How does a world-famous magazine use proximity marketing to impact brick-and-mortar retailers? With over 800 locations and even more Bluetooth beacons, ELLE turns clicks into real in-store visits and purchases.
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Retail Proximity Marketing – Best Apps
ShopAdvisor and RetailMeNot are staple apps for shoppers, promo lovers, and brand enthusiasts. Their users already love the deals, so how could they attract a greater audience and shake up the way consumers view them? ELLE readers are a different breed. They use ELLE to get the latest trends, insights, and editorials.
How did they use proximity marketing?
They had 803 different shopping locations across the US outfitted Bluetooth beacons. These beacons gave the two apps proximity data in order to send more targeted, timely messages to users. Now, instead of simply saying “check out this new offer!” the app could combine a user’s past history with your exact location to deliver deals they would really enjoy.
The results
Alexandra Carlin, VP of Public Relations at Hearst Magazines, praised the project, saying:
“Thanks to beacons & the platform we were able to gain tremendous insight into the optimal mix of content and location necessary to drive conversion.”
In the end, the program wasn’t just about getting visits. It was creating a scaleable system based on data. With proximity campaign, the apps were able to achieve higher Click-through rates, more in-store visits, and actual end purchases. Surprisingly, even with only four major retail chains involved, ELLE was able to make real changes to a long-standing, seemingly hard to digitalize, industry.
Enjoyed this article? Want to learn more about ELLE’s strategy, and find out how to take your new marketing campaign to the next level? Make sure to check out this complete ELLE campaign report.