There is no sliver of doubt about where beacon technology and proximity marketing is going. Growing at a CAGR of 29.8%, the market for proximity marketing is going to be worth USD 52.46 billion by 2022. Let’s not forget the whopping 53% of consumers that are willing to share their location to receive relevant advertising.

This accounts for why retailers are starting to see a 9% increase in their profits and a 175% ROI.

It’s crystal clear that proximity marketing, especially beacons, are the way to go. But is choosing an MLM (Multi-Level Marketing) company or network marketing solution the right way to go?

What is MLM or network marketing?

Essentially an MLM or Multi-level marketing company is a type of marketing strategy where revenue is earned through the sale of the product, and the compensation for each member is either dependent on direct sales or how much the people he/she recruits sells.

                   Click on what describes you best.

I’m a reseller of beacons                                      I’m a business owners looking to deploy beacons

Beaconstac as a solution for proximity marketing resellers

As a proximity marketing reseller, this is why you should steer clear of MLM companies:

1. Recruiting and enrolling:

Recruiting other people forms the backbone of an MLM company. While this may seem like a particularly creative way to make more money, to get started, you need to know someone who is already part of the MLM program. That may not be the hardest part but to ensure you make money, you have to keep recruiting more people. Precisely the reason why you should choose Beaconstac. There is no catch, no need to know someone on the inside and no need to recruit more people. You can take your time to understand the product and use it to its fullest potential making you inevitably more money than an MLM. 

2. Activation fees:

Any MLM company will require the reseller to pay some sort of an activation fee to get their membership started. Why pay an activation fee and monthly fees for the beacons when you can skip all of that with a wholesome proximity marketing company, like Beaconstac? Purchase your beacons once and for all and only pay the subscription for the extremely intuitive dashboard.

3. The lack of a comprehensive platform:

As a proximity marketing reseller who provides complete solutions to their clients, not having a beacon platform that does a comprehensive analysis and tracks campaigns suboptimal. Since MLM companies are all about moving their product, do not expect a dashboard as intuitive as Beaconstac’s. With Beaconstac, not only are you in complete control of what kind of notification to send, but you also get to set rules, monitor CTRs, schedule campaigns for later and send notifications in multiple languages. These are crucial features for a value-added reseller who manages campaigns for his clients.

4. No white-label option:

As a VAR, this is possibly the most important detail. Are you able to sell beacons with your branding? In an MLM? No. But, with Beaconstac’s comprehensive reseller plans you get the option to explore this opportunity.

5. No support for iOS devices & third-party apps:

Unlike the MLM companies that provide only an Eddystone solution for Android devices, Beaconstac has a complete end-to-end solution and supports both Eddystone and iBeacon protocols that are of greater advantage to a proximity marketing reseller. Beaconstac offers an SDK to help build or integrate their own iOS or Android app with Beaconstac. Not only that, Beaconstac also has an app called Nearbee that is designed for iOS devices and can detect beacon signals and show notfications to iOS users just like Google Nearby does. 

6. No help or support if things go south:

Once you buy your way into an MLM, you are pretty much on our own. There is no real help as to how you should get started, how the beacons are supposed to be deployed or even what the best use case is.. To top all that, there is no dedicated support to help you with any technical issues. Choose Beaconstac and right from which beacons you should buy to how to deploy them; the dedicated technical support team is there to guide you. Your issues – big or small – will be addressed immediately and efficiently. We also have a dedicated weekly onboarding webinar targeted at new customers.

Checkout, Beaconstac’s global partner program

Beacon technology for business owners

If you are a business owner seeking to invest in the marvel of beacon technology, don’t choose an MLM company. Here’s why:

1. Channel your time into your business not recruiting:

As a business owner, your main prerogative is to be able to drum up more business. That gets deprioritized in an MLM because the only way you can generate revenue is by recruiting more people. Choose Beaconstac and focus all your energy on how you can incorporate beacons into your strategy to improve your business

2. Not enough beacon options:

Since an MLM is trying to push its product, you do not have the time to acquaint yourself with the inner workings of the beacon. One product cannot suffice every use case. Beaconstac, on the other hand, has 5 different types of beacons including an extremely portable option called a keychain beacon.

3. No way to get the campaign analytics:

Is being able to send a message to nearby smartphones enough? What about information on how well your campaign is doing in terms of notifications sent, the CTR and best practices on how to create campaigns. Since MLM companies only care about selling more of their product, the onus of tracking analytics is on you. That is why you need Beaconstac’s dashboard. It isn’t enough to merely sell beacons and harp about how amazing the technology is. You need to be able to fine-tune your campaigns to suit your specific use case. The dashboard lets you do all of that. Customise your messages, insert your logo, gifs and send it to smartphones nearby in multiple languages. You can also send out forms for people to fill in, coupons for discount or landing pages to redirect them to. Monitoring how your campaign is doing is a piece of cake with the dashboard, and you can keep an eye on your beacon’s battery level through the Beaconstac app.

4. All devices are not supported:

Most MLM companies explicitly state that you can only send messages to Android devices which is a travesty. It makes no sense not to have a plan to market to both iPhone and Android users and Beaconstac understands that. Beaconstac supports both iBeacon and Eddystone protocols. In the case of Android phones, there is no need for an app. For iOS devices, a relevant app needs to be downloaded. We offer an SDK to integrate your existing app with Beaconstac. We also support Samsung Closeby integration which is pretty useful in regions like China where some of Google’s features are restricted. If you’re looking for an app that can be used to market to iOS users and works like Google Nearby does, look no further than Beaconstac’s own app, Nearbee.

5. Not enough information:

There just isn’t enough information provided by MLM companies about how the beacons work, why you should be using them or even where you could be using them. Whereas, Beaconstac has more e-books and blogs than you can imagine to guide you every step of the way. Right from what the future of proximity marketing looks like to how to get the most out of your beacons, Beaconstac has got it covered.

6. Service cancellation nightmare:

Say you bought a beacon from an MLM, but it doesn’t work for you like it was advertised. Cancelling your subscription would be the next logical step but without a helpful support team, that may be a huge problem. But with Beaconstac, you get a dedicated technical support team that is ready to help you set up for the first time, answer your queries and make sure there are no payment related issues.

Adopting app-less proximity marketing solutions with Beaconstac

Beaconstac offers app-less solutions like NFC and QR codes as well. Businesses that want to explore cost-effective means to engage with new customers can try out NFC stickers and QR codes. Brands and businesses have been exploring NFC and QR codes but the past couple of years with the Apple’s iOS 11 update that provided native support for QR and the latest versions of iPhones that can read NFC tags without an app, has really given these technologies a new lease on life.

Blending NFC, QR and BLE beacons is the recipe for the most comprehensive proximity marketing solution.

Choosing an MLM company isn’t going to guarantee success or help in the long haul. Before you decide to take the plunge, do take a look at what you’re getting out of the deal for investing your time and money.

With great technology comes responsibility and Beaconstac understands that. Our comprehensive partner plans answer every last question you may have, and you can schedule a demo to see how it works even before you decide to purchase the proximity marketing technologies.

• Author Details

Author Details

Sneh Ratna Choudhary

Sneh is a Content Marketing Manager at Beaconstac and has a penchant for all things tech and startups that improve human lives. She adores dogs, Radiohead, and Michael Gary Scott.

[email protected]