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If You Build It, They Will Come 2.0

The band, Alt-J, let their fans stream their new album. However, there was a caveat (and no it does not including buying a Samsung) — the listener had to be in certain locations. Whether it was the band’s favorite park in London or a bench overlooking the city. The app that they custom created would only let users stream if they were geo-located in these specific places. 

Why? So users would be a in a place and space where they truly enjoy to listen to the music. Lovely, right? But there is a lesson here, namely for retailers, brick and mortars and anyone else trying to drive foot traffic and people to their locations. Location, location, location — you’re catching on?

Geolocation is an important social tool often under-utilized in the physical world, driving consumers to an offline engagement with the promise of an online exclusive can be very powerful. More and more, brick and mortars are understanding that they must use innovative strategies to drive traffic. Traditional sales and promotions just don’t cut it anymore.

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The online world has been skyrocketing over the last five years while brick and mortars failed to be innovative, but now with likes of Instagram and the visual economy taking precedence, retailers have an opportunity to incentive as well. If you take a beautiful picture at a location and don’t Instagram it, did it actually happen? The culture economy is real and the call for culturally relevant initiatives and strategic partnerships is not just nice to have, it’s vital to one’s business.

So what does this mean for companies looking to capitalize on the online wave? It’s time for them to up their visual game, tap into influencers and engage their audiences in new ways beyond email marketing: think mobile, experiential and event strategies. Remember Fashion Night Out? Besides becoming a drunken raucous mess, it did one thing really well — got people to step foot into their stores. Events can be more than just a cocktail party, they can be an amazing tool to capture data, partner with likeminded companies and create social content.

Companies need to start integrating technology (it’s never too late), whether social kiosks, enhancing mobile apps or offering a loyalty program. Another strategy is to develop a blog and bring on credible thought leaders in your industry to enhance your brand profile, create meaningful and useful content around what is happening at your center, shop, and restaurant, whatever. 

The bridge between online and offline is smaller than you think. Tapping into the digital world with a new and fresh approach could be the answer to getting the click-clack of stilettos heading towards your door.

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