By Luanne Teoh on 06-14-2011

Luanne Teoh

June 14, 2011

The old technology adage of “Think Global, Act Local” of the early internet days is now more accurate than ever. According to research firm, Strategy Analytics, location based services will generate $10 billion in revenue by 2016. Fifty percent of this revenue will come from location based search advertising.

Small business owners now have access to geo-targeting, location-based and local search services. This means not only having to constantly find ways to compete on a global scale and marketplace to grow a business. The localization of the internet through local daily deals and check-in apps like Groupon, Living Social, Foursquare and Gowalla has unleashed a whole new business and local community development avenue for the stores and businesses on Main Street.

With smartphones being the convergence point of technology and service offerings, a study by Edison Research shows the following stats:

• 30% Americans are now familiar with location-based services (+450% from 2010)
• 10 million Americans have posted their locations through an app at least once
• 20% of those (2 million) use location-based services every time they go out

For small businesses, as location based services become more ubiquitous, mining the information of customers and more importantly, potential customers should be at the forefront of a marketer’s strategy. Key areas of development to look towards are going to be in partnerships, sponsorship, branded entertainment, incentives and rewards.

As the penetration of smartphone usage increases, small businesses are going to be the primary benefactors from its localization aspects.

Image courtesy of Doug Savage

About Luanne Teoh

Luanne is a senior correspondent for BizTechDay focused on Small Business Tech, Mobile and China based in San Francisco. In the last 17 years, she has helped launch start-ups and turned around failing operations. Her international work experience include both public and private corporations in Southeast Asia, Australia and North America. She has previously worked for Oracle Corporation, SonyBMG Music, Universal Music, Catcha Media and SOH Inc. Apart from a keen interest in technology, Luanne is also and avid explorer of the globe, cultures and people.

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