Both Facebook and Snapchat have recently launched features based on providing location data. Both of these developments have potential business benefits for companies engaged in social media advertising.
Find WiFi to draw footfall
Facebook went live with its global “Find Wi-Fi” service on iOS and Android devices. This will enable billions of users to instantly locate their nearest Facebook Hotspot.
How is this a boost for businesses? Quite simply, it provides another vehicle for you to drive footfall to your location.
To take advantage, businesses need to have maximised their Facebook profile and presence, including enrolling on the Facebook WiFi programme for commercial organisations.
Not only is it another way in which Facebook can grow its presence around the world, by helping users to easily and quickly access wifi, but it also builds more potential social media advertising initiatives.
It also makes serious inroads into the services provided by social media Wi-Fi companies such as Zenreach, Purple and Cloud4Wi.
Snap Map potential
Around the same time Facebook launched its new location-based value proposition, Snapchat unveiled its new mapping feature.
Users of this social media platform can now place themselves – and locate posts from other users on Snap Maps.
This is a more sophisticated version of its existing location offering, and could eventually result in businesses having the opportunity to flag up their presence as part of a network of local interest points.
How the development translates into an advertising opportunity is still to be seen. However, it would appear likely that parent company Snap will find ways to offer commercial applications, as part of its plan to increasingly personalise and categorise the vast amount of Snapchat content.
Phone searches do create consumer traffic
Something Yelp and TripAdvisor have cashed in on, to build hospitality and leisure outlets.
In 2014, Google announced that its proved 50% of consumers who used their phone to search for a retail outlet then actioned that information and visited in person the same day.
It is now believed that 91% of people in the UK own mobile technology – and its use has increased exponentially in the last two years. So, it’s clear that the value of location-based advertising is even greater in 2017.
To track down the latest developments and “pinpoint” the best social media advertising opportunities, contact DPOM today. We could put your business on the map in more ways than one.
