Beacon-equipped salons to target women during errand downtime
Beacon messaging is arriving at a number of nail salons thanks to beauty network Gloss Media, allowing brands to target customers with notifications on several applications while they are running errands.
The idea is to target women while in the ?errand mode? of their customer journey, as many salon patrons are in the process of completing a variety of tasks, making this an ideal opportunity for brands to connect. The implementation of beacons will send various notifications and content to customers at salon partners through a number of apps.
"This is the very first time that beauty brands, or any brand that targets women, can accurately engage this audience precisely when they enter the salon via their mobile device," said Kevin Hunter, president of inMarket. "Given that women take 1.9 billion salon visits per year in the U.S., that is tremendous volume and a huge opportunity for relevant brands to drive sales.
"We are already seeing sales lift from beacon proximity for brands like Heineken in the grocery setting, and now beauty brands can tap into the technology at scale in the salon setting," he said. "For the salons themselves, they receive an additional revenue stream from working with Gloss."
Salon targeting
Targeting women at the salon is ideal for brands, as this is typically an hour of downtime for them while getting their hair or nails done in the middle of a day of errands. Push notifications sent through beacons will likely attract consumers who are more receptive at that time in the salon and will be more probable to act on the content when they leave to complete other errands.
Gloss Media's in-sore branding
Gloss Media's in-sore branding
Gloss Media will be working with beacon provider inMarket to provide the technology to its wide range of salon partners across the US. Brands will be able to purchase beacon engagements to target Gloss Media salon patrons for the second quarter of 2016.
The decision behind the partnership stems from research stating that women who visit salons stay for an average of 60 minutes, of which 64 percent are moms. Gloss Media has digital media implemented at its wide range of salons across the US in which inMarket will piggyback beacons installations.
Beacon partnerships
Similarly, cinema advertisement distributor Screenvision created a beacon-powered marketing network for brands to share targeted, location-based campaigns, exhibiting the entertainment industry?s move towards in-venue mobile pushes (see more).
Also, Google ramped up support of integrated mobile Web experiences during key micro-moments with real-time transportation updates and a travel search and booking initiative (see more).
"Predictive targeting based on receptivity is a really great example of how the most progressive brands are leveraging beacon tech," Mr. Hunter said. "In 2014/15, the focus has largely been about engaging a shopper when she walks into a store.
"Now that we have tens of thousands of beacons deployed against 44.5MM app users per month, we can understand the trends behind it to make predictive decisions," he said. "For example, with our Quantum Receptivity product, we are engaging shoppers just before they go to the store of salon, and pausing campaigns just after they shop.
"This has a significant impact on ad spend efficiency and brands love it thus far."