THE DEFINITIVE GUIDE TO GEO-FENCING

Transcription

1 THE DEFINITIVE GUIDE TO GEO-FENCING +44 (0) Dynmark International Ltd 2014

2 The Donky definitive guide focusses on geo-fencing, a technology that has increased the options for contextual marketing, reporting & operational messaging. If this is the first you ve heard of geo-fencing or if location-based services are something you are now learning more about, this definitive guide will enable you to develop a better awareness and understanding of exactly what geo-fencing is, how it works and a range of examples illustrating how you can use location-based marketing to meet your objectives. Along the way we ll provide various use cases for your inspiration, should you decide to use geo-fencing. Read on to learn how geo-fencing technologies will ensure that you do a better job of locating and communicating via highly personalised, contextually aware messaging and gain increased insight into your customers behaviours. 2

3 CONTENTS 1. INTRODUCTION So why the sudden interest in geo-fencing? 2. UNDERSTANDING GEO-FENCING What is Location Based Services? How does it work? What is geo-fencing? What analytics can be gathered from a geo-fence? A great use for this data; marketing automation 3. AUTOMATING REAL-TIME COMMUNICATONS The benefits of automation Using automation to enrich the customer journey Combining push messaging with geo-fencing 4. POTENTIAL USES FOR GEO-FENCES Automating messaging to users based on their location Tracking on a map for planning display advertising Updating CRM with location information Gathering user information on fence crossing 5. GEO-FENCING IN ACTION VoucherCloud Pizza Hut Visit Somerset At the airport 3

4 INTRODUCTION Smartphones are getting smarter. As consumer behaviours and expectations have evolved and grown more sophisticated, so have their mobile devices. Smartphones today are more secure, more integrated, more connected, more pervasive and more location-aware than ever before. As a result, an incredible amount of highly accurate location-based data is being tracked and transmitted as consumers move from place to place and go about their daily lives, smartphones often in use and always close to hand. It all means that the opportunities have never been better for businesses to use this location-based data to learn more about their customers and deliver increasingly contextually aware communications directly to their mobile devices. In this guide we focus specifically on geo-fencing, a technology that has enabled contextual marketing to mobile users upon entry to or exit of a certain external boundary. In other words marketers can establish virtual fences around predefined geographic areas that, when interacted with, can prompt the delivery of a push notification and/or update a CRM system. If you are new to the term geo-fencing or if location-based services are something you ve just started investigating, over the next few pages you will develop a better awareness and understanding of exactly what geo-fencing is, how it works in practice and a range of ways you can use location-based marketing to meet your objectives. Along the way we ll describe various use cases for you to refer back to should you decide to use geo-fencing technologies to do a better job at locating and helping your customers, improving the customer experience, matching the right customer with the right content or offer, delivering highly personalised, contextually aware messaging or gaining insight into the movements and behaviour of your customers. 4

5 SO WHY THE SUDDEN INTEREST IN GEO-FENCING? IN SHORT: Technology has advanced rapidly. Barriers to entry are low the technology is low-cost and relatively easy to set up. There is a consumer appetite for personalised marketing. There are countless opportunities for brands, each with real business benefits. "Location is the new cookie", says Asif Khan, founder and president of the Location Based Marketing Association. With the number of mobile apps that leverage contextual or location data in use set to jump from 2.8bn to 7.5bn in 2019; he may well be right. Speaking to the industry media, he shared his belief that while there are privacy and ethical considerations, consumers understand the premise of true value exchange and readily trade their data for content that is personally relevant. Whilst we too acknowledge that consumer concerns regarding privacy require careful thought and a sensitive approach, we are encouraged by research that supports our clients experiences: 41% of consumers say they would share more information with companies via mobile in exchange for relevant coupons or offers. Location data is the data people are most willing to share. 1 To give some context as to the scale of the adoption of location-based technologies, BI Intelligence has reported that 50 of the 100 top retailers in the US trialled location-based services in their stores last year. The same source has predicted that by the end of 2015, these technologies will be present in 30-35% of store locations. 2 This in mind, it s of little surprise that 91% of marketers are choosing to invest in location-based mobile marketing campaigns this year. 3 1 Hipcricket 2 Business Insider Intelligence 3 Salesforce 5

6 UNDERSTANDING GEO-FENCING WHAT IS LOCATION BASED SERVICES? Location Based Services (LBS) are services that use knowledge about where a service user, typically a user of a mobile information device such as a smart phone or tablet computer, is located. HOW DOES IT WORK? All phones, regardless of their age or sophistication, contain a feature enabling them to be tracked using the cellular network. However this type of tracking is far less accurate than that enabled by other features commonly built into today s phones and smartphones, tablets and laptops. GPS Using their Global Positioning System (GPS) feature phones can transmit a unique frequency that GPS satellites can trace, pinpointing the exact location of the device on the surface of the earth. Whilst the signal range is very long, when the direct line of sight of the satellites is obscured (when a device is taken inside a building or below ground for example) or the signal is interfered with, service is disrupted. BLUETOOTH Bluetooth is used for close proximity location-based services. Whilst the range is limited, typically to 50m, the detected proximity of a device to the Beacon emitting the Bluetooth signal is accurate. It is important to bear in mind that the location recorded is not geographic, but a measure of proximity to the Beacon. 6

7 WI-FI Wi-Fi tracking is commonly used when GPS tracking is deemed inadequate indoors for example. Wi-Fi tracking determines a device s location by drawing a virtual map using location-based data collected from the Wi-Fi hotspot itself, neighbouring Wi- Fi hotspots and the GPS data of devices in the area. Using triangulation, the location of the device is calculated, fairly accurately in urban areas with a higher density of Wi-Fi hotspots and less so in more rural areas where there is a lower density of hotspots and connected devices. It is important to remember that the location of a device calculated by Wi-Fi is where it could be located and not where it is. CELLULAR NETWORKS (4G, 3G, EDGE, GPRS, ETC.) All mobile phones, from the most basic to the 4G enabled, provide geo-location data in the same way. Mobile phones are constantly working to connect to the base station that provides the best possible signal. The majority of the time, a device will be in range of several base stations. By triangulating the location of each of the multiple base stations a device is in range of, a relatively accurate location can be calculated. The stronger the signal and higher the number of base stations a device can connect with, the more accurate the location information. CELLULAR (GSM) Regardless of what type of connectivity a mobile phone natively supports, if for whatever reason the device cannot connect, its location cannot be known. However should the mobile phone s SIM card number (phone number) and IMEI number be known, a request can be made to a network provider that supports GSM (Global System for Mobile communication) to provide details of the location of the base station the mobile phone is connected to. However this could be between two and five miles away from the phone s specific location. 7

8 WHAT IS GEO-FENCING? Geo-fencing is a feature in a software program that uses the global positioning system (GPS) or radio frequency identification (RFID) to define geographical boundaries. A geo-fence is a virtual perimeter around a real world geographical area; users of geo-fencing are able to pinpoint a location and define a radius around that point in order to create a fence which can be tracked by an app within a device using location based services (LBS). HOW DOES IT WORK? Geo-fences are created using an interactive map tool. Users enter a location and set a radius, creating a virtual perimeter; this is used as a geo-fence. Details of the geo-fence are then communicated to a set of mobile devices. Apps on these devices then use the device s own LBS to monitor the device s location, identifying when the device has crossed the fence. Search geo-fencebuilder Cancel Save & Close Geo Fence Details App Space: Donky Messenger + Name: Cheltenham Geo Fence Labels: South West Create a Geo-Fence Build your geo-fence using the controls on the map view or by entering the details of its location and radius below. For more info on how to build your fences, visit our knowledge base Geo-Fence Overview Location: Cheltenham, GL50 3LN Search Location: Cheltenham Search Latitude: , Longitude: Radius: 5 Miles Search Result: Cheltenham, GL50 3LN Latitude: Longitude: Geo-fence Radius: 100 Miles Reset Create Geo Fence 8

9 WHAT HARDWARE & SOFTWARE SUPPORT IS THERE FOR IT? Although geo-fencing is supported by desktop operating systems for things like identifying your time zone, current location and tailoring web content, it has many more applications when used in a mobile or tablet app, for real-time communication and behaviour tracking. These days most mobile operating systems support location services. Of the three major families of operating systems, ios has supported location services since inception, Android has supported it since the release of the Android 2.2 Froyo update and Windows has supported location since the release of Windows 8.1 update. ARE THERE ANY LIMITATIONS ON THE SIZE OF A FENCE? Theoretically, there are no limits on the size of your geo-fence, but in the interests of maintaining accuracy we recommend a minimum radius of 10 metres and a maximum radius of 200 kilometres. When too small, there can be issues accurately pinpointing longitude and latitude and when too large, the curvature of the earth may present problems. 9

10 WHAT ANALYTICS CAN BE GATHERED FROM A GEO-FENCE? Once geo-fences are active and running on your devices you can gather various types of information relating to how those fences have been interacted with. This includes: AGGREGATED DATA The number of times a geo-fence has been entered. The number of a times a geo-fence has been exited. The number of users that have entered a geo-fence. The number of users that have exited a geo-fence. The average time spent in a geo-fence. This data can be used to create a heat map, highlighting areas of concentrated activity and analysed to identify common behavioural patterns. Search geo-fence ANALYTICS App Space: Donky Messenger Choose Time Chunk: This month to date Close Select a Geo-Fence below Cheltenham Geo Fence Regions Used: (20 of 20) + GEO-FENCE SUMMARY Name: Cheltenham Geo Fence Location: Cheltenham, GL50 3LN Liverpool Geo Fence Latitude: , Longitude: Edinburgh Geo Fence Radius: 5 Miles Glasgow Geo Fence MAP GEO FENCE OVERLAYS OVERLAYS COUNT VIEW ON MAP London Geo Fence TOTAL ENTRANCES: 1,200,000 Canada Geo Fence American Geo Fence UNIQUE ENTRANCES: 945,943 NewYork Geo Fence TOTAL EXITS: 970,000 Dubia Geo Fence Sydney Geo Fence UNIQUE EXITS: 800,000 New Zealand Geo Fence AV. TIME WITHIN FENCE: 1 HR 32MINS Japan Geo Fence Papua New Guinea Geo Fence Brazil Geo Fence GEO FENCE BORDER HEAT MAPPING KEY Chile Geo Fence Peru Geo Fence Mexico Geo Fence HIGH NUMBER OF EVENTS: 1,200,000 + MEDIUM NUMBER OF EVENTS: 500,000 + LOW NUMBER OF EVENTS: 0 + San Francisco Geo Fence Perth Geo Fence Adelaide Geo Fence INDIVIDUAL DATA When a device enters a geo-fence. When a device exits a geo-fence. When a device enters AND exits a geo-fence. How long a device has spent within a geo-fence. The user that owns the device. 10

11 A GREAT USE FOR THIS DATA; MARKETING AUTOMATION With marketing automation you can automate the delivery of relevant, contextually aware communications in real-time. This way you can avoid using the awkward scenarios of 'you recently visited ' or 'we noticed you went to ' which suggest long term tracking and monitoring and are therefore less likely to be well received by customers. Insight into your customers' behaviours arrived at by effectively tracking their movements and activity can inform a marketing automation programme, ensuring your targeted campaigns reach users when they are most likely to be able to take action. 11

12 AUTOMATING REAL-TIME COMMUNICATIONS THE BENEFITS OF AUTOMATION The benefits are clear when delivering real-time, location-aware content that provides value to the recipient at the time that is read, as are the benefits of updating your CRM with fresh customer data in real-time. However no businesses have the ability or resource to do this manually. This is why it is becoming increasingly common for businesses to use software to automate elements of their business communications, delivering certain pieces of content or communications at a range of set times and frequencies, maximising ROI and freeing up human resource. USING AUTOMATION TO ENRICH THE CUSTOMER JOURNEY Once businesses are aware of the ways they could add value at each stage of the customer journey they can then decide how best to fulfil this requirement and when and how to deliver the appropriate content. The use of triggers (based on rules) introduces the option to plot message delivery throughout a customer journey or action taken by your user. COMBINING PUSH MESSAGING WITH GEO-FENCING Push is a permission-based mobile messaging channel that allows for the delivery of useful and informative content to the mobile device user. Using this simple mechanism, notifications can be delivered direct to a user s home screen, waking up their phone or tablet upon arrival. These notifications are text-based, usually containing snippets of real-time information or alerts. They are widely used to increase app engagement and user retention. Users only receive push notifications when they have granted the app permission to deliver them. Configuration of push notifications for apps (i.e granting or withdrawing permissions, updating messaging preferences) is usually found in the settings menu of the phone or tablet or in the app itself. Push notifications are easy to implement and, when best practices are followed, can be a great way to interact with users. However, businesses should be wary of overstepping the mark and spamming users. 12

13 The ability to send push notifications to a mobile device based on interactions with a geo-fence provides new options for a range of industries. For example, when a device enters a geo-fence around a town centre, content relevant to an individual s current location could be sent - this could be details of an event that afternoon, a live update on available parking spaces in different car parks, or a timely offer or coupon for a local shop or café. AT&T 100% 11:56 Tuesday 3 March Donky 20m ago Welcome to Cheltenham! Get 20% off shirts in store today! slide to view 13

14 POTENTIAL USES FOR GEO-FENCES While more and more businesses are beginning to explore this technology, new uses for it are being uncovered on almost a daily basis. Below are just a few examples of ways geo-fencing technologies can be used to improve personalised communications, drive customer action, gather useful data and make operational efficiencies. AUTOMATING MESSAGING TO USERS BASED ON THEIR LOCATION It is possible to send messages to devices based on their interactions with a geo-fence. These could be triggered by either the entering or exiting of a fence, both or time spent within a fenced area. This could serve any number of purposes. FOR EXAMPLE: Making a good first impression by delivering an offer or welcome message to shoppers or visitors. Improving the shopper or visitor experience by providing location-specific experience enhancing content. Enhancing customer service by offering assistance. Driving footfall and increasing sales by delivering timely offers or coupons, attaching a voucher to the messages where applicable. Prompting referrals (recommend a friend) or social media sharing. Managing traffic sending to individuals in certain areas, influencing footfall. Delivering tailored real-time updates or reminders. TRACKING ON A MAP FOR PLANNING DISPLAY ADVERTISING Aggregated data can be used to create a heat map, revealing where and when the largest volumes of entrances and/or exits are occurring. This can help businesses make data driven decisions about the placement or pricing of display advertising, ensuring they make use of or attach the appropriate premiums to areas with the highest exposure to foot traffic. UPDATING CRM WITH LOCATION INFORMATION Some platforms will notify an external system when a fence is crossed or when a user has spent a certain 14

15 amount of time within a fence. By feeding visit information back into a CRM for example, businesses gain the opportunity to deliver an effective visit follow up communication. By linking their mobile CRM to their standard CRM a theme park for example could record each individual s visit history, record their visit frequency and tailor the marketing communications accordingly. GATHERING USER INFORMATION ON FENCE CROSSINGS It is possible to export the details of all the users that crossed a particular fence over a specified period of time. Businesses can use this data to deliver future highly targeted campaigns to an audience segment they have strong reason to believe could be receptive. 15

16 GEO-FENCING IN ACTION VOUCHERCLOUD The successful trial of geo-fencing technologies by the online money saving business Vouchercloud shows just how influential messages delivered to consumers at the opportune moment can be. The brand used geo-fences to enable users of their app to receive push notifications containing relevant offer or discount codes automatically whenever they entered a specific radius of one of their contributing retailers (these included Prezzo, Papa Johns, Jones Bootmaker, Disney Store and Loch Fyne amongst others). An average conversion rate of 30% was achieved, a rate far higher than the industry average for other communication channels. Staggeringly, the retailer Hotel Chocolat confirmed that the location based messages used in support of normal marketing and communications were so effective in driving footfall and improving sales that revenue increased by 80% during the trial period. Keen to understand the various factors affecting the success of the trial, the brand tested the delivery of different types of messages at different times and at different proximities to the stores. It was found for example, that consumers were most receptive to restaurant offers at weekends and around lunch and dinner times. It was also reported that the average conversion rate increased to 35% when the radius was restricted to 50m of the store s entrance. 16

17 PIZZA HUT Another business that has successfully taken advantage of advances in locationbased technologies is Pizza Hut. During a 15 month period they set up geofence locations within a half-mile radius of each of their 340 Pizza Hut stores. So when a customer was detected to have stepped within a half-mile of a Pizza Hut, an SMS containing an offer was triggered and delivered directly to their phone. This resulted in a significant uplift in sales. They estimated that this simple but effective location-based SMS marketing campaign was on average 142% more efficient at increasing incremental sales than campaigns they d ran on other channels. 17

18 VISIT SOMERSET Visit Somerset are the first British tourism body to use geo-fencing technologies to engage directly with visitors to their region, delivering helpful locationaware content and communications, driving footfall to businesses and attractions and enhancing the visitor experience. Ahead of launching their brand new app, Visit Somerset setup geo-fences around various sites of interest including Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty such as the Mendip Hills and historical buildings such as Glastonbury Abbey. Now, when opted-in app users enter these territories, they automatically receive messages containing information pertaining to the wildlife or historical background of the place they are visiting. Geo-fencing technologies also enable Visit Somerset to send app users push notifications containing helpful information relating to local events, restaurants, shops and leisure attractions. Keen to prevent messages becoming an irritant, the app has a cool down feature. In addition to using the technology to push out messages, the tourism body are also using knowledge of their users locations to prompt them to share their experiences online and to enter their photographs into various competitions. 18

19 AT THE AIRPORT Virgin Atlantic is one of several major airlines to have opted to use geofencing technology to share contextually aware communications with its passengers. In 2014 the airline trialled the use of close proximity geofencing to deliver personalised offers and notifications to passengers visiting the Upper Class Wing at London Heathrow Airport. This included prompts to open their mobile boarding pass, triggered as they approached security, and a 0% commission offer triggered as they approached a currency exchange booth. Virgin Atlantic is now reportedly exploring ways of using the technology to send content to passengers such as airport maps or previews of their in-flight entertainment. OTHER USES OF GEO-FENCING TECHNOLOGY IN AN AIRPORT Tracking passenger location airlines could use geo-fencing technologies in combination with their apps to track their passengers path through the airport, triggering the delivery of relevant information or locating them should they be late to the gate. Aiding navigation used as part of an airport app, geo-fencing technologies can help locate and guide passengers to their chosen destination on the airport map. 19

20 Your Business LOGIN FREE TRIAL FREE TRIAL REQUEST DEMO EE 11:30 100% EE 11:30 100% Alfred Moszynski 11:03 Sophie Brown 11:05 Rachel Lyons 11:07 11:08 11:06 11:09 LOGIN Add Files FREE TRIAL Write a message... LOGIN FREE TRIAL DOWNLOAD APP DOWNLOAD APP Alfred Moszynski Rachel Lyons Sophie Brown Alfred Moszynski 11:03am Good time in Newquay yesterday? How did you all get on with lighting, angles etc? Looking forward to seeing pics! Write a message... Add Files Sophie Brown Ooh yeah me too :) Beverley Hailes Just sorting through now. Rachel Lyons 11:07am Here are a few I took. There s at least 6 more that I think we can use, will edit those today. 11:08am Beverley Hailes They re brilliant Rach, esp like the sunset one! 11:05am 11:06am 11:09am A MESSAGING & DATA NETWORK FOR THE CONNECTED WORLD Connect, identify and interact with your customers, via apps, online channels and any other web enabled device. Create social cohesion within your audience by letting them start conversations and share content. FREE DEMO Let us walk you through our Geo-fence services in a free demonstration. PUSH NOTIFICATIONS Create seamless Omni-Channel approach across all our online strategies, including apps. Never lose a push, we will queue undelivered messages in the network until the device becomes available. AT&T mobiledonky.com Donky Would you like to try the Donky app? NO YES AN OTT NETWORK FOR THE CONNECTED WORLD Connect, identify and interact with your customers, via apps, online channels and any other web enabled device. Create social cohesion within your audience by letting them start conversations and share content. FEATURES PRICING RESOURCES BLOG COMPANY AN OTT NETWORK FOR THE CONNECTED WORLD Connect, identify and interact with your customers, via apps, online channels and any other web enabled device. Create social cohesion within your audience by letting them start conversations and share content. FREE TRIAL REQUEST DEMO Donky Would you like to try the Donky app? NO YES RICH INBOX HTML5 content; images, video, links etc. Allow recipients to share to social media, increasing reach. Enable forwarding to contacts within the network. WELCOME! Engage Campaign Locate Hi Liz! Welcome to Donky This app showcases all the functionality of the Donky SDK and some of the capabilties of the network. Write a message WELCOME! FEATURES AN A OTT NETWORK FOR THE CONNECTED WORLD Engage Campaign Locate Connect, identify and interact with your customers, via apps, online channels and any other web enabled device. Hi Liz! Create social s cohesion within your audience by letting them start conversations and share Welcome content. to Donky This app showcases all the functionality of the Donky SDK and FREE TRIAL REQUEST DEMO some of the capabilties of the network. REPLY MESSAGING INBOX Use instead of plain push to store your messages, but also notify the user. Include attachments to give your customers more. ALFRED, RACHEL, SOP... Good time in Newquay yesterday? How did you all get on with lighting, angles etc? Looking forward to seeing pics! Ooh yeah me too :) Just sorting through now. Here are a few I took. There s at least 6 more that I think we can use, will edit those today. They re brilliant Rach, esp like the sunset one! FEATURES PRICING ING To: RESOURCES BLOG COMPANY AN A OTT NETWORK FOR THE CONNECTED WORLD Connect, identify and interact with your customers, via apps, online channels and any other web enabled device. Create social s cohesion within your audience by letting them start conversations and share content. FREE TRIAL REQUEST DEMO ALFRED, RACHEL, SOPHIE... Write a message SEND REPLY +44 (0) [email protected] Dynmark International Ltd 2014