and do more than one job all at once. With just one person (you) doing the marketing for your business, it’s easy to get overwhelmed and maybe even a little unmotivated. That’s why it’s so important to take advantage of the many marketing tools available so that you can save time and reduce the headache from running your business alone.
A SOLORPENEUR’S MARKETING TOOLKIT FOR INCREASED PRODUCTIVITY
There are so many things that come with running a business without the help of others. Marketing is only one of them. Allotting so much of your time to marketing can take away from the valuable moments you can be spending on other important tasks. With the below tools, you’ll not only become more organized, you’ll also be able to focus more on creativity and growth.
As a business owner who wants to convert as many leads to customers as possible, you likely spend lots of time sending emails. With Reply, you can email hundreds of people in the time it usually takes you to email just a few people. This means that you can really maximize your time and take on other marketing tasks you wouldn’t normally get to in that amount of time.
Below are just a few of the features Reply has to offer:
Send tailored, personalized emails and follow-ups
Send an onboarding series to introduce new subscribers to your business
Re-engage inactive subscribers
Get stats on your email campaign performance such as deliveries, opens, and clicks
Get early-stage product feedback from potential customers and influencers
Google AdWords is a really powerful tool to launch you right into page one search results without waiting for your site to rank. But it’s super complicated for the solopreneur. As Bash Foo only takes clients who can budget $1,500 or more on ad campaigns per month, what about the solopreneur that can only budget say $200 a month? Adwords Express makes getting new leads easier and more affordable, without requiring you to study up on how to create a killer ad. It’s a smarter, automatic version of AdWords.
With AdWords Express, you just choose the category of your ad by entering a general keyword and Google automatically creates a keyword campaign based on search trends related to that category. This allows your ads to automatically show for up to thousands of keywords related to the one you entered.
Let’s say that you’re a plumber and your keyword is “emergency plumbing services”. Your ad will still show up if someone uses a related keyword such as “emergency plumber near me” or “24/7 plumber”. This gives you great flexibility with gaining exposure to your business. Once you’ve chosen a business category, written an ad, and set your budget, AdWords Express will automatically manage where and when your ads will appear.
Every solopreneur needs a social media management system. Because you have little to no help marketing your business, your valuable time is likely taken up with so many marketing tasks, including managing your company’s social media accounts. That’s where Hootsuite gets its value, by keeping track of and managing various social media channels.
Using Hootsuite, you can monitor multiple social media networks in one place. They include:
You can even add more than one of the same network. For example, if you have more than one Facebook page or have multiple Twitter channels, you can manage them within Hootsuite. Plus, you can post on multiple channels at a time. So if you create a post and you want that post to be on other channels, you can use Hootsuite to publish them all at once. This can be very useful if you’re in a rush and need to get things done more quickly and efficiently.
Another one of Hootsuite’s many features is the weekly Social Analytics Report that contains a summary and statistics on your social campaigns. With the report, you gain insights into the number of daily clicks, geographic location of users that click through, your top referrers, and most popular links.
Overall, this tool has perennially appeared on our list of “must have’s” for those who want to monitor and keep track of their social presence, as well as schedule posts daily/weekly/monthly with finesse.
Finding the email addresses of the right prospects can be a difficult and time-consuming task to undertake on your own. Interseller is a smart email outreach tool that allows you to reach out to candidates without needing to use multiple tools at once. Switching from one tool to the next to find and manage email contacts can take up a considerable amount of time all on its own.
Using Interseller, with just one click, you can find anyone’s email address and automatically send them initial emails and follow-ups all within one platform. This can help simplify the sales process and save you lots of time.
Interseller is our favorite cold outreach tool. The Chrome add-in integrates directly with LinkedIn so that you can run a prospect search there, select the contacts you find to be most “interesting” and then add them to a list of contacts you want to either call or send one of your cold “welcome” email sequences to. It’s by far our favorite way of selecting our next client.
Taking advantage of this marketing toolkit is marketing made easier for the solopreneur. For more information, don’t hesitate to contact us today.
Geofencing is a buzzy mobile app capability that’s been around for at least a decade; however, developers are only now seeing the full potential of geofencing for building a great user-first experience. While geofencing received some attention in relation to user privacy, new tools are considering how geofencing can better surprise and delight customers – and in the future, radically change the way companies deliver location-based experiences.
From sending a tailored promotion when a customer enters a retail store to powering order-ahead food delivery, geofencing plays a key role in making mobile apps contextually aware. How does geofencing work, and how can mobile app developers better deploy this technology? Here’s what you need to know about geofencing.
Geofencing: What is it?
Geofencing is a location-based service in which an app or other software uses GPS, RFID, Wi-Fi or cellular data to trigger a pre-programmed action when a mobile device or RFID tag enters or exits a virtual boundary set up around a geographical location, known as a geofence.
What does it mean in practice? Think about it like this: geo-fencing is like an electric fence for your dog but in the real world. Geo-fencing allows for the setup of virtual fences or areas, wherein the entering and exiting through the areas triggers a response or action by the individual or company monitoring the geo-fence. So, instead of alerting a pet owner when Fluffy wanders into the neighbor’s yard, geofencing triggers alerts for a business owner when key things happen: a customer visits a store, for example, or the store of a competitor.
How does it work?
To make use of geofencing, an administrator or developer must first establish a virtual boundary around a specified location in GPS- or RFID-enabled software, which can be as simple as a circle drawn 100 feet around a location on Google Maps. This virtual geofence will then trigger a response when an authorized device enters or exits that area, as specified by the administrator or developer. Put simply, picture virtually unfolding a paper map, taking a virtual pencil, and then drawing a virtual circle around a desired part of the map. Then, whenever someone or something enters or exits that area, you are alerted.
What is it used for?
Early geofencing projects revolved around using GPS to track herds of livestock or using ankle monitors to keep an eye on criminal offenders. This tracking then developed into keeping track of truck drivers on their routes as well as using “smart cards” to track employee movements in a building.
Today’s use of geofencing has evolved beyond simply tracking where a target customer (or a herd of sheep) is at any given time. With privacy concerns challenging companies to rethink their use of geofencing, companies like Radar are leading the way in innovating how geofences can improve the user experience.
Take, for example, Burger King’s Whopper Detour Campaign. Burger King ran a promotion to sell Whopper burgers for $0.01 – but only to customers within a 600-foot radius of a McDonald’s. Customers could download the Burger King app and head to their nearest McDonald’s. When they were within the geofence, the app would redirect them to their nearest Burger King to redeem the promo.
This is just one way brands are thinking creatively of how to use geofencing to surprise and delight customers – without invading their privacy.
Geofencing: A Matter of Privacy
As expected, not all individuals are comfortable having their location data shared via geofencing. In fact, in 2017, Massachusetts was one of the first states to enact a consumer protection law that objected to the use of location-based advertising. The Attorney General blocked an ad campaign from Copley Advertising, which was hired by a Christian organization to set up a geofence around women’s health clinics that would target women in the waiting room or nearby with anti-abortion ads.
While many ad-tech companies use geofencing to collect data on customers, new pioneers in the geofencing space, like Radar, are careful to put the user experience at the forefront of innovation. In a space dominated by ad tech and data monetization companies, Radar’s privacy-first approach means they do not sell any data they collect, nor do they share location data across customers.
Geofencing: 2019 and Beyond
The geofencing industry is expected to grow over 27% by 2022, citing “technological advancements in the use of spatial data and increasing applications in numerous industry verticals.”
While retail and travel are two industries already invested in geofencing, there’s a lot of potential for this technology to grow to government, healthcare, and more. Surprising and delighting customers is just the first step to integrating geofencing more thoughtfully in nearly every aspect of life. Over time, users will come to expect, rather than be surprised by, the way companies use geofencing. We expect to see companies use geofencing more strategically to send contextually relevant messages, build contextual experiences, and understand location data more thoughtfully.
One of the trickiest parts of Search Engine Optimization has always been having a physical domicile in a state, or region of the US where you choose to do business.
Google REQUIRES you to have a brick and mortar where you operate, and it cannot be a USPS Post Office box.
BUT…
It can be an address at the Bash Foo Entrepreneur Center! You can use our address here in Tipp City, Ohio to register your business or the location of your business. All it takes is completing USPS Form 1583 and presenting a valid form of ID to get started! We’ve partnered with Anytime Mailbox to provide you with a mobile app where you can review the mail that has been delivered for your business, set the disposition of your mail and notify you when important mail arrives.
Mailbox Packages
Silver Package – $19.99/mos
Our Silver package provides the same level of service as Bronze, however, you get to receive up to 60 mail pieces per month with no additional charge.
Gold Package – $29.99/mos
Our Gold package provides the same level of service as Bronze and Silver, however, you get to receive up to 125 mail pieces per month with no additional charge.
Silver Package – $69.99/mos
Our Unlimited package provides the same level of service as Bronze, Silver, and Gold, however, you get to receive unlimited mail pieces per month with no additional charge.
Annual discounts are provided for each package.
Contact us today if you’d need additional office services, reception, shipping/receiving, etc.
When you invest your advertising and marketing dollars, it’s important to focus on specificity. You want to make those dollars go as far as they can. That means looking for innovative ways to streamline and spread your message with a targeted group of individuals whom you know need the products or services you’re offering. One way to do that is through geofencing. Geofencing is a creative, geospatial marketing strategy; it takes advantage of new technologies to get your message in front of the right people.
In this post, we’ll examine what geofencing is and all the ways it can help you take your digital marketing to the next level.
What is Geofencing?
Geofencing is the use of global positioning or radio frequency identification to identify a virtual, geographic area. Once you have identified this area, you can establish a system that sends notifications when a mobile device enters or leaves the area inside that defined boundary.
Forget Marketing to “Everyone.” Market to People at a Specific Location
Geofencing allows you to target a specific area. This level of specificity helps you streamline your message to the right audience.
From a marketing perspective, geofencing allows you to drill down to target people who are in your defined geographic location. Rather than marketing to “everyone,” you’re now marketing to people who have literally come to you. They’ll find your message useful and are therefore much likely to accept any call to action because of that.
One-Up Your Competition
Imagine a technology that allows you to speak directly to the customers of your competitor. Think about being able to highlight your product’s features, benefits, and advantages over your competition. To take it a step further, imagine highlighting all these great advantages of doing business with you while the user is in your competitor’s building.
With geofencing, you can make this a reality. Geofencing enables you to target your competition’s customers, sending a direct comparison to their mobile devices about how superior your product and services are.
Rather than run general ads talking about how you have an edge over the “leading brand,” you can attack your competition’s base on their home turf. You can speak directly to people who need your services; give them a reason to switch to a better brand – namely, yours.
Geofencing Helps You Retarget
Spreading your message to the mobile devices of anyone who walks through your building is a powerful capability. It gives you the ability to share your pitch with people who you know will be interested in your services. It’s not necessarily comprehensive, however. While you can attract lots of customers this way, you won’t necessarily get all of them on the first round. Some customers may leave without a sale.
Geofencing gives you the ability to retarget these customers. You can establish a preselected time frame – say, for example, 30 days – and retarget potential customers who walked through your doors with additional messages.
This reinforces your initial value proposition. You give your prospect time to consider your offer and follow up with an additional offer which solidifies the value you can provide the customer with.
Retargeting users allows you to cast a wide net and ensure that no potential customer falls through the cracks. It gives the ability to send a second wave of marketing materials towards customers you know are interested in your product or services.
Geofencing Gives You Access to Additional Data and Apps
Individuals walking through your predefined location may be in possession of numerous apps on their device with loads of data. If they enter your fence, you can use this to your advantage.
Geofencing lets you explore additional data you may have access to on a customer’s devices. You can use probabilistic or deterministic technologies to gain access to additional apps the user has. This could potentially give you access to more of the user’s data, depending on the device in question.
Target Multiple Devices
Geofencing allows you to target multiple devices your intended audience may be using within the boundary. Smart phones, laptops, tablets and any other type of mobile device can all assist.
As one device enters your boundary, you’ll now have the ability to access the user’s other devices to serve ads. This creates redundancies that increase the likelihood the user will see and process your ad’s message.
Conclusion
Geofencing is a versatile tool in your digital marketing toolbox. It allows you to spread your message far and wide with individual users over multiple devices and apps. It also helps you gain a substantial leg-up on your competition, allowing you to speak to their customer base directly.
Bash Foo is a digital marketing agency that builds the online reputations of small business in affordable and inspiring ways. We use cutting-edge technology to offer innovative solutions. For more on how we can help you revolutionize the way you do digital marketing, contact us today!
One of the trickiest parts of Search Engine Optimization has always been having a physical domicile in a state, or region of the US where you choose to do business.