MARKETING AFRICA ISSUE 12/16 | Page 47

The retailers may go further and induce customers by giving free offers for orders made via this channel. Thereafter, those who redeem their offers can be retargeted for marketing campaigns; in a less spammy and more relevant way. Coca-Cola, world’s number one manufacturer of soft drinks, in conjunction with Norwegian cinema theatres have successfully run marketing trials using beacons, targeting cinema goers. A free coke was offered to ticket buyers and had to be claimed at the cinema theatre. A CRT (Click-Through Rate) of 60% was reported with 50% of the customers redeeming the offers. Automated Social Media Interactions IoT objects are now capable of posting on social media sites such as twitter and facebook without human intervention. This goes a long way in automation of online campaigns that require real-time activation and more so for event-based promotions. Besides, IoT can automatically gather and analyze data from social media platforms to identify emerging online trends that should be targeted to garner more clients. Predictive analysis is applied to establish customer’s taste, preference and buying behavior; empowering marketers to personalize marketing campaigns. Brand Loyalty by Driving User Engagement IoT has limitless functionality, the only limit is our lack of innovation. Indeed, Nike the reputable shoe manufacturer has invented a device that not only keeps their customers engaged, but also ensures loyalty to their brand. This came in form of a wristband known as ‘’Nike+ FuelBand SE’’, that is worn by clients to monitor their progress during training. The most interesting part is that users get to see the statistics on progress made via an iphone-based mobile app and can share this information with their friends via social media. The solution has already attracted a community of more than 38 million subscribers who interact regularly during their training programs. Nike projects that the number of enthusiasts, joining their subscription list, will be growing in leaps and bounds in coming few years. So, Nike will have enormous opportunities to grow its revenue through cross-selling of complimentary products, such as: sports shoes, sandles, t-shirts among other items, to their loyal customer base. Enhanced Marketing ROI (Return on Investment) The ability of IoT to generate critical insights on customers, gives a solid foundation for formulation of marketing strategies that are aligned with specific mar ket segments. Consequently, advertisements may be tailored to suit the target audience and by so doing, higher sales conversions can be realized. For instance, Smart fridges by Samsung are capable of tracking supplies consumption and making automated orders to restock. The fridges come with a panel for internet access, giving consumers the option to choose a preferred supplier online. In this case, the vendors of home supplies are provided with a costeffective and more promising marketing channel for use. However, they would have to sign-up with the host of smart fridge platform for advertising and the adverts personalized to suit specific buyer needs. Hence, higher sales conversions and continued return purchases can be realized at significantly lower costs of marketing. Patrick Kabuchi, is the Founder & Technical Director of RikkenCloud, a cloud data backup solutions provider for Medium and Large Enterprises enabling secure storage of business data off-site. You can commune with him on this or related issues via mail at: [email protected], or Twitter: @ RikkenCloud.