Have you ever gone somewhere, maybe walked into a store or restaurant, and the next day an ad started showing up on your phone with a special offer from that store (or maybe a competitor’s store)? If the answer is yes, there is a good chance you were geofenced!
While some form of geofencing has been around for over 10 years, it hasn’t been widely available to companies with marketing budgets less than $20K per month and has never been as targeted as it is now. The majority of the U.S. population has a smart device within their reach at any moment throughout the day, so reaching your target audience on that device is critical.
What is Geofencing?
Geofencing is considered direct-to-mobile, location-based advertising. It allows companies to display digital ads to people based on their physical location and over 300 data points such as buying habits and demographics. It is hyper-targeted and can reach people inside of individual buildings, event locations, convention centers, conferences, or your competitors’ physical locations. And the best part about any digital advertising is that you can measure success and adjust your strategy as needed… unlike some of your more traditional tactics like direct mail, billboards, TV, or radio.
Advertisers are able to place a digital geofence around the building or location you want to target. Mobile device IDs are captured when people walk inside the geofence. They do not need to be looking at their mobile device – they just need to have their phone turned on and their location services turned on so their mobile device ID can be captured. For the next 30 days, we are able to serve those people digital ads on their mobile devices across over 600,000 mobile apps and endless websites.
Who Should Use Geofencing?
Geofencing is a perfect advertising tactic for any small to midsize brand that is able to commit to a $1000 minimum spend for 3 months. However, the more budget you have to commit the larger the audience you are able to reach! A few business types that geofencing is perfect for:
- Consultants
- Attorneys & Law Firms
- Medical Systems & Practices
- Car Dealerships
- Retailers & Franchises
- Trade Show Marketers & Exhibitors
- Restaurants & Food Trucks
- Professional Service Companies
- Event Coordinators
- Non-profits & Trade Associations
There are several types of geofencing that can be utilized for reaching your target audience.
- Specific locations or events – If you know your target audience will be present, we can set up a fence to capture these people and market to them for 30 days.
- Competitor locations – If you have a competitor who’s creeping in on your target market, we can target their location and deliver messages to entice customers to come to your location next time.
- Mailing lists – If you have a list you use for direct mail, we can convert that to an addressable geofencing campaign and save you a ton of money by reaching these people in their homes.
- Home targets – If you don’t have an address list but would like to target homes that meet certain criteria, we can create a list to be used for your geofencing campaign.
What Makes Geofencing Different from Other Forms of Advertising?
There are a lot of digital advertising options for marketing your business – Google ads (search, display), social media, video, email, etc. All have their own merits and when used together can be very effective in developing an integrated marketing strategy. However, geofencing can benefit your business in ways that other tactics cannot. From direct targeting in specific locations to associating an increase in foot traffic with your marketing efforts, geofencing is unique and will position your brand to the right audience, exactly where they are located.
So, what are some of the unique benefits of geofencing?
- Target specific buildings (rather than a city, zip code, 1-mile radius, or 1-block target) so you don’t waste money on people who are not in the market for your product or service.
- Reach more of your audience and achieve greater efficiencies in your advertising spend by controlling the frequency of your message and by reaching your audience for up to 30 days after they leave the geofenced location.
- Understand effectiveness through reporting and optimization to make sure your marketing dollars are actually working and shift the strategy if they are not.
- Track foot traffic in your location that is directly related to someone seeing your ad – doesn’t get much better than that on measuring effectiveness! Conversion zone tracking is a powerful means to track your online advertising to offline storefront traffic and conversions.
Geofencing is a great digital advertising tactic for reaching your target audience with so much potential for your business. 1558 Brand Agency can help you navigate the waters of geofencing and develop a strategy for reaching your exact target audience.
Schedule a call for a free consultation by completing the form below and a member of our team will be in touch to find the best time to meet! You can also reach out to connect@1558brand.com or call 469.612.5398.