Mobile, big data, and geo-location: Don’t risk a deadly misfire

This sponsored post is produced by Boxever.

Mobile, big data, and geo-location are game changers for marketing and customer experience professionals — especially in the travel and retail communities.

But these can also be a double-edged sword: leverage these tools incorrectly and you risk overwhelming customers and prospects — and driving them away. On the other hand, when leveraged appropriately, backed by real-time, contextual customer intelligence, they can be a significant driver of business success — fueling customer acquisition, retention, conversion, and satisfaction.

For instance, let’s take a look at a couple of scenarios from the customer’s point of view:

1. Mary — a do-it-all mom and working professional — arranges her schedule so she can pick up her kids from school every day, drop them off at daycare and then get back to the office to finish her workday. While in transit from the school, the local movie theatre sees that she’s nearby using the geo-location functionality on its mobile app and pushes her an offer: four tickets for the price of two. Great deal, but terrible timing.

2. On the other hand, it’s Saturday morning, and Mary is actively looking for an activity to do with her kids. Following breakfast, she receives a similar offer from a nearby children’s museum. The offer and timing are spot on — and now Mary has a fun and affordable way to spend quality time with her kids.

The situation plays out similarly in travel environments:

1. John, a father of three and frequent family vacationer, travels regularly for business. Leading up to and on his business trips, he’s bombarded through mobile, social, and email with offers and options for family entertainment, dining, and attractions for the kids. Good information, but a waste of time considering this is a work trip.

2. The same scenario plays out the following week, only this time, the airline and travel retailers recognize John is traveling for business based on when he booked, his origin/destination, whether he travelled business or economy, and the type of hotel he booked with the flight. Instead of pushing him family-orientated options, the communication is centered on products and services that will actually be helpful during this trip — such as offers on car rentals, in-flight WiFi, and restaurant recommendations for client meetings. It is delivered to his smartphone — or even his smartwatch.

The differences in both of these scenarios are fairly evident. On one hand, we have retailers leveraging technology innovations — like geo-location services and mobile communication — to sell customers anytime, anywhere and as much as possible. On the other, we have more advanced retailers that are taking the next step with real-time context. They understand who the buyers are, at every point in time, and in turn, can act as a trusted companion — and not just a pesky sales person.

While recent innovations in mobile and big data have opened up avenues never before seen by marketers, for consumers, they risk quickly turning into just another means for spam. The cause is simple: most businesses simply aren’t diving deep enough; they have mountains of data at their disposal, but they’re only cracking the surface when it comes to making it actionable.

For organizations to really capitalize on this recent stream of innovation, they need to get smarter. The key here is time-based context: a customer could be a business traveler nine out of every 10 times he/she travels. But the one time they’re going on a family vacation, the hotel offers need to be family orientated, or they’re going to fall flat. Even worse: after receiving numerous irrelevant communications from a brand, it’s likely that the consumer will ignore that next email or offer — regardless of the channel it comes through. In this case, the marketing can actually have a negative effect on future sales.

And this thinking applies to a lot more than sales and marketing.

What if an airline agent knew exactly which travelers on the plane were high-value customers that recently experienced a negative customer experience event — like a lost bag or significantly delayed flight? The flight attendants now have the opportunity to offer the traveler something of value — like an upgrade or free drinks — and thus create a better in-flight experience that the customer will remember.

Many organizations are taking major strides in analyzing big data and leveraging mobile and geo-location services for marketing, sales, and an enhanced customer experience. But at the end of the day, they’re still only cracking the surface because they’re not fully applying context into the equation.

Advancing in this regard is the logical and strategic next step for the big data and customer intelligence industry. Many organizations are already operating in this manner, and seeing significant gains in sales, customer service, loyalty and repeat business.

Dig deeper: Download the ebook Personalization in Travel Marketing to learn how big data can be used for enhanced personalized marketing.

Dave O’Flanagan is the CEO and Founder of Boxever, the predictive analytics startup based in Dublin, Ireland and Boston, Mass.

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