If you’re on this page, I know where you are…
Some say threatening and creepy, we say it’s one of the best things to hear as a hotel marketeer. Analysing and acting upon a users location opens so many exciting doors for creating marketing; from location specific content to offers and content suggestions, personalised content has been shown to have a far higher conversion rate than an unpersonalised experience. This article outlines the technology behind Geo IP and introduces an exciting new development that leverages Geo IP.
What is Geo IP?
When we browse the internet, we are doing so through a device that is connected to the internet. This device has an IP address which is a unique string of numbers that differentiates that particular terminal from literally billions of devices around the world.
Various services exist that offer Geo IP databases which essentially cross reference any IP address with a large database to generate an approximate location. Due to the way the web works, a website can identify each user’s IP address when they are browsing the site. Subsequently we can send this IP address to a Geo IP database and have a location returned back to us. Once we know this, we can program a website or application to do different things depending on what location is sent back to us. Clever!
What can I do with Geo IP?
Now that our website knows where the user is browsing from, we can tailor it any number of ways to deliver a more personalised web experience. Here are a few examples of how you might be able to apply this to your hotel, hostel or restaurant to improve digital marketing.
- Add a message on the homepage saying “Welcome from _”
- Preferentially show the reviews from guests from a particular location – “Guests from ___ like staying with us”
- Display a weather comparison from the users location to the destination (only if weather is better)
- Offer location specific offers, e.g. “Receive a free bottle of wine if you book from Winchester”
- Comply with the legal regulations in different countries in different ways
- Use it in conjunction with travel times, weather, translation services and more
Introducing The Umi Reel
Alongside our work on developing new websites and digital marketing we have been burning the candle at both ends to create an awesome new tool for the hospitality sector. We are calling it the Umi Reel and it leverages the power of Geo IP to deliver location specific messages and codes on your website, all easily managed in your Umi 360 content management system. We are currently optimising the geo-offers functionality but are hungry for all your ideas on how we can develop it further!
We are currently offering a free three month pilot test as an early adopter so we implore you to get in touch and join us on our journey to making the hospitality sector a more personalised place to be. Furthermore, if any of the use cases above have jogged your imagination, we’d love to hear them. If your ideas go on to be developed, we’ll be glad to give you a year of Umi Reel absolutely free!