In today’s world, phones have become an important accessory. Everywhere you go, it’s almost inevitable that you will see people scrolling through their phones whether it’s on social media or looking for the best place to shop or stop for a bite to eat. One application that goes unnoticed by many businesses but is important to use from an advertising standpoint is Waze.

Other platforms and applications can’t target people when they’re in the car, so that’s where Waze steps in. Waze uses advertisements to target those that pass your location and will give them some sort of notification. This notification could be anything from a simple brand awareness advertisement to a promotional advertisement that will drive more people to your business.

This mobile application becomes a great way to constantly bring people into your doors and is great for creating potential lifelong customer relationships. By placing your brand out there through Waze, your location, specific message, and promotions will be broadcasted to the potential customers. This doesn’t necessarily mean that the app user will come to your establishment and shop or eat right then and there; however, it spreads your information out there and could stick in their mind for future reference.

Like Justin Nabozna from Google and Waze had mentioned in a podcast, if the driver sees an ad for a pizza restaurant on the way to work, they most likely won’t stop because it’s too early. On the way home from work, the driver also might not stop if they know that dinner is being prepared at home. However, they would remember seeing the ad for that restaurant in a time of need, which would increase the chances of them becoming a routine customer.

From this, it’s important to note that touchpoints play a key role in bringing customers in. Touchpoints are when the consumer needs to see the ad about 7 to 10 times before making a decision to stop in or before making a buying decision. If the business decides to use Waze, it would increase the touchpoints especially in moments of need.

Another way that Waze can reach out to potential customers for your business is through Take-Over Ads. This is an ad that pops down for a few seconds when the driver stops at a stop sign or at a stop light for more than a few seconds. The advertisement is relevant to the driver and increases brand awareness and promotional awareness for the local businesses and restaurants that are around them at that specific time. This makes it easier for you to reach out to this specific target market.

No matter what form of advertising your business uses, one-third of all Waze ads will hit drivers that are located within 6 miles of your location. This is what makes advertising through Waze so beneficial. You’ll be constantly targeting people throughout the entire day and you’ll be creating a brand awareness throughout the community that you are located in.

Now we know what you might be thinking. How do I track my ROI on this ad spend? Waze breaks it down in a way that will make life easy for you and your business. They will look at and measure how many people see the ads, how many people interact with the ads, and how many people actually navigate to your location from those ads. They can then see how many people drove to your location for the month and break it down into unique visitors or new customers and historical navigation or repeat customers. From there, the rest is up to you. If you keep track of how many people show the ad or promotion to their waiter or cashier, you’ll be able to get more specific numbers.

Using Waze as a way to advertise is crucial. Whether it’s brand awareness advertisements or promotional advertisements, getting your name and message out there can take you to the next level. Reaching new clients constantly helps you get new people in the door and expands your target market.

If you and your business are interested in advertising on Waze, you can go to waze.com/business. It’s a simple 5-10 minute application that requires your logo in the correct size, what you want to advertise, and a credit card to make the payment. However, if you’re more interested in advertising in a more complex way, please feel free to email us at tcollins@platinumreputations.com.