Local marketers have realized that measuring digital marketing performance isn’t as simple as counting clicks. However, many still struggle with attribution. A number of businesses have emerged to address this problem by leveraging new technologies, the proliferation of mobile devices and now Wi-Fi.
Zenreach is one of those loop-closing companies and has received a lot of attention as of late. Just last month the company announced it had received $50M through its series B round of funding and that billionaire investor Peter Thiel had joined the company’s board. Coming into the foreground, the company is launching a number of growth initiatives, one of which is a Digital Marketing Partner Program for resellers and agencies serving the local market.
To support this partnership and reseller program strategy, Zenreach recently joined the Local Search Association (LSA) to collaborate with LSA’s audience of agencies, media companies, IYPs, pure-plays and strategic partners who help advertisers big and small reach local consumers.
Mike Wilson, senior strategic advisor at Zenreach, said that the company enables thousands of businesses across the country (SMBs and multi-location businesses) to provide free Wi-Fi to store visitors in exchange for email addresses, mobile phone number (SMS) and social media handles. From there, Zenreach automates targeted marketing messages based on the frequency of store visits and captures some interesting attribution data along the way.
Using store visit information, advertisers are able to create a “notional value” for a store visit using average purchase price or other statistics. But now the company is integrating with point of sale (POS) platforms to determine an actual value for each visit. Currently integrated with Clover, Vend, Poynt and in discussions with other POS providers, these kind of integrations help businesses understand consumer behavior as well as define actual financial impact driven by marketing.
The entire solution is built on a very simple value exchange: free Wi-Fi in exchange for an email address. Multiple studies have found that consumers are more willing to share information (email, location, etc.) about themselves if there is some kind of value exchange (rewards, discounts, etc.) and in fact spend more time and money at businesses that offer free Wi-Fi as an amenity.
“Zenreach is at the forefront of location-based marketing by bringing to market an offering that truly resonates with local businesses,” said Wilson. “We’re excited to partner with agencies, brands and local marketing and advertising providers to bring this simple and exciting offering to their customers.”
The majority of the company’s customers are 1-10 location businesses, but Zenreach has a growing number of large chain and franchise clients as the solution offers location-based reporting for major brand marketers and agencies managing many locations.
With automated email marketing, location intelligence, a mobile ad network, POS integration, SMS and social opportunities all woven into their platform, Zenreach has a very interesting offering for brick and mortar locations. To help educate the industry, Wilson said they plan on sharing insights with the LSA Insider audience around email best practices, store visit data, SMS and more.
