10-Minute Guide to Marketing with iBeacons

How to use BLE beacons to drive footfall and sales

ByIan MaloneManaging Director, We Are Apps

1 Strictly speaking, iBeacon is the term used by Apple to describe BLE beacons but it’s also becoming the genericterm for the technology. However, for the rest of this guide we’ll refer to BLE beacons or simply beacons, so thatit’s clear we are talking about the same technology that can also be used with many Android and Windows Phonesmartphones.2 Timberland clothing stores, US, Summer 2013

What are iBeacons?iBeacons are tiny, battery-powered devices that canbe used to exactly locate a smartphone app user ina very precise physical location. Knowing a user is inproximity means a marketer can provide them withhighly relevant communications.

For example, you might want to pull a nearby userinto your location with an incentive offer. Or createa journey around a large store, taking a customerfrom one related product to the next. Or you maybe an FMCG brand that wants to make its point-of-sale campaigns more interactive.

As we’ll show later in this guide, there are a myriadof ways marketers can use beacons in highlyrelevant and engaging ways.

The costs are minimal. It’s entirely possible to createcampaigns and content that can be delivered for afew pennies at a time.

Because knowing where the user is enablesextremely relevant messaging, early case studies areshowing that open rates are averaging 75% withredemption rates of up to 50%. So what little youdo spend delivers big returns on investment.

There’s a more detailed description of how thetechnology works towards the end of this guide.But an actual beacon is a very simple thing. It’swhat you can use it for – proximity marketing -that is so exciting.

3 See How does the technology work? for more details on how smartphones are alerted.

How do you use BLE beacons?We’ll set out some use cases in a few pages time,but here’s a simple example of using beacons in amarketing context:

You place a beacon near the front door of yourstore. This beacon’s ID number is known by an appyou have produced for your chain of stores.

When someone who has downloaded your app isnearby a message can be shown on theirsmartphone’s lock-screen, similar to an incomingtext message.3 This message can say something assimple as ‘20% off, if you visit in the next 20minutes.’

When the user taps the message, they are taken toyour app, which opens on a page you have createdthat tells them how to redeem the offer.

In the background, you can use analytics and abeacon management system, often in real time, tooptimise the messages the user sees. So if aparticular offer isn’t working you can change it.

Can I integrate with my existing marketing systems?It should be entirely possible. The main barrier would be if your CRM or campaign management system didn’t have an API that allowed your app to send/pullinformation to/from it.

Remember, all beacons do is broadcast a signal from a location. It’s down to your app (and any back-endcontent management system you are using) to integrate with any of your existing datacollection/analysis/communication systems.

If you can do that you can consider using beacons to pinpoint a user to a store. Then, either show them offers specific to that store, or simply remind them of a rewards threshold they are close to achieving if theywere to pop in and purchase.

You can also use beacons to validate or authorise anincentive by proving that the user is in the location youare driving them to.

If they have reacted to your communication, your appcan send that data back to your system so you cancontinue to profile your users.

But be careful how you consider using knowledge of theuser’s location. In years to come it will be just anotherpiece of data in the mix. Right now, it’s still a new thingthat your customers might need to get used to.

When to use beacons, when not to use beacons.As a marketer you’ll appreciate a channel is only effectivewhen it is used in the right way.

Any technology that is pushed – SMS, email – needs to beused wisely, otherwise it will alienate the user away fromyour brand.

So we wouldn’t recommend using beacons to alert usersto something they may already know – like your store isopen, or you have a fantastic range of ironing boardcovers in stock. That would just be annoying.

Relevance is everything and location (and often time) isthe context.

Let’s say I’ve taken the family for a day out at a leisurepark. I’ve downloaded the park’s app, mainly so I don’thave to carry a paper map. I don’t need the app to tell methere’s a restroom nearby every five minutes – I can seethat from the app’s map.

But, as I’m nearing a must-do ride that looks like it hasvery long queues, I can be told the waiting time for thatride is currently 23 minutes. Would I like to purchase afast-track ticket?

In that context I’m delighted the app knows where I amand has given me something useful that is directly relevantto me right now.

On the next page, there are a few ideas on how differentorganisations can harness the power of proximitymarketing.

Here are some use cases for BLE beaconsThe key to success with beacons is making the engagementrelevant to the context the user is in – their location.

Retail – individual stores and chainsA fashion chain, knowing there are at least six competitors nearby, could offer a time-sensitive discount to nearby customers toensure they get a share of the user’s spend before their highstreet rivals. They could even make the discount lower, thelonger you leave coming in to the store – 20% at 20 minutes, 5%at five minutes.

A coffee shop could optimise low footfall periods by offeringpassers-by a free biscotti or time relevant offer – such as half-price kids drinks at school home time.

Retail – large storesA department store could dot beacons around the building totake visitors on purchasing journeys. So a beacon placed next toa particular brand of women’s shoe could alert the customer toa matching accessory or handbag in an adjacent department.

Retail - shopping centresShopping centres with their own app can use beacons to flagincentives and offers from their tenants. By using a back-endbeacon management platform, like Geemo4 , they can create abidding system, so that retailers can bid to have their messageseen as soon as a customer enters the centre, or at a time-relevant stage in the visit. One scenario could be cafes pingingout a message to users who have been in the centre for over 90minutes to come and take a break.

HotelsPlacing a beacon in each room means the hotel cancommunicate directly with app users in situ. For example, thehotel manager can invite guests who are definitely in the hotelfor networking drinks in the bar at 7pm. It’s unobtrusive and canbe really welcomed by a business person keen to make contactsor maybe keener still to simply socialise when they are on theirown, away from home.

AirportsLike shopping centres, airports can have their own retailfocussed incentives system. Other uses include the ability totrack a user’s progress through an airport and send reminders ifthey are leaving too little time to get to their departure gate. Orsimply as a parking location reminder, knowing the user hasparked near a beacon located at shuttle stop ‘J’.

That same beacon at shuttle stop ‘J’ could also be used on thetraveller’s return to ping them a message saying they can get adiscount off future airport parking if they join the airport’sreward scheme.

4 Geemo.co.uk

FMCG & sales promotionsBeacons are so small they can easily be embedded in point-of-salematerials and even packaging.

So a chocolate brand could use beacons in a cardboard displaymechanic, linked with a competition or game app. Anyone who hasdownloaded the app to play the game can earn a reward or unlock ananswer simply by going into the nearby store, where detecting thebeacon will confirm that have entered the location.

Leisure and attractionsAs we’ve already mentioned, a leisure park could use beacons todisplay the waiting times for nearby rides, then offer an opportunityto purchase a fast track pass if the waiting time is more than 10minutes. Or if the ride is based on a particular theme or character,knowing the user has been on the ride, merchandiserecommendations could be made.

A cruise ship can have beacons near key entertainment venues anddeliver relevant messages. Passing the casino for the third timewithout entering could trigger a free chips offer, for example.

A sports stadium can use beacons to guide visitors to their seat. Orpromote a merchandising store or club museum.

EntertainmentA cinema, knowing the user is in the queue for a ticket, could offer afast track ticket purchase. Or, by placing a beacon next to a screenshowing a romantic comedy, could promote similar movies that arecoming to the cinema soon.

As beacons are small and easily transportable, a band could place itsbeacons at each venue it plays to unlock content to their app users.Or simply remind their fans that merchandise is available in the lobbyafter the show.

Non-marketing usesLarge public buildingsHospitals can use beacons to direct patients and visitors to wards ormake content about procedures available only in relevantdepartments.

MuseumsMuseums and art galleries can use the user’s location – pinpointedusing beacons – to release content related to individual exhibits orgalleries.

Companion apps can be created to monetise exhibitions – and youhave to be at the exhibition to release the content as beacons arebeing used to prove the visitor is present.

Or artists could use beacons to again unlock ideas that can only beexperienced by being in proximity to a specific location.

And when the visitor is done visiting, a beacon can remind them thatthe gift shop has lots of ways to take away a reminder of their visit.

What makes beacons different to NFC?There are some major benefits to using BLE beacons,which is possibly why Apple has adopted this technologyinstead of implementing near field communications (NFC)in their iOS devices.

First of all, range. Unlike NFC, that requires the user tobe within a few centimetres or actually tap a contactpoint, beacons can be used to communicate to a user upto 70 metres away.

As such, the user doesn’t need to have the device in theirhand prior to your communication. Nor do they evenneed to have your app activated. So you can communicatewith them even when you may not be front-of-mind.

Most significant is the fact that Apple has not andpotentially never will implement NFC. This means millionsof iPhone users can’t be reached using tap-in technology.If your demographic is swayed towards iOS users, youcould be missing out on a huge possible audience.

There is also the issue of cost to consider. Beacons are afraction of the cost of a NFC contact point and, as we’llsee on the next page, of installing Wi-fi too.

A single beacon costs around $30/£20/€22.

What advantage do beacons offer over geo-fencing?Geo-fencing has been available to apps for some time anduses the same principle as beacons – once you knowwhere the user is you can serve or unlock relevantcontent based on their location.

Where geo-fencing differs is that the technique is verybroad-brush. You can geo-fence an area of a couple ofkilometres or streets around a store, but you can’t pin-point a very defined area – say the jeans department oreven an individual TV set or washing machine, as you canwith beacons.

It’s because it uses a number of ways to detect yourlocation, including GPS, mobile phone cell triangulationand Wi-fi. A big difference is that geo-fencing can struggleto locate a user when they are indoors.

The two technologies are actually very complimentary. Ifyou want to reach a lot of users over a wide range, usegeo-fencing to pull them towards your location. Then letbeacons take over when you want to get the user to aspecific aisle, rail or seat.

Do I need to have an app?In a word, yes.

The technology can be added to your existing app or youcould use the technology to justify doing your first app.

The ability to drive footfall to and around a location anddeliver highly relevant and hopefully engaging messages isvery powerful.

In many ways it bridges the gap between the explosion insmartphone use and the increasing struggle for physicallocations to compete with online competitors.

Quite simply, if someone who is already so open to yourbrand that they have downloaded your app passes by, youcan use their smartphone to engage with them and ensureyou have their attention in a busy marketplace (such as ashopping centre).

If you don’t already have an app or you have an app but youdon’t have a developer who understands beacon technology,We Are Apps can help you with that.

5 The range is affected by numerous things, especially bodies of water. As human beings are 98% water thatmeans a large volume of people can affect the range of your beacon. So standard advice is to locate yourbeacons above head-height, for example. From our own testing, we’ve found that although many beaconmanufacturers state a capable range of 70m, in reality you will probably be looking at around 35-40m range.

How does the technology work?A BLE beacon is simply a microchip and tiny aerialattached to a power source, usually a small battery likethe ones used in watches. It’s then protected by an outercase that usually is no bigger than a matchbox.

All a beacon actually does is broadcast its ID number,which will be unique to that beacon in that location. Thebeacon will broadcast its ID for up to 70 metres.5 Yourapp will carry a list of the ID numbers of all of thebeacons that you have activated and it will associate themwith their location.

When someone has downloaded your app their devicewill then start to constantly look for those beacons,wherever they are in the world. There is no battery drainwhen this happens, beyond that used by the normaloperating system. They don’t use a phone signal to dothis. It’s all done using low energy Bluetooth.

Your beacons will be doing their very simple jobs of justbroadcasting their ID numbers at regular intervals, oftenevery 10 seconds or so. Once a device matches yourbeacon’s ID to the ID’s held in your app it lets the appknow that the beacon is nearby. The beacon has done itsjob, which is to alert the user. Now the app takes over.

Depending on how you have configured your app, it willthen notify the user with an alert on the lock-screen,displaying whatever message you choose. One of theconfigurations you can choose is whether to show thatalert as soon as the device spots the beacon or onlywhen you are a couple of metres or even a fewcentimetres from the beacon.

Tapping on the message opens the app, at a screendisplaying creative for your offer, content or a particularfunction. You could at this point introduce furtherfunctionality, like barcode scanning, image recognition oraugmented reality.

We should point out that some beacons can do morethan just broadcast their identifying signals. Depending onthe type of beacon, you could detect the temperature in aroom with a beacon, or whether the beacon is moving.Combined with a sensitivity monitor, they can even beused to detect heart rate. You could use this to greateffect in an experiential campaign.

This is a very top-line view. We are happy to give a moretechnical description if you contact us atenquiries@weareapps.com

Will beacons work with my mobile optimisedwebsite/webapp?

Unfortunately not. Web sites and web apps don’t have the ability tostore beacon ID’s.

Do they need a phone signal to work?

No. The beacons only use low energy Bluetooth. However, if yourcampaign or content is delivered from a web server, your user willneed to either be on Wi-fi or have an Internet signal (Edge, 3G, 4G)in order to receive that content.

There are ways around this though. Caching content in thebackground when the user does have a signal is one technique.Embedding the content natively in the app is another. While thismeans it’s difficult to update, it’s probably best for a museum app, forexample, when a phone signal may be very difficult to find deep insidean exhibition.

I’ve heard iPhones and iPads can be used asbeacons. Is that true?

Yes! And on BLE-enabled Android and Windows Phone devices, too.

You don’t actually have to buy beacons to start using the technology– you could use a smartphone or tablet, although you shouldremember that if your device moves so does your beacon. So if yourstore manager is using their smartphone as a beacon to broadcast amessage and they take their phone with them to lunch, the broadcastis then changing location.

But it’s perfectly viable to use a tablet like an iPad, that doesn’t gooutside of the location (and may already be in use for stock taking orsales demonstrations).

In fact, a device that is in a permanent location, such as a point-of-saletouchscreen is perfect as its permanent power source can increasethe range of your ‘beacon’.

Will users think my app is spamming them?

Only if you spam them. If you know users are likely to be frequentlypassing your store in a shopping centre during a Saturday afternoonvisit, then make sure you don’t message them more than once duringtheir whole visit on that day.

If you are simply releasing content that is held natively on the app,then create some rules, like only display a notification message oncein every 72-hour period.

The best beacon management systems will have this feature built-inso you can set and change the frequency of your communications atany time.

Whatever messaging you do at whatever time and frequency, theimportant thing is to make sure it is relevant. Simply telling them yourstore is open is not rewarding their relationship with your brand, it’sdistracting them. You want your use of beacons to add to theirrelationship with you because you are being relevant, not annoying.

Doesn’t everybody have Bluetooth switched off?

Good question. Most people believe that Bluetooth is a terrible drainon a smartphone battery – and it’s not as if an iPhone 5S batterylasts that long between recharges, right?

But this is Bluetooth Low Energy. It uses a fraction of the energy of‘old’ Bluetooth.

By the way, it’s sometimes referred to as Bluetooth Smart and thereis a huge array of Bluetooth Smart devices, from headphones tosmartwatches on the way. As they are adopted, so Bluetooth’sreputation will change.

In a short period of time, people will understand that Bluetooth nolonger means dead phone battery.

What if the user doesn’t have my app open?

They don’t need to, as long as the app has been opened at somepoint.

How do I know my beacon is working?

You can test it using an app provided by the manufacturer of thebeacon or by a beacon management system like Geemo, that alsoprovides an Activation App that you can use to detect the beacon isbroadcasting a signal.

What if the battery stops working?

Depending on the manufacturer of the beacon, you’ll either have toreplace the whole beacon (as with Estimote beacons) or just thebattery (as with Kontakt beacons).

The Geemo beacon management system has a feature that will helpyou know when your batteries are about to stop working. It’snormally between 18 months and two years.

Where do I start?

Talk to a developer who really knows a lot about iBeacons/BLEbeacons/beacons. Although the technology is very simple, executing itneeds a deep understanding of what works and what doesn’t.

A developer like We Are Apps, for example.

Thanks for reading.

Frequently asked questions

If you would like to know more about implementing BLE beacons please contact us:

enquiries@weareapps.com+44 (0) 20 7100 9318

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