From big brands to small scale businesses, mobile has today become a critical part of the marketing mix for businesses all over the world. According to a recent eMarketer study, mobile will account for 51% of the total digital ad market worldwide, by 2016. Mobile ads on smartphones and tablets are already having a growing impact on driving in-store traffic, according to a report from NinthDecimal, a San Francisco-based mobile intelligence firm.

The biggest takeaway from this report however is that in-store visits increased by 80 percent within 24 hours of mobile ad exposure and stayed above average store-visitation benchmarks for the following six days. This invaluable data point throws light on one of digital marketing’s biggest blind spots: the connection between digital ads and real-world customer behavior.

In this post, we will discuss in detail on how retailers can use beacons to create impactful mobile ad experiences that will in turn help drive sales:

1. Welcome offers from every department of the store

You could be a small retailer who has just started out or a big brand that has a store spread across several floors. Each kind of store needs to have a different proximity marketing strategy. For example, a small store may not really want to give away one offer per department. They could do with just one promotion rack and deliver information on all offers as a single beacon-enabled message to the customer. On the other hand, a large store can have several departments and a number of offers specific to each department.

Sending out a welcome message that is triggered by the beacon at the entrance of the store and lists out all the offers across the store is a great way of ensuring that your customer doesn’t miss out on promotions that could have been of interest to him/her.  This way, your customer customer can then select offers he/she likes, and visit those departments.

2. Provide more information on products

Though beacons are popularly known for targeting mobile ads, they can also be used to push value-added information to customers. For example, say a customer is detected to be standing in the houseware department, right next to the display of Coffee/Espresso Makers. You can use beacons to push product demo videos that will educate the customer on the brewing flexibility of the Coffee Maker, thus helping them make the right decision.

3. Cross sell products by integrating beacons with customer loyalty program

One of the best ways to keep your customers coming back for more, is to offer an engaging customer loyalty program that is intertwined with everyday needs and preferences of your customers. This is where beacons come into the picture. For example, say a customer is detected to be standing in the houseware department, right next to the display of  Coffee/Espresso Makers. Integrating beacons with your mobile strategy will help you keep track of his/her loyalty points and trigger mobile ads with an enticing offer on that Coffee/Espresso Maker. Thus intertwining beacon data with your customer loyalty programs will help you engage customers better by offering more relevant deals.

4. Up sell products based on previous purchase history

Previous purchases are often the single best guide to what a customer will buy next. And with beacons you can use this invaluable data to push personalized offers that are hard to refuse. For example, when a customer enters the women’s section, you could use beacons to push offers on a beige shirt that goes with trousers that she had bought earlier.

5. Inform them which products on their shopping list or wishlist are available in-store

As a retailer you can enhance in-store navigation by integrating your customers’ shopping lists or wishlists with your retail app. You can then use mobile ads to help shoppers locate the items that are available in-store and guide them to the aisle from where it can be picked up. Implementation of such in-store reminders will help you ensure that your customers will never forget to pick up the things that they need.

Are there any other factors that play a critical role in creating impactful mobile ad experiences? Let me know in the comments below. If you are planning a beacon pilot, take a look at Beaconstac, that includes everything you need to get started. Using Beaconstac you can set up your own campaign, without a developer’s help!