Businesses from all around the world are waking up to the idea of Location-based services. They have made a fortune out of this little “addition” to social media. Popular retailers have made a fortune out of LBS such as FourSquare. Seeing the stupendous success of this popular location-based networking site, more and more companies are making a foray. For a full list, go here.
Now, we already know how smart phones have shaped the way business are reaching for their consumer. For those who still aren't sure about the importance of mobile phones, here is the infographic by the awesome folks at FlowTown.
The most important thing that needs to be noted is – these location-based services have made a fortune out of mobile phones only. Based upon the ratings given by fellow people, a user decides on whether or not to visit a joint. If you, as a company, give out special discounts via your company page in these sites, more and more people will recommend your services to their peers.
The market is highly driven by people who are looking for small discounts – between 10% to 20%. You can make tremendous amounts of profits through these. Most companies, however, are jumping into these sites just because “everyone” is in here. Unless you have a clear cut goal, you just cannot be on top of the race, no matter if you hire a social media person for $25,000 a year. Make sure that you are fully aware of your goals and what are you going to do to achieve the profit and sustain the margin.
As those who are embracing these services are still a small group, it is always advisable to start early than to wait till the majority embrace it “just to be sure”. The biggest advantage of going in it early is that you will have a huge grip by the time others go online and embrace this service.
Start early because location-based services are the future.
