THE WHITLATCH WEEKLY

THE TOP 5 REASONS WHY BEACONS ARE A MARKETER'S NEW BEST FRIEND Picture this... You're walking through the Mall and suddenly, an advertisement, contest, or even a coupon pops up on your phone. Conveniently enough, that notification is from the same store you're currently browsing this very minute. Creepy right? Well, to marketers and advertisers across the globe, it's not creepy one bit. In fact, beacon marketing (or proximity marketing) is going to explode in 2016. I bet you think your smartphone is pretty smart right now. You haven't seen anything yet. Let's revisit that little scenario I mentioned previously. The lead-off batter in today's Top 5 list: 1.) Proximity Marketing   Whether the grocery store, your favorite restaurant, or even the mall, your location says so much about yourself.  Especially if there is a trend or pattern to that location. Proximity Marketing not only enhances the experience and convenience for the consu...

          It seems every decade or so, a new "gold" emerges. Oil. Solar energy. Wind. Even silver. All promised to be of similar importance and worth to the little shiny coins and nuggets themselves.  Data is not only becoming this new gold, but unlike oil for instance, data is not a one-hit-wonder type of product.  The value of data, if managed correctly, is constantly growing and improving at the same time. Data is nearly limitless.  This renewable force of information can be used in any industry, at any time, in any place.  Maybe we should be hoping data is at the end of the rainbow these days, and not those shiny little coins...           A major challenge nearly all business owners have and have always had, is specifc insights into their business, and the ability to use that insight to their benefit.  Sales history, Customer Relationship Management (CRM), industry predictions, even competitor insigh...

          In 1995, Newsweek  released an article titled, " Why The Web Won't Be Nirvana ."  This article was basically written to make the argument that the Internet was only going to be a fad. Paragraph after paragraph, it literally mocks the thought of being able to take a computer to the beach, purchasing items via the internet, or even having newspapers or books replaced with digital versions.  Author of the article, Clifford Stoll, made it very clear this would soon fade out, and the Internet would only be a fad.  Two decades later, here we are again.  The term, "fad," is being thrown around once more, and guess what...they were wrong again.                 It's funny how wrong Clifford, and many others, were about the Internet and its possibilities.   Nearly each resource or tool he said could never come from the internet, has flourished on the internet.  As the...

One of the big advantages of Social Media is being able to see exactly what your customer or audience is saying about your brand or company at all times.  The only question is, are we really listening?     Something a lot of companies are having trouble doing since the rise of the importance of Social Media, is simply listening to what is being said about their brand or company.  Not only listening to the good things and positive things being said, but even more so, the negatives.  Hearing the positives being said is what each company should be going for, but something that will be even more beneficial to your company is hearing the negatives and doing something about it.  Not only does this give you a head-start in fixing the problem and figuring out what went wrong, but it allows you to see an outside opinion with no bias perspective getting in the way.      People have always had a love for knowledge and even more so, sharin...