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Is Shazam the Future of Mobile Marketing

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Are we about to finally crack the mobile marketing code? iBeacons are about to hit the mainstream in the United States. The way an Apple iBeacon works is that a store, a retailer, a hotel or resort,  has a little device that sends out offers to your smartphone if you have the appropriate app installed. So […]

Is Shazam the Future of Mobile Marketing?
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Are we about to finally crack the mobile marketing code?
iBeacons are about to hit the mainstream in the United States. The way an Apple iBeacon works is that a store, a retailer, a hotel or resort,  has a little device that sends out offers to your smartphone if you have the appropriate app installed. So when you walk by the spa, for example, on your phone an offer for a massage pops up. Fantastic, right? Hyper -targeted, real-time relevancy.
In fact, McDonald’s has tested iBeacon technology recently with a company called Piper. They did a 26 store test in Georgia, and found about an 8% lift in chicken nugget sales just due to that program. As you were driving by a McDonald’s or walking by a McDonald’s, if you had the Piper app, it would say, “Hey, come on in for a discount on chicken nuggets.” Who doesn’t want a chicken nuggets discount?

The Challenge for iBeacons – Getting the App Download

Here’s the challenge, and this has always been the challenge for mobile. Do you really want to download an app, and do you want to download a different app for each retailer? Piper is doing great, but they’re by no means a standard. So to some degree, what happens is you are preaching to the converted. If you are at McDonald’s and you see the sticker in the window or the sign on the table to download the Piper app, you’re like, “Yeah I’ll get the app.” Then, much of what you’re doing as a business owner is giving discounts to people who already love you or already are coming into your store, which is okay, but it’s certainly not the Holy Grail of marketing.

But What If You Already HAD the App?

Now, however, there is a new potential solution, which I think is brilliant. You are probably familiar with Shazam. Shazam is the app that you probably have on your phone that allows you to listen to a song, and it will tell you what the song is, and then it allows you to purchase the song with just one click. Shazam is used by approximately 100 million different people every 30 days. It is enormously popular, because it just works. It is magical.
Shazam is now starting to partner with retailers, restaurants, and hospitality brands to use the Shazam app as the iBeacon. Imagine you’re walking by that same spa that I talked about a moment ago, but that spa is playing a particular song or a particular tone or a particular something that your phone, which has Shazam turned on, recognizes and says “oh that equals this offer for a massage.” It allows you to get to those real-time relevant offers without having to download a specialized app.
(very interesting case study here about Shazam iBeacon program with Office Depot)
Now this technology is just in its infancy, but it is tremendously interesting and important, because it will allow us to access relevant mobile offers without having to go through the hassle of getting this whole array and collection of apps on our phone.
For more on this and similar concepts, check out the excellent book “The Mobile Commerce Revolution” from Tim Hayden and Tom Webster. 

Sprout Social Shoutout

242f722d09d7cdc1a06d5b3d925384d6_400x400Today’s Sprout Social Shoutout is for my friend Michael Port. I got a chance to hang out with Michael in Puerto Rico a couple of days ago. Fantastic. He was down there doing some speaking for a different event. We just happened to be in Puerto Rico at the same time. He’s got a new book coming out this fall called “Steal the Show,” all about how to deliver an amazing performance everywhere in your life and everywhere in your business. You should absolutely be following him in social media. You will be better for it.

About Jay Today

This video is f01-sprout-social-logo-MAINrom Jay Today is my near-daily 3-minute video where I talk about social media, content marketing, business and life. JayToday is available on Youtube, iTunes (as a video podcast, and now as an audio podcast too), and at JayToday.tv. candidio_logo@2x The show is sponsored by Sprout Social (which I use for my social media), and Candidio (a great video editing service).

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