Proximity marketing is a great way to connect and engage with customers in a specified location. Due to its effectiveness and relative low cost, it’s an ideal option for small businesses. It can be utilised by any business with a physical location, however it works very well when used by cultural organisations. This can include things like festivals and live events, theatres and even excursions. Did you know, for example, that Tripadvisor says that globally 42% of travellers use their smartphone to organise trips. These so-called ‘connected travellers’ are twice as likely to use their phone to book accommodation and almost three quarters (72%) use their smartphones to look for restaurants while on holiday. These stats show just how big an opportunity proximity marketing is for the leisure and travel industry.
One organisation that has used proximity marketing to great effect is Shakespeare’s Globe in London. Finding it hard to recruit audiences up against big shows of the West End (with big budgets to match), they turned to proximity marketing. By focusing their efforts on mobile phones within a mile of the theatre, they have seen great results. One of the main benefits of proximity marketing is the ability to pinpoint your target market, in this case tourists from Spain, France, United States, Germany and China who have historically been good customers. The Globe also sent marketing messages to tourists logging into the WiFi of local hotels and the ads appeared on apps that are popular among tourists, including London Bus Checker and XE Currency.
Results
This proximity marketing campaign delivered a click-through rate (CTR) of 1.08%, which is a fantatsic 4 times higher than the industry average . Equally, the click to conversion rate was an incredible 33.8%
Shakespeare’s Globe saw an unprecedented ticket sales increase of 30%+ year on year and will be repeating the campaign.
