Beacons are one of the hottest items in technology today. Due to both the increasing number of local applications and improved accuracy of mobile targeting, it’s no surprise to see the likes of Apple, Estimote and PayPal using beacons to improve location services.

Image license: Estimote©

What’s A Beacon?

Beacons are inconspicuous and inexpensive devices that can be placed nearly anywhere. They transmit information via low-energy Bluetooth signals directly to compatible smartphones at custom ranges of four inches to two hundred feet. The industries that stand to win most from this technology include retail, events and transportation.

While there are a plethora of beacon companies entering the market, Apple has given the industry a boost by baking beacon technology into its latest operating system. As a result, there are 200 million+ iPhones, iPads and iPods in the marketplace poised and ready to pair with beacon apps and services.

Let’s use a Minnesota Twins baseball game as a potential use-case (they just installed dozens of beacons in their stadium). As you near the entrance, your iPhone might automatically pull your tickets up and offer a deal: Check in and be entered to win FREE season tickets! Continuing past the concession stand, your phone could send you a push notification, alerting you that hot dogs are half off after the sixth inning when you show them your targeted code (this message would only show up, if you were within thirty feet of the concessions). After the game, you’re back at your bus stop and perhaps a beacon  lets you know that the next bus is running late and will be there in six minutes. This is just one of many possible future scenarios.

What’s The Opportunity? 

For event planners, retailers, mass transit, educational institutions, hospitals and many others, beacons offer the simplest way to intelligently target highly specific audiences, in highly specific locations via mobile communication.

Photo credit: Business Insider

Consider the graph above: A full 30% of consumers use their phone to look up product reviews while shopping and nearly 50% call a friend or family member for advice. Armed with this knowledge, how could retailers use beacons to deliver timely content that might alleviate the need to call or look up information?

To conclude, consider the following. Beacons are nimble: Marketers can easily use this technology to offer tailored messages to highly specific consumer segments. Beacons are unobtrusive: Users need only download the accompanying apps to let brands know that they’re willing to interact. It’s then up to the marketers to make those interactions worthwhile. And finally, beacons will offer rich real-time data: This will make optimizing local targeting efforts in real time easier than ever.

As we noted in our 2014 Tech Predictions, this year will bear witness to a significant rise in applications that rely on beacons. Look for innovations in retail, healthcare and home appliances. Keep an eye on Apple’s iBeacon, Estimote, Gimbal beacon, Swirl networks and PayPal’s beacon.