The Marketer’s 5 Step Guide to Beacon Technology

Beacon technology has completely revolutionized both business and marketing.

As one Business.com article put it, with “Retail going digital and digital media coming to retail,” this technology is completely changing the marketing game.

The key to the versatility of this location-based mobile technology lies in its size and function.

It relies on small devices, often the size of a postage stamp, using Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) signals to transmit information to mobile devices via mobile apps.

What does this mean for marketers?

It means this technology can make your job easier and make your marketing efforts much more effective.

Why?

These tiny devices are full of robust insights and data. They’re virtually a one-stop-shop.

Plus, they remove many hurdles associated with traditional marketing efforts.

All a customer has to do is download one little app and — BOOM!

You have the ability to deliver timely, relevant, highly specific information to them at opportune moments.

It takes personalized, dynamic marketing to an entirely new level.

I’m here to get you up to speed on the technology, its growth, and its potential impact on your business. Ready to get started?

Here’s a five-step guide to getting started with beacon technology.

Step 1: Learn About The Growth of Beacon Technology

Beacon technology first gained popularity back in 2013 when Apple unveiled the iBeacon.

Since this release, Google has created its own version specific to its user base, which is called Eddystone — to keep up with the Joneses, of course.

Retail is the most popular example of an industry that is rapidly adopting beacon technology.

It doesn’t end there.

It is showing up in practically every vertical due to its versatility.

While the technology was slower to catch on, studies predict the industry will grow by more than 75 percent by 2026.

When commenting on beacon technology, the Harvard Business Review coined it as “the missing piece in the whole mobile-shopping puzzle.”

According to one recent report by Markets and Markets, the location-based services (LBS) market is projected to grow to as much as $77.844 billion by 2021.

Proximity.Directory’s Q1 2017 Report also noted that beacons are the most popular proximity technology in the industry.

So, now that you know beacons aren’t going away anytime soon, let’s move on.

Step 2: Understand The Basics of Beacon Technology

To appreciate the marketing potential of beacons, it’s important to understand what beacons are and how they work.

Location-based mobile customer communication enables businesses to communicate information in a timely manner via mobile apps to consumers within range of a beacon.

Beacons communicate with these mobile apps via BLE signals, which as I mentioned above, stands for “Bluetooth Low Energy.”

While it may sound like the same thing, BLE is a variation of the Bluetooth standard and differs from the traditional Bluetooth you and I both know in a few ways: