International Digital Marketing

Augmented reality mobile apps’ future looks bright. According to Juniper, by 2015 global revenues from AR will reach 1.5 billion dollars. ABI Research forecasted that even if in 2010 revenue from AR was only 21 million dollars, amount might very well increase to 3 billion dollars by 2016. But it gets better: AIB claims that revenues related to AR will increase from 6 million dollars in 2009 to more than 3.5 billion dollars in 2014 – which signifies a yearly growth of 97%.

Main reason for the growth and high predictions is the exploding global use of Smartphones, which are able to run the augmented reality apps, and the big brands which are very keen to take advantage of the new shiny toy.

No wonder Google and Apple want the biggest piece of the cake. And are ready to fight for it.

Augmented reality – a new way to see the world

Long way short, augmented reality apps allow user to see digital text, animations, links or images in real time on top of the real life environment via mobile devices. For example, only by placing the mobile front of a painting in Rome, user can get information of the painter, history or dimensions. Or more fun example: user can play real life pac man, where the players look like computer pac man characters (through mobile of course). Basically, the possibilities are endless. See list of interesting AR apps here.

Blooming augmented reality market

At present, most of the augmented reality elements focus on marketing and entertainment, but there has been some experiments with online shopping experience, ecommerce, tourism and search. Layar (http://layar.com) is currently the leader developing AR apps for both Android OS and iPhone OS, including advertising, reviews, ratings or other information users need in real time. Yelp is another rating and review service, mobile media company Ogmento creates AR mobile games and Wikitude shows the user in real world the information from Wikipedia and other sources.

Google and Apple: augmented reality rivals

Google and Apple are very interested in the possibilities augmented reality can bring, since both Android and iPhone have computer vision technologies that rely on Smartphone cameras. Other companies have developed AR apps for both OS, but it brings a small revenue compared to the profit and business opportunities a fully owned killer AR app could bring. In addition Google has already picked up a fight with Yelp, one of the providers.

Google started by creating Goggles, a mobile app for Android and iOS which can translate text, get more information out of contact info, artwork and books besides of recognizing landmarks, logos and wine labels. However unlike Augmented reality, Googles does not process and present things in real time. It takes a photo, sends it to Google’s servers, which recognize and translate it before sending the result back.

Apple meanwhile has acquired Polar Rose, a company which has created facial recognition software and other elements that enable the “automatic creation of events based on visual cues in images.” This brings enormous possibilities on social networking area.

Apple/ Facebook Partnership?

Facebook and Google do not like each other. Apple and Google do not like each other. What would be a better partnership than ganging against a common enemy?

Apple has the iPhone OS and technology, and Facebook its Facebook Places and large user base perfect for the newly acquired facial recognition. If these two companies join forces they can very well have a chance to compete with Google. Actually these two combined could possibly even be very, very dangerous for Google.

Let’s imagine Google decides to upgrade Google Places and create AR version. With its impressive data base and search engine & Google maps experience it could very well become a killer app. There are review and map AR apps, but they are mainly focused on cities and tourist attractions such as NY, Paris and London for example. Imagine an app you could use everywhere you go: like Google Maps with a real life view. Imagine what it would mean for local businesses and advertisers to be highlighted in real life environment.

Now if Apple and Facebook decided to join the forces, they could compete in AR “places” category with a social touch. Imagine an app where you can see in real life not only the ratings or info, but also which places have been recommended or visited by your friends. Seeing little pictures of friends who like the place or even friends who actually are currently there sounds very attractive. Imagine adding the Facebook “deals” function with the discount/offer that is available in the place.

Of course this Apple/Facebook partnership could lead even further if the two explore more the social networking capability on the iPhone. For example, user could see other person’s social networking info and feeds from Facebook just by looking at them though the phone. Big personal privacy issues yes, because no one wants a stranger in the street or bar to know his name and everything else about him. But then again – when exactly Facebook has cared about privacy issues?

Expanding market with huge potential

It has been predicted that augmented reality will take between five to ten years to become mainstream, together with the Smartphones. Brands and consumers do not necessarily understand yet how the technology works, but AR creates interest and fascination. Android, Nokia, iPhone…there is something to explore and take advantage of.

20% of the searches on Google are related to location and according to Google 1 in 13 search result pages showed a Map. This combined with the fact that 96.63% of the users click the results in the first page, appearing in the little map on top can be very, very beneficial for the local business.

It is quite obvious that the search engine prioritizes in local searches companies and businesses that have signed up in Google Places, which makes it a good idea to create your own profile for your business. Google places is Google’s free business listing service, which allows local business owners to create a profile of their business with essential contact information, offers, images and reviews. And of course mark their business location on the Google Maps service.

There are 10 little tricks to further improve your Google Places page search engine ranking and help you stand out from the rest:

1. Include keywords in the description of your business

In the Google Places page you are able to describe your business or activity in maximum of 200 letters. Make sure that it includes the most important keywords, but without turning it into a chain of keywords. Write a clear, friendly and efficient description and remember not to address it only to a search engine, but for actual users as well.

2. Do not add keywords in your Google Places page name if they are not already in the original name of your business

It is not a good idea to add keywords to your page name if they are not included in your company’s actual name already. Google is intelligent and always vigilant to avoid users who cheat. In the short run it might improve your results, but you are likely to get caught and punished.

3. Use generic categories and terms to describe your business

When you create your Google Places page, you have the option to include a maximum of 5 different categories to describe the products and services you are offering. The most generic descriptions can help you to improve your ranking.

4. If you have various points of sale, create a profile for each one of them

Besides of adding links to your website or client reviews, it is also possible and necessary to include addresses, phone numbers and other relevant contact information. Therefore if your business has various point of sales, the best thing to do is to create a distinct profile for each one of them.

There has been some confusion if this is possible, since Google Places guidelines say there should be only one listing for each business location. However, Google’s goal with local search is to represent the offline world accurately online, so if you have various real life point of sales you should be able to include it as long as you can meet the quality guidelines. Google verifies the data with you and you are able to ask them directly if you are able to go ahead.

5. Include your brand or business also in other company and business listings

Being included in professional business and company listings is important, because Google gets  information from them to verify that your contact information is the same and also places these listings into your Google Places profile. Make sure all the other business information you create in other listings is consistent.

6. Diversify and plan your content updates in time

It is better to publish new information regularly, than suddenly launch a big amount of it at the same time. Do not forget that search engines and especially Google are always vigilant of spam, hoax or online frauds. This means that unusual action can be interpreted suspicious and will be punished.

Do not forget photos and videos either, since Google Places permits publishing of 10 photos and 5 videos. Whether it improves the ranking might be questioned, but for sure it will give more attractive information for the users who access your page.

7. Take advantage of the real-time updates feature

Google has recently added the ability to post real-time updates into the Google Places page. It allows you to promote an offer, sale, event, and freebies as well as provide incentives by adding coupons also specially formatted for mobile phones. It is a great way to talk more directly with your customers who are not yet your followers in Twitter or Facebook.

8. Motivate your satisfied clients to publish their review

Participation and opinion of the satisfied clients is easy and effective way to create a professional reputation not only in Google places, but also in other listings and external websites you can link to your page. Not only will it give potential clients a social proof, but it helps you get closer to the top.

To get reviews, send an email to your new and existing customers or ask users in social networks like Twitter and Facebook to leave a review. Or of course ask them to do it in person when they come to your store. Offer for example points or discount in the next visit as a reward.

9. Integrate your social networks with Google Places page

Google Places page is a good place to promote and include links into your social media platforms and social networks are great way to drive traffic to your Google Places page. As mentioned before, you can ask for client reviews through the social networks and with Google Places real-life updates you can inform users coming through search about your Facebook promotions.

10. Analyse regularly your page information in Google Analytics

Do not forget to analyse the statistic data and information Google Analytics. It includes data about how many times people have found your business on Google, what keywords they used to find it and even what areas people travelled from to visit your business. This information helps you to evaluate, understand and learn from the user behaviour, which allows you to improve your search engine ranking.

And of course, for the best results, do not forget to sign up also for Facebook Places. These two local business listings are similar, but the difference comes in the way users get to the results: Google relies on Search while Facebook relies on Social. On Google users use the search box and the search engine shows first the Google Places results before showing any organic results. In Facebook, users have three ways to get to Facebook Places: search, newsfeed and Facebook apps.

Both have nice benefits, because Google owns the search and has the largest mobile app (Maps), while Facebook can allow your promotion travel from user to user and expand very fast through networks. Facebook Places has also a new feature “Deals”, which has a huge potential. So why not take advantage of both?

Everyone has heard about Social Networks and mobile marketing, but what is exactly a location-based service? LBS is an information and entertainment service, that can be accessed with mobiles through the mobile network and which has the ability to make use of the geographical position of the mobile in question.

Think about the traditional media you use to reach consumers in specific geographic markets (direct mail, newspapers, directories, cable and outdoor). Now think about reaching this target group through mobile, which is able to tell the exact location of the person or object. Goodbye out-dated information.

Long way short: Local is about the point of sale and mobile with LBS brings the consumer to the point of sale.

However, there are many businesses out there that do not take advantage of LBS. If you need the numbers, here we go:

• Increase of traffic to POS: According to a study by Opus Research, 20% of the consumers redeem mobile coupons, compared with 13% online and 1% print coupons.
• Relevance: After analyzing more than 5 million searches, Chitika found that local queries on the PC generate 38% more CTR than non-local queries. On mobile devices, local-search users clicked through 64% more often.
• Faster buying decision: Microsoft reported in early 2010 that 70% of users take a week to begin and complete a search-related task on the PC. On mobile devices, the time frame is one hour.

Mobile and LBS is a new, inexpensive and easy digital tool that drives consumers to the point of sale and captures campaign data. It helps the companies to track online-offline connection that earlier was very difficult. Even if between 80% and 90% of consumers regularly consult the Internet before making purchases in actual stores and the Internet’s influence over offline buying is unmistakable, local marketing online has really never had that “search to store” visibility.

LBS allows Smartphone-owners to “check in” to a business or address, and then instantly share that information with friends or connections. “Such recommendations provide “street cred” that is the single most powerful effect of location-based services”, Dan Zarrella, social media scientist at marketing-software firm HubSpot Inc, says. “If a bunch of my friends, whose opinions I trust, recommend it, I’m much more likely to be interested in it.”

There are quite a few LBS to pick from, depending on your preferences: Foursquare app on BlackBerry, Gowalla on Android and ShopKick on the iPhone, Other fast-growing LSBs include Brightkite Inc., Facebook Inc.’s Places and online-review site Yelp Inc.

There are many ways to use user’s location to your advantage. The best way to see how indentifying user’s location actually works is to have a look into different apps. As an international example I would recommend checking out the new Mazda6 not for everyone – app developed by Syzygy. It has been released in 9 different countries (Austria, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Russia, Spain, Switzerland and Portugal), yet even if it is produced centrally it identifies user’s location in his/her current country and shows the closest unusual local restaurants, art events, outdoor activities, clubs or historical sites. And it shows user how to get there.

The intelligent twist is that these activities are not commonly known: you have to be local to know them. So if you are travelling in Europe and visit any of the above mentioned countries, you can open the app, go to Lifestyle section and pick the country you are in and see the rare, local activities close by.  Also, to drive traffic to the local POS, the app shows new features of the Mazda6 and calculates user’s route to the closest dealer according to their current location. This is a great example how cooperation with local market units and using GPS can give an extra spice to the mobile app and turn it relevant not only locally, but also internationally.

Mobiles & LBS have many benefits and since the Smartphone market is booming it will have even more important role in the future. It is a great way to reach your customers and gives them the immediate solution to their “problem/need”. Track what works and what does not and use that information to design local and relevant promotions and events that might bring these users back or recommend you to their friends and colleagues.