Overview: What Bluetooth Marketing IS Bluetooth Marketing is a one way push technology (not interactive or menu driven) Bluetooth Marketing is a method of delivering FILES (typically graphic and text jpg images) to cellular phones (NOT SMS or Text Messages) -
Bluetooth Marketing is permission based (users must accept or decline the connection) -
Bluetooth Marketing is FREE and does not cost the receiver or the broadcaster anything (aside from the purchased hardware) -
Bluetooth Marketing can only target phones with Bluetooth turn on AND set to discoverable that have OPP (about 30% of bluetooth enabled phones) -
Bluetooth Marketing Range is dictated by the weakest link (phones average 100-150ft) Bluetooth Marketing works best with a call to action (signage) and broadcasting something people want (compelling content)
Overview: What Bluetooth Marketing IS NOT -
Bluetooth Marketing is not a standalone advertising miracle that will bring throngs of clients to you -
Bluetooth Marketing does not get the users phone number -
Bluetooth Marketing does not send text messages or SMS messages -
Bluetooth Marketing is not 2 way interactive or menu driven -
Bluetooth Marketing does not work with every bluetooth phone (NOT IPHONE & Blackberry phones are difficult) -
Bluetooth Marketing does not allow you to blindly spam your information into users phones -
Bluetooth Marketing does not allow you to deliver java or iphone apps to the phone for installation (USA) -
Bluetooth Marketing does not work well without call to action signage and without broadcasting compelling content -
How Bluetooth Marketing Works - The basics of bluetooth marketing is fairly simple, a bluetooth broadcast system will constantly scan the area around it (up to 300ft in any direction barring obstructions) looking for phones with bluetooth turned on and set to "visible or discoverable" upon finding a phone the broadcast point will request a connection from the phone. The phone user will see something like "incoming data connection from ABC Company, ACCEPT or DECLINE" (note only the "abc company" can be changed in the message, the rest of the message is controlled by the phone software, not the broadcast system) if the user accepts the connection, the broadcast system will send the first file, and again the phone user will see a message like "incoming file coupons.jpg from ABC Company ACCEPT or DECLINE" if the user accepts the incoming file it will download and normally the user will see a message like "coupons.jpg has been saved to photos folder view now? YES or NO" , this transaction is recorded on the broadcast system and the user will not be asked to download this file again for the remainder of the campaign, we refer to this as Blacklisting and it is in adherence to anti spam laws and our own anti-annoyance rules.
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Bluetooth Marketing Technology (why it works) - Bluetooth is comprised of 25 "profiles" each bluetooth profile has a specific job, like DUN (dial up networking) HFP (hands free profile) and many more. Bluetooth Marketing typically uses OPP or Object Push Profile which allows files to be pushed from one device to another, typically without pairing but does require an acceptance from the receiver. Many phones but certainly not all phones have this Object Push Profile. Notably Iphone does not have this profile and therefore cannot receive a file via bluetooth. Roughly 60% of cell phones have bluetooth and roughly 30% of those phones do have the Object Exchange Profile and therefore can receive the files being broadcast to the phone. Some US carriers (Verizon and Sprint) have "crippled" the bluetooth object push profile so only certain files can be received, other files will be automatically declined. Typically this crippling will still allow VCARD files to be received but will automatically decline the connection if other files are being sent, our recommendation is to always send a vcard as your first file and follow it with a jpg image, these two file types are the most widely accepted file formats for cellular phones in the USA.
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So Why Use Bluetooth Marketing ? - Retailers : Using Bluetooth to advertise to the client who is already in the store is an opportunity to up sell the client on something he may not have intended on purchasing when he arrived at the store, basically the bluetooth marketing concept is a unique version of the in store sales display that will also cause the client to talk about it with his friends and relatives, possibly sharing the advertisement by passing it from his phone to another phone.
- Malls : Bluetooth marketing can send a map of the mall with store locations and piggy back (follow the map download) with any retailer specials as a very cost effective method of offering additional advertising for mall retailers while offering a service (map) that mall patrons would find compelling to download. (AMBER ALERTS?)
- Trade Shows : Using Bluetooth marketing at trade shows you could be broadcasting a schedule of the speakers at the show as your teaser "brought to you by ABC Company at "Booth #315" and of course you could include a map of the trade show which highlights your particular booth. This method would drive traffic to your booth as well as perform a community service which elevates your company from a marketing perspective.
- Arenas: Broadcasting a wallpaper of the sports team or concert performer is a great teaser, follow it with paid advertising from the local advertisers you already have. The Bluetooth marketing equipment now becomes a revenue stream rather than a marketing cost.
- Nightclubs: Teasing the clientele with a drink special that can only be had by downloading the bluetooth content is a great way to compel users to accept the content, then follow the drink special with your upcoming schedule of events, or even paid coop advertising from the various beverage companies or even paid advertising from local advertisers interested in targeting the clientele in your club or club network.
- Card Dealers: This is the sales system that works on location when you aren’t on location, after hours content delivery etc. The best use we have seen is bluetooth marketing used to compel people to send a text message to receive a flyer with this weeks sale items. You could also use it in the service waiting area to push service specials getting service work that otherwise might escape you. Again these ads can become viral being shared with the consumers friends and family, potentially driving more business.
- The BIG ONE: Everyone would agree that using Bluetooth marketing in your establishment(s) is a very new and unique method of reaching clients, NEWS organizations will agree as well and issuing a press release will potentially get you newspaper and TV news coverage you simply cannot pay for! Especially if you are including public service messages within your campaign (AMBER ALERTS?)
Bluetooth Marketing Pitfalls - Blind Broadcasting: the idea of broadcasting blindly to the masses in hopes of delivering your message to every phone within range is the worst possible scenario, this style of marketing is intrusive and ineffective, typical blind campaigns will generate high ignore rates and low acceptance rates, usually less than 3% acceptance.
- Poor Content: successful campaigns are delivering content that the client actually wants, savings, coupons, wall papers, ring tones etc. The content must be compelling for the user to accept the connection and download the content.
- Poor Call to Action: call to action is critical to acceptance rates, we have seen a good call to action signage change acceptance rates by as much as 15%, calls to action can be signage, video, print media anything that lets the users know there is something to be had via bluetooth.
- Poor Placement: Placing broadcasting systems near entrances and exits are largely ineffective unless people are forced to wait in line. When you enter and exit the mall are you looking at your phone? However when you are waiting in line at Starbucks, you will look at your phone. The best placement is always where people are waiting and bored, the typical response to boredom in urban environments is to check your phone for missed calls emails etc. These are the areas you should be targeting.
- Over Saturation: Placing too many units in an area (like complete coverage of a mall) will generate high amounts of ignore records, these ignore records will cause the percentage of acceptance to be much lower, causing an otherwise successful campaign to appear as unsuccessful.
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Bluetooth Marketing Recommendations - Clear Call to Action: A good clear call to action is critical to the success of any campaign. If the phone users are aware that something is available via bluetooth and it is something they want, even users with bluetooth turned off will turn it on and pull in the content. Many clients use signage at the broadcast location but also go several steps beyond that with blurbs about their bluetooth capability included in any print or other media buys.
- Compelling Content : Broadcasting compelling content is also critical to your campaign success, using teasers to get your content downloaded is a common method of compelling users to download from the broadcast point. Teasers are typically freebies like a free drink or 2 for 1 meal coupon, then follow that with your target ad, in other words give the user a reason to download your content and include this reason in your call to action signage.
- Broadcasting Content: Always broadcast a vcard first then follow it with a jpeg image and then follow with the more dramatic content, such as video or audio files. This campaign structure will allow phones that cannot receive a jpeg or video file to at least receive the vcard, phones that can receive the jpg file will receive both the vcard and jpg file, and phones that can receive the video or audio file will receive all 3 files that are being broadcast. Following this structure will insure the highest acceptance rates, however our base recommendation is to simply send a vcard and a jpeg file only, as these are the two most widely accepted file formats. Our systems do not restrict the file types you broadcast and many clients prefer to broadcast animated gifs which typically "play" on a phone as a slide show, but some phones will show an animated gif as a static image, showing only the first screen or last screen, so you should have any pertinent information on the first and last screen.
- Creating Content for Broadcast: We recommend using MS Outlook for creating vcards click this link for instructions Outlook creates a file format that is readily accepted by most phones, we do not recommend using any other tool for creating vcards as the formats often will fail on many phones. For other images we recommend using Adobe Photoshop to create your ads, keep colors to a minimum and the file size to 20k or less for fast downloads to slow phones. We also offer exact size and pixel count in our user manual for clients who have purchased our ProxiBlaster equipment.
- Bluetooth Marketing in Specific Venues : We have very specific recommendations of how to use Bluetooth Marketing with the greatest success rates for the venues listed below however this information is only available to our purchasing clients. A full version of this document is included with each purchase.
- Trade Shows
- Car Dealers
- Arenas
- Malls
- Nightclubs / Bars
- Retail Stores
- Real Estate
- Election Campaigns
- Special Events
. For further questions regarding Bluetooth Marketing or ProxiBlaster Bluetooth Marketing equipment and hardware please contact us using our contact form at this link |
