iBeacon on Apple's iOS 7 Could be a Homerun for Cause Marketers

Today on the For Momentum Blog, I have a new post: Apple's 5S, iOS 7 Has Plenty of Goodies for Cause Marketing.

I think the most interesting feature of iOS 7 is iBeacon.

iBeacon is "micro-location" because it's designed to work in a physical location (like a store) with your phone - specifically your retail apps. With an iBeacon transmitter businesses can better interact with smartphone-toting consumers in and near their stores. Sure, they can push coupons to them when they walk in the door, but they can also give them one when they linger in a particular aisle or over a specific product.

Companies can even push reminders to consumers. "Last time you were on our website you were searching for a blend of coffee that we have in stock."

The tie-ins with cause marketing are endless. I highlight a few in my blog post.

Late last week, MediaPost had an interesting article on how Major League Baseball plans to use iBeacon. In addition to the usual stuff, like pushing coupons to fans when they enter the ballpark, iBeacon can help teams engage with fans throughout the game. And the discussion doesn't always have to be about baseball.

Upgrade your seats to the first base line. Proceeds benefit the Greater Boston Food Bank.

Support the Jimmy Fund in the 7th inning. 50 cents from every hot dog sold - up to $5,000 - goes to the cancer charity.

According to an industry whitepaper on iBeacon, “We believe it has significant potential--especially for retailers and any marketer engaged with event sponsorship or location-based marketing,” stated a recent Razorfish whitepaper. The agency suggested iBeacon could power mobile payments as well.

If mobile is the future of cause marketing, iBeacon may be the transporter that takes us there!