Yup, the title says it all (or was it just an online marketing version of a beacon to lure your attention to this article). I know to some just the mere thought of something being greater than the mighty bacon is inconceivable (i before e except after c) but I think for marketing purposes having a beacon near the cash register will be far better than bacon that lures people into your establishment. I mean possibly having to replace the battery in a beacon a couple times a year is far less frequent than constantly replenishing the delicious plate of bacon and you will have zero possibility of grease stains on your clothes with the beacon might just be enough of an advantage to back my point alone.
If you have no admiration for salted or smoked pork products and wonder why I am even talking about them it is really to express how great I feel that the beacons will become a marketing tool that will be a dramatic impact on businesses that can harness the marketing push that these beacons will give them.
How do beacons work?
Facebook Bluetooth beacons help people who are near your business see more information about your business on Facebook.
Using Bluetooth® technology, beacons send a signal to the Facebook app on your customers’ smartphones and shows them place tips about your business. The beacon devices send out signals to smartphones within around 500 feet of the beacon. People who are on facebook and in range of the beacon and have bluetooth technology turned on will see status updates and pictures from Facebook friends who have visited the location before. They will also see promotions and deals about the business that are sent directly to their Facebook News Feed.
Why would a small business want a beacon?
There are few greater things in marketing than the power of someone who a person trusts giving a positive review or testimonial about your business. With the place tips coming from friends of the person seeing the information about your business this is a very exciting marketing tool!
Another aspects of a beacon is that it directly targets people in the immediate area. Although people see ads all day long on websites, TV, and newspapers, they’re much less likely to act on these ads because they’re not directly in a position to make a purchase. However, with Place Tips, businesses now have the opportunity to take advantage of the potential for people to act on impulse, and buy something when they have immediate access to it.
At the beginning of last year Facebook made changes that significantly affected businesses’ ability to reach potential customers. Facebook changed its rules regarding how business pages show up in news feeds that it created a drastic decline in organic reach (the ability of a business to promote itself without paying for advertising). Since then, businesses have been searching for a way to restore their previous outreach on Facebook—the Bluetooth beacons may be that answer. The beacons are free (at least temporarily) it will provide an alternative to what was formerly organic reach. Also the fact that your competition can’t advertise through Place Tips makes it an even playing field, based entirely on location and relevance.
Disadvantages of Facebook Bluetooth Beacons
One of the downsides of this device is that it is most suitable for a brick and mortar business. This is because it targets people who are out and about, within direct access of a store. Small, online based businesses or those in more isolated areas won’t benefit nearly as much (but I would still get one).
Another major disadvantage of a beacon would be that bad reviews, and the potential negative impact not having an overall positive rating from customers about your service or product would be amplified. If you are a business that haters love to hate you need to make sure the people who love you show the love on your facebook business page.
Conclusion
All joking about bacon aside if you have a business that is active on facebook then it would be in your best interest to look into the facebook bluetooth beacon technology sooner than later so you can be on the cutting edge of this technology and push ahead of other businesses who choose to ignore it. If you are looking for more information about beacons check out facebooks information on them at https://www.facebook.com/business/a/facebook-bluetooth-beacons.
Hope you enjoyed the article and I didn’t make you want bacon too much.