Bluetooth beacons were introduced in 2013 by Apple as ibeacon and it slowly became popular as low energy device that was used to transmit promotional advertisement to connected smart devices. Over the years beacons have evolved and become cost effective, along with providing similar functionality across all types of operating systems for smart phones. The Bluetooth beacons are smart devices which are button sized and used for transmitting promotional messages to connected smart devices. Beacons have the potential to add value to marketing communication, customer satisfaction and customer delight. This white paper highlights trends, challenges and opportunities for Bluetooth beacons.

Bluetooth beacons were introduced in 2013 by Apple as ibeacon and it slowly became popular as low energy device that was used to transmit promotional advertisement to connected smart devices. Over the years beacons have evolved and become cost effective, along with providing similar functionality across all types of operating systems for smart phones. The Bluetooth beacons are smart devices which are button sized and used for transmitting promotional messages to connected smart devices. Beacons have the potential to add value to marketing communication, customer satisfaction and customer delight. This white paper highlights trends, challenges and opportunities for Bluetooth beacons.

They are widely used as an effective tool to transmit signals which are promotional advertisements to connected smart devices. During the years beacons have evolved and currently have huge demand across all industries. It is currently enhancing customer experience by giving personal and customized promotional offers.

There are norms and best practices that are being evolved across the globe to further enhance the communication methodology. Bluetooth Beacons along with proximity marketing is setting the stage for innovative marketing solutions which help the customers get a personalized experience. That too in shops and stores as opposed to ecommerce. Across various ecommerce platforms with the implementation of artificial intelligence, customers can get a personalized shopping experience. However this is not feasible in-store or malls, here Bluetooth beacons help in improving the sales by giving offers based on previous purchase history.

The Promise

Bluetooth Beacons promises users with better data, precision in terms of message activation and integration of various marketing communications across the retail sectors. A beacon is equipped to identify smartphone apps when present in a defined range of the device. This empowers the marketing team to target the audiences directly in accordance to their location and movement.

Beacons can connect to audiences with the help of smartphones as an uplink to the internet both in online and offline world. The helps the marketers adjust advertising messages and connect online market to the actual retail environment. Beacons help in collecting large set of accurate database from all users, information like when and how much time they spend at particular section of the store is shared with them. Beacons help in giving an in depth study of customer behavior by studying the sales channel and analyzing the content.

Well, it sure began with Apple with the launch of ibeacons but recently Eddystone was launched by Google. Eddystone is similar to ibeacons and works similarly on android devices which is equally popular among mobile users. With android systems there is an added feature that allows marketers to send a link. This link opens in chrome and is popular as Physical Web.

Opportunity versus Challenges

To optimize, what beacons can offer it is important that brands work together with technology, media and agency partner together to overcome various challenges. With growing technology and speed there deployment process has become simpler.

The challenge of small market size

The market size is considerably small in comparison to the number of smart phone users. This is mainly due to limitations of implementation that have further delayed the full utilization of overall market. It was launched as an iOS based application, and though Android application has been launched it is still in infancy phase. Another challenge was the number of users which have Bluetooth devices “ON” always. The market reports suggest that almost 40% of the smart devices are active users and is expected to grow with use of Fitbit and smart wearable devices. Along with this there is also concern about users having location services active on their devices.

Recent research indicate that the millennial generation is not averse to keeping the locations on and Bluetooth “ON”. However, this is when they are assured of getting something in return like coupons, offer and discounts. A popular marketing activity used by restaurant is, asking guests to check-in on their visit in return of some discount or complementary drink or dish from the menu. This gives the restaurant popularity and the guest some incentive. Though it started off with the millennials, currently people from all age groups are using this method.

Extracting business value

Bluetooth beacons work with along with technology and hence it is important to have compatible technology devices. Let us take a look at the various ways to achieve this,

Research indicates that out of the total push notifications only half of them are actually opened and around only 5% of them are actually acted upon. For some users push-notifications might be troublesome and hence it is important to maintain a balance. The notifications should not be too-many and too-less. It is important to establish proximity-based message should be used and deliver value rather than just promoting it.

Bluetooth beacons work along with mobile apps and to maintain seamless communication the application needs to be updated. Features of the application should be compatible to the changing technology and regularly updated.

The user information like location, browsing history and so on from various platforms is used to analyze and share data. However the various digital mediums are not linked together, hindering the personalized marketing content experience for users.

Focus on Privacy:

As the technology is advancing, the threat of hacking and stealing of personal data is also growing. The concern of personal data getting hacked restricts consumers to activate push notifications. Having clear and effective privacy policies that cover various location-based technology used in beacons is very important.

These are some pointers that will help the Bluetooth beacon market improve their current market position along with profitability to customers.

Conclusion:

Currently there is large requirement of the smartphone users and marketers looking for growth, and to bridge the gap beacon Bluetooth technology can be used. Though, the progress is currently slow owing to the multiple technologies involved. However, recent pilot projects that have been studied indicate positive approach and considerable growth prospects. The quality of customer experience will further influence the market and success of the beacon program. Currently, all the indications are positive and pointing towards future growth, when implemented correctly.