Mobile technology is advancing on a high speed; people are depending on their cell phones to accomplish various tasks. As of now we have over 780 million GPS enabled smartphones, mobile location based technology is also being used by advertising agencies to reach targeted masses basing on their location.For small business owners, this is good news, because you no-longer have to waste money on non-geographical based promotions, with companies like foursquare or facebook, your advert will be tailored basing on the location of a user of those mobile applications, local advertisement can increase your sales especially if your business is local based i.e restaurants, bars, saloons, and so much more.
How location based mobile Apps have changed our lives and the mobile industry in general?
- Enabled Mobile ads: As a consumer this is an advantage, because sales deals mobile applications like Groupon use this location based technology to suggest discounts close to me, this means i can save money while shopping locally. Then on the side of local businesses, their sales are doubled, because their adverts are seen by people in a close range, so if a business is promoting a new product, it will easily attract buyers from a close range.
- Increased Engagement: Cell phone users have a wide choice of mobile application they can use to connect with friends locally, search for deals locally and so much more, these mobile apps have increased cell phone usage. Mobile Apps like Yelp, Mapquest can be used to find locations, restaurants, hotels, shopping malls, and so much more.
- Improved local data search: Services like Yelp, Foursquare, and Google Local Search have simplified the way users find local based data, small business have benefited from this technology, because users can easily find them. Local search technology tailors search results basing on location, so small business don’t have to compete with non local based enterprises in the search results of these localized mobile apps
Below I have listed some of the best 7 location based apps that have shaped the mobile industry:
- 1. Yelp:
You can easily use Yelp mobile app to find great local businesses around you. Many people use Yelp to search for local based businesses, data is suggested basing on user reviews and location, so if you want to search for the best restaurant in Atlanta, Yelp will suggest the best restaurants basing on user reviews. For those who love sharing nice locations and photos with friends, Yelp mobile app will enable you discover and share local deals and photos of nice places to hangout with your friends. Using this Yelp mobile App, you will be in position to search for addresses and phone numbers of local business then get a built-in map to direct you to those places using your Smart-phone. Download Yelp location based app for free from here….
- 2. Foursquare:
Use this foursquare location based Application to find great places near you. Over 30 million people are using this mobile app to discover and share great places with their friends on instant, it is more like Yelp, though Yelp adds reviews on each location. For those who love shopping deals, Foursquare App will suggest nearby deals, so you don’t have to miss product or service discounts in a nearby local store. You can share photos and a brief review of great places you have visited with your friends on facebook. With this Foursquare App you can personalize recommendations basing on your interests, so you will only get suggestions of deals and places basing on your interests. The app comes with free maps you can use to locate places. Download Foursquare mobile location app for free from here…
- 3. Groupon:
Everyone wants to save money while shopping, so this Groupon local shopping application will help you purchase and redeem Groupon deals directly from your mobile phone. With this Groupon Mobile App, you can easily keep track of each and every purchase by location. You can share discovered deals with in your location with friends and family. Groupon deals app was once the most used local deal suggestion app, but the competition has increased in this industry, shopping mobile apps like Shopkick are personalizing shopping by giving away rewards to users who shop in local stores near them. You can download Groupon Mobile app for free from here ….
- 4. Facebook:
This is the most popular location based mobile application, you can easily connect and find friends nearby, facebook will suggest people you might know basing on your location, this can help you discover old friends in your area. You will also be in position to get notifications about calls, events, status updates, photo tags and so much more, which will keep you engaged with your friends most of the time. With Facebook Mobile App, you will be in position to communicate with friends while using other Apps, so you stay connected 24/7. You can download this mobile local based social application for free from here….
- 5. MiFinderApp:
Mifinder is a community networking mobile app that connects people from diverse communities. With a social focus, it’s the only location-based app to offer super specific filtered searches based on diverse communities such as ethnicity, religion, language, disability and most recently added, life experiences ( such as for new parents, those coping with loss and people moving to new locations). You can download MiFinder App for free from here….
- 6. Sonar. Me
If you want to stay in touch with your close friends, this is the best local based social application. Sonar mobile application can notify you when your friends and friends’ friends are nearby; they use social and location data from top social networks like Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare and LinkedIn to suggest close friends around you. For users who need some extra privacy, you can be in position to pause Sonar, if paused, the application will stop sharing your location, and if it is reopened, it will only share your location with close friends. So if you have friends on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and Foursquare, Sonar will notify you when they come to a nearby location. You can download this location based application from here….
- 7. Geofeedia:
This is a nice tool for small business owners, Geofeedia will help you search and monitor social media activities by location. You can easily search top social network responses by location in real time, supported networks include Twitter, Instagram, Flickr, Youtube. Their advance location monitoring tools can gather and archive social media data from places of interest, this data can include, events, hotels, destinations, stores and so much more. You can use enterprise tools to create Geofeeds for your small business. Request a free trial today from here…..
