Using Geofencing Advertising to Target Customers at Exactly The Right Place
On the MyArea Network blog, we recently talked about how you can use location as a way to target potential customers based on their city, region, or zip code. The location-based marketing tactic is called geotargeting. Now, we want to look at another way that you can find and connect with customers based on their exact location. This location-based marketing tactic is called geofencing, and it's just, if not more powerful than geotargeting. Geofencing advertising is the process of creating a virtual boundary and then pushing display ads to people who move into that virtual boundary. The ads, which show across a variety of display ad networks on websites and in apps, are delivered immediately or set to show to people up to 30 days after visiting the location. Geofencing uses GPS technology to create a precise virtual boundary around a business or location. Unlike geotargeting advertising which uses a specific zip code or region to target customers, geofencing advertising creates a border that is defined by a range around a specific location. It is more targeted than geotargeting because it reaches customers based on a very small defined area such as in, around, or near a specific business, event, conference center, or building. Geofencing advertising has a variety of benefits for small business and local marketers. To visualize how you can use this advertising tactic, consider these example geofencing campaigns. A business may set a geofence around their business so when customers walk past, they are targeted with ads that encourage them to visit. For example, a restaurant in a mall food court may create a geofence around the mall and create an ad with a 25% off coupon. The ad drives shoppers to visit the restaurant while they're at the mall. Events often attract attendees that share a similar demographic or psychographic. The theme of the event draws in a certain type of person. If an event is attracting a brand's target audience, it's a great place for them to connect with potential customers. For example, a Mercedes-Benz car dealership could geofence a local auto show to advertise to their target audience while they are all gathered in the same building. A brand can look at the journey a customer takes on their way to doing business with them and find places to advertise based on that process. For example, a lawyer who represents people in auto accidents may choose to geofence an auto body shop or an urgent care. The law office's target audience is likely to visit those locations before they need legal services, so it's a smart way to connect with them during the buyer's journey. Through geofence advertising, you can target competitor locations and put your advertisements in front of people who you know would be potential customers for your business. For example, a bar that has a great happy hour may put a geofence around other nearby bars that have popular happy hours. The bar can promote their specials to drive customers who like happy hours to their business for their next evening out. Geofencing advertising is a digital marketing tactic that can support traditional marketing tactics like physical signage. A business can place a geofence around a static sign (such as a billboard, bench advertisement, or sandwich board) and send ads to people who just saw the sign to reinforce the messaging. For example, a spa that advertises on a sign in an apartment building can also send digital ads to people who walk past the signage. Because geofencing targeting can advertise to customers after they leave a location, you can use this tactic as a remarketing strategy. A retailer can tag customers when they come to their store and then deliver ads two weeks later to highlight a new in-store sale that encourages customers to come back Now that you can see why geofencing marketing is so powerful and have a few ideas of how you can use it for your brand, it's time to develop a strategy for your business. To get started: Advertising with geofencing is one of the most effective marketing tactics. Gaining the best return on investment with geofencing advertising comes from constantly optimizing the campaigns. Some example ways to optimize for increasing your ROI with geofencing include: In order to increase overall performance of geofencing campaigns, there are several key metrics to monitor and optimize. Yes. Geofencing advertising does work and the data is there to prove it as well. The reality though, it is not easy to do geofencing advertising and it should be an ongoing part of the marketing strategy so that it can be optimized consistently. Similar to a search marketing strategy, a geofencing marketing strategy is one that should be ongoing. It is one of the most cost effective programs to increase brand lift with your most likely to convert target audience. Related: Drive More Customers to Your Local Business Using Addressable Geofencing MyArea Network knows what works in location-based marketing. We've successfully used geofence advertising to help our customers get in front of the audiences most likely to convert into leads and prospects. And, we'd love to do the same for you. Whether you need help launching your ads or designing your full campaign from strategy to creative to analytics, our experts are here to help. Contact us today to learn more about our geofencing services and how we've used this location-based marketing strategy to create results for other local businesses.What Is Geofencing Advertising?
The Benefits of Geofencing Advertising
Examples of Geofencing Advertising
Drive Nearby Foot Traffic To Your Business
Advertise at Events That Attract Your Ideal Customers
Catch Attention During the Buyer's Journey
Target Your Competitor's Customers
Support Location-Based Signage
Bring Customers Back
Launch a Geofencing Campaign
Optimize Geofencing Advertising Campaigns
Ways to Optimize Geofencing
Key Performance Indicators to Optimize
Does Geofencing Advertising Really Work?
Launch a Geofencing Campaign with MyArea Network
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