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Sociatag Photobooth

Sociatag Photobooth

Do you have a very quiet and simple sales point? Would you like your customers spend more time in your shop? Are you looking to improve your points of sales and your relation with your customers? Are you also looking to add some extra spice to your shop? Sociatag photobooth is the answer.

The photobooth makes spaces more fun and engaging, increases interaction between attendees as they gather to take photos and socialize, and improves your interaction and communication with your clientele. Whether you are a clothing shop, a restaurant, a supermarket, a gaming space or even an optician, Sociatag photobooth is the answer. It will add up a lot of fun, excitement and will enhance your communication with your customers both inside and outside your store.

Every customer will take photos with your shop appearing in the background and your brand logo upfront, which will make each and every one of them your brand ambassador both online and offline. Your customers will be willingly advertising your business and you will be guaranteeing greater awareness and exposure with no effort at all.

Below are some photos of the sociatag photobooth:

Makhzoumi Foundation – Souk Ramadaniyat Beirutiya 2013: http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.596250990425694.1073741829.251375111579952&type=1

NBA All Stars Event: http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.446529622121632.1073741829.334797336628195&type=1

STC at Gitex Dubai 2012: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.460979450619516.129051.251375111579952&type=3

Sociatag – The Process

Let’s dig deeper in the Sociatag products. What are they? And how do they perform?

Have you read our previous post about RFID? The Sociatag boxes and tags both have the RFID technology installed. That’s how the card information is read by the box. When users log in to their Sociatag account, and activate a tag which holds a specific code, that code is then registered with their account. Hence, when swiping the tag on the box, they will perform an action of either check-in, like, or tweet. The below bullet points explain the process in a more simple way:

  1. Login using Facebook or Twitter
  2. Allow the Sociatag application to access your account
  3. Add a Tag (Sociatag card)
  4. Swipe the Sociatag card and it will directly perform the defined social action


Note: the Sociatag boxes are not only limited to liking a Facebook page, checking in at a venue, tweeting, or taking a photo at the photo booth. It can be linked to any other social media platform or customized to your needs.

What about the mobile application?

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We have recently released our mobile applications for Android and iOS systems. And below you can find the features of the apps.

  • Register and login using a valid email or your Facebook account
  • Connect to social networks: Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare and LinkedIn
  • Sync your friends list from the social networks
  • Add and manage tags
  • Control Account Settings
  • Scan NFC enabled readers using NFC enabled phones
  • Check your activity and what your friends are up to

 

Sociatag and loyalty programs:

Loyalty programs offered by Sociatag cover all cases and possibilities. It is up to the business owners to configure the loyalty program that fits their needs.

  1. It could be about collecting points to win instant prizes or enter a draw.
  2. It could be a multiple level campaign with rewards for each level. Users can be defined to participate once or multiple times.

…and so on.

Loyalty Programs revisited

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We’ve already covered the loyalty programs subject. The history of these programs dates back to 1793 in USA, where a merchant gave out copper tokens to be collected by customers and exchanged for items in the store. And so this marketing plan moved on from generation to another, from business field to another.

Let’s examine a modern day loyalty program. How about we dig into the “Rd LOVER” program launched by Roadster Diner, Lebanon? What is it about? When you join the program, and buy from Roadster, every 1000LL earns you a star. After collecting the stars, draws will take place to select the winners. Why would people join such a program?
1- If more than 72,000 people like their Facebook page, it means one thing: people love Roadster.
2- Let’s put it this way: you love this restaurant, you always visit it and order delivery, you’re being rewarded for such behavior. Would you not register for the Rd LOVER card and claim your stars to get a reward?

Let’s discuss another local example, Spinneys supermarket. When you register for their program, you collect points upon every purchase from their stores. The prizes are a list of items from their store, each item has target points to collect.

Rewarding their loyal customers is what they aim for. The only difference between the above mentioned examples is that at Spinneys there’s no draw, once you collect your points you get your reward, or if your points are not enough you can pay the difference.

Loyalty programs are very popular, and one great marketing tool. And today’s expanding technology is making it easier and more fun to participate in. We are certain that all of our loyal readers, have benefited at least once from a loyalty program. Would you not enjoy signing up for a program that can be that is rewarding, easy and fun? If you had a business, would you not choose a program for your loyal customers, a program that is easily installed and managed by you?

With sociatag, you can do all the above and more. Now everyone can benefit from your loyalty programs and share their experience with their social networks at the same time.

QR Codes

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QR codes stands for quick response codes. They are a type of two-dimensional barcode that can be read with a dedicated QR reading device like a smartphone. The codes are black modules arranged in square shape. Normal barcodes are horizontal and thus can only be read in a horizontal way. While the QR codes can be scanned vertically or horizontally. There are several websites that generate QR codes.

Where can QR codes be displayed?
Business cards, booklets, newspapers, product, leaflets, advertising banners and so on. The information that these codes carry are usually a link to the web: a website, an email, a product that is displayed on the internet, an offer, even prompts the user to call a phone number, etc. Thus, QR codes have a major impact on marketing and customer service.
So when placing QR codes in a marketing campaign, you want to give your loyal customers and potential customers a reason to scan the code, and the reward should be valuable. Imagine at the opening event of your store, you have leaflets or business cards with a QR code. When visitors come in, they won’t have to search for you on Facebook to like your business, all they have to do is scan the code and they are redirected to your Facebook page.

All you have to do now is download a QR code reader app and scan the code above.

Loyalty should be rewarded

Customer Loyalty Program is a great marketing tool. It simply is a structured form that rewards customers of a certain firm. The tool used usually is a card that looks like credit cards, and it identifies the card holder as being a member in the firm’s loyalty program. The cards could be plastic or paper, and they are either points cards, reward cards, or advantage cards.

Now let’s not elaborate more on a topic that already is well-known; let’s elaborate how loyalty programs are changing with new technologies and smart phones.

Loyalty programs are involved with two best technologies: RFID and NFC. So what if you were benefiting from numerous loyalty programs: your favorite restaurant, clothes store, coffee shop, bookshop, supermarket? How about having all those in one card, for example? Or perhaps on your mobile phone? And that’s not just it, it’s all connected to social media sites, so once you redeem your points or reward, your friends are notified about it. Yes that’s more audience therefore more money for your favorite places.

But one question might arise: I’ve already liked my favorite restaurant on Facebook, followed them on Twitter, and when am there I always check-in via Foursquare. What’s new? Well, don’t forget the fact of fake check-ins on Foursquare, which means you can be in the comfort of your own home and check-in at the restaurant, and become a loyal customer. But with RFID and NFC loyalty programs, you should be at the place, and thus it is really loyal.

Please head to our Facebook page and answer the question about loyalty program.

What is Near Field Communication (NFC)?

If you’re going out, basically you’re taking with you your mobile phone, wallet and keys. Your wallet contains your credit card, customer loyalty reward cards, coupons, and lots more. But thanks to NFC (Near Field Communication) all you have to take with you from now on is your mobile phone.

So what exactly is NFC?
NFC is a technology that enables transfer of data from a device like a mobile phone to another device or tag. The devices will have chips that work on radio frequencies and antennas. As the name indicates, such transfer occurs only when the two devices are in a short distance. You might be thinking that that’s what Bluetooth does; well you’re right, but NFC is more secure and fast. Because of its short range, data transmitted via NFC will be safe especially in crowded place, and it takes a millisecond to connect instead of having to enter a pairing code between the two devices. So all you have to do is tap your phone that has all your information to an NFC machine.

Fields of use

  • Payment: After shopping all your groceries and products, you just need to tap your phone instead of your credit card to a machine and the machine transforms your bank info and voila it’s paid.
  • Social networks: You can use NFC technology to check in at an offline event. But we’re already using Foursquare, aren’t we? Yes, but with Foursquare you can check in at the mall in your city while you’re sitting at the comfort of your own couch at home; while with NFC technology, checking in requires you be at the mall and tap your phone to the NFC tag there.
  • Transportation: No more bus tickets, cash and coins. Just tap your mobile phone and pay.
  • Contact info: You can send your contact information from your mobile to another mobile just by tapping the phones.
  • Health care: NFC can be used in giving medical professionals information about the patient and treatment needed. It also can be used for medical staff like nurses to track their visits to the patient’s room.
  • Gaming: You can play games on your phone with your friend just by tapping the phones together.
  • Smart objects: Let’s say at school for example, students will scan an NFC tag to check their schedule. Or you can use your mobile to scan NFC tag at the theater to check the movies schedule or latest trailers.

NFC chips cost lots of money, but more and more mobile phones companies are installing that technology into the handsets. NFC was first introduced in 2004 with Nokia, Sony and Philips; and growing fast nowadays.

 

What if a barcode gets smarter?

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Yes it’s happening due to a technology called RFID (Radio-Frequency Identification). What is RFID? It’s a system that transfers an object’s identity and info via radio waves.

How the whole thing works?

The RFID system contains three components:

  • RFID tag: it’s a very tiny chip (almost the size of a grain of rice) that is usually connected to the object, and holds the object’s info (name or ID, unit, expiry date if applicable, size, color…). In other words, it’s the smart barcode. The chip also contains an antenna that will transmit the info to an RFID reader.
  • RFID reader: it also has an antenna to receive the info transmitted from the tag and sends it to the data processing machine.
  • Data processing machine: based on the field of use or category of business, the machine processes all the info received and files them.

 

Fields of use for RFID

  • Retail business: tracking the product from factory to the hands of the buyer. Once the product is manufactured, an RFID tag is attached to it. The RFID reader’s job will be tracking the product in the warehouse and it’s shipment to the desired location or store, and last phase, how many of the product and when it was bought. Warehouse/stock management hasn’t been easier. The data processing machine will keep all the information and process the data into a required result.
  • RFID and social networks: checking in at an event, liking a product, sharing a photo,..
  • RFID passports
  • Vehicle parking, road traffic monitoring
  • Food production control
  • Hospital staff control

… and the list goes on.

RFID technology is being integrated more and more in all business categories. It requires a less human intervention, unlike barcodes.