Mobile Location Based Advertising - Be There!

The Tourism Exchange Company calls mobile location based advertising a 'game changer'.  They point out the obvious:

• the Search function allowed us to access WHAT we were interested in
• social networking (Facebook, Twitter, etc.) gave us the capability to access WHO we wanted to
• and now the GPS capability of smartphones allows us to link in WHERE it matters.

The combination of these three filters will in short order make our customers dependent on their smartphone to link up with friends and find the type of facility or service they want nearby.  It will also allow the leisure industry, or individual operators, to reach out to consumers of interest as they enter a market area. 

We already have software and applications that give the consumer access to local maps/directions, restaurant reviews, pictures of the beach just down the road, and the ability to make online reservations.  More and more people will simply reach for their smartphone when they think about what to do next.  We will have already told our phones to keep an eye out for fitness clubs, or art shows, top revue movies, best jogging paths, cheapest golf courses, etc.  The capability is there.

The big question is whether our traditional recreation, sport, arts, culture, fitness and parks services will be 'present' online as these choices are being made; as groups are being formed for an outing; as consumers are deciding whether to come to your facility or are simply attracted to those who learned how to exploit this 'game changer' first.

For more insight: http://www.tourismexchange.com/exchange/en/newsroom/home/getArticle.jsp?articleID=9737