Aaron Strout

Head of location based marketing

WCG

Blog.stroutmeister.com

Aaron is the head of location based marketing at WCG, a global agency offering integrated creative, interactive and marketing communications services to clients in healthcare, consumer products and technology. At WCG, Aaron not only focuses on helping customers with mobile marketing and location based marketing but also helps provide a social voice for the company via his blogging, podcasting and speaking activities. Prior to joining WCG, Aaron spent time as the CMO of social media agency, Powered Inc., VP of social media at Mzinga and director of interactive at Fidelity Investments.

In addition to his knowledge of the interactive and social media landscape, Aaron has more than 18 years of online marketing and advertising experience, with a strong background in integrated and online marketing. Aaron is a founding member and former president of (BIMA) and a member and former board member of the Massachusetts Innovation & Technology Exchange (MITX). Aaron also sits on the advisory board of SavvyAuntie.com and Vintank.

Aaron is also the co-author of, Location Based Marketing for Dummies (Wiley).

If you’re a baby boomer or older, you may remember those infuriating telemarketing calls where the overly enthusiastic caller would try and sell you something that you had absolutely no interest in whatsoever. Fast-forward to today and a new era of marketing known as geo-targeting. Although this new form of marketing also has the potential to offend your customers, it differs from telemarketing in that the message is targeted based on the consumer’s location. The size and location of the business is irrelevant, but the digital presence is essential. After print, radio, television and telemarketing came the era of inbound marketing that included email blasts, search marketing, social media and blogging, but people grew defensive because digital media was more invasive than earlier forms of marketing; however, the greater emphasis on sharing, collaboration and customer engagement has led to growth of the trend. According to the history of marketing timeline published on blog.hubspot.com, by 2011, 50 percent of Americans owned a Smartphone, three fourths of the American population is now online and two thirds of Americans regularly use social networks, therefore it can be deduced that this is where most target markets can be found. Geo-marketing analytics can be used to influence sales and direct marketing decisions. Patricio Robles noted on econsultancy.com, “Major brands are increasingly betting that geolocation-based social networks are worth experimenting with.” According to Dave Bui’s blog on saleschase.com, geo-marketing is currently cheaper and more effective than conventional marketing and delivers a higher return on investment. The flip side is that just two years ago, research by Forrester indicated that not enough people used location-based social networks rendering the market too small. But now, Bui noted, “Local online advertising is expected to grow 255% to US $35 billion by 2014.” Mobile marketing done via SMS texting, Apps and mobile versions of Web sites needs to be clear and concise and should give the customer a reason to want to know more. Social community tools like Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Foursquare and Wiki sites should also be used to engage your customers. To turn this trend into an advantage for your organization, consider the following. Location is a great ally. Be visible to localized search. Seek out the customers right around you. Let customers decide to play the proximity game. Lastly, a word of caution, geo-marketing overload is spam to your customers.