76% of consumers who perform a local search on their smartphones visit a physical location within 24 hours. Sounds impressive, right? What if I told you that users reached with geofencing marketing often visit in even less time?
If you want to reach more customers and increase the chance they’ll visit your business, geofencing marketing may be the answer.
What Is Geofencing Marketing?
Geofencing marketing is a mobile marketing strategy that is based on a physical location.
With this type of programmatic advertising, a local business will set up virtual boundaries, and when someone with a mobile device crosses into them, they’ll receive a push notification or see an ad. This can be a great way for a local business with a physical retail location to successfully advertise a brand, products, services, or special deals.
Also known as geofencing advertising, this type of marketing is distinct from other methods. It occurs in close proximity to a business location and reaches a customer directly through a mobile device.
Compared to other media, geofencing marketing improves the odds of consumers visiting you, as you know they will already be near your business when targeted. The timeliness of a special reminder or offer on their smartphone or device could make all the difference.
Benefits of Geofencing Marketing
While we’ve discussed this a bit already, let’s take a closer look at the benefits of utilizing geofencing marketing strategies.
Great Timing
This might be *THE* major advantage of geofencing marketing.
Marketing messages to potential customers — in the designated area and in the ideal location — make it much more likely they’ll stop in immediately.
Other types of ads require a lot more effort for a person to make their way to your business location.
Targeted Advertising
While digital advertising is more targeted than traditional ads, it still leaves a lot to be desired. You’re likely already targeting cities, regions, or countries with other types of advertising.
In the case of geofencing marketing, anyone who sees your notification will be in an even more specific area. This kind of targeting can allow for some great possibilities when it comes to engaging consumers and marketing products and services to them.
Budget-Friendly
Because geofencing advertising reaches a very specific set of people in a small area, it can be more cost-effective. You won’t waste your marketing budget on people who are unlikely to visit your business location.
Marketing Options
The flexibility of geofencing marketing allows it to be used in a variety of ways to bolster your overall marketing strategy.
The particulars of your geofence can easily be adapted to your needs. This includes the location, the days of the week, times of the day your ads are shown, and more. You can set a geofence to show only inside of your business, within a certain radius, or even near competing businesses.
Building Your Geofencing Marketing Strategy
To make the most of your geofencing marketing strategy, you’ll want to keep these things in mind:
Know Your Audience
As with any marketing campaign, consider your audience carefully. What will resonate with your audience? What solutions does your business offer them? Your push notifications should be relevant to their needs.
It may also be helpful to segment your audience and measure the performance of different groups.
The location you choose for your geofence is critical, but is also impacted by user patterns. You’ll want to carefully consider the behavior of your audience in nearby areas, which routes they travel in the area and where they are likely to spend time before visiting your business.
Use CTAs
While a simple geofencing advertisement alone can be helpful, it will be more impactful if you include a call to action (CTA). CTAs help direct your audience and increase their chances of taking an action — such as visiting your store or coming to see a particular product.
Providing something of value, such as a discount or coupon, may further compel a customer to come see you.
Optimize Your Campaign
Finally, make sure that you don’t just “set it and forget it” when it comes to your geofencing campaign. Track your results and make adjustments — then rinse and repeat.
By tweaking the ad copy, changing the geofence location, and keeping close track of the data, your campaign will undoubtedly be a success.
Understanding How Geofencing Marketing Works
If you want to get more local customers for your business, consider using geofencing marketing. Timing is everything when it comes to great advertising, and setting up a geofence campaign can help you reach your customers at the perfect time.
Need help with your marketing strategy? Contact us today to get your free digital strategy consultation.