Beacons - The Future of Marketing

As a small business owner, it is important for you to stay up to date with the latest technology and innovations available to help you with your business.  Today, an emerging technology is the beacon.

Beacons are devices that allow business owners to push messages to customers cell phones when they come within a certain distance of the device. Messages are sent using the bluetooth technology in the customer's phone and messages can be placed onto beacons via the cloud.

One company that is pioneering beacon technology is Piper.  Piper is an app in the iTunes App Store that users can download for free and interact with beacons and also chat with nearby friends who also have the app downloaded. The company has partnered with McDonald's in Columbus, Ga and has placed beacons in all Columbus McDonald's locations. The beacons send out messages to customers in the drive thru and in the restaurant and push out special coupons that can be added to the Passbook app on the iPhone.

Make sure you watch out for beacons and companies like Piper in the coming years. Maybe as early as 2015, you will be able to use this technology in your own business and interact with your customers in a whole new way.