What Is Geofencing and How Can It Benefit Your Business?
Poor marketing is one of the top 4 reasons that small to medium-sized businesses fail. Are you using all of the marketing tools at your disposal, or are you falling behind? Keep reading to learn more about Geofencing today!
Sure, you’ve created your social media pages and you’ve worked on your on-page SEO, but how are you targeting people near you? Are you using geofencing?
You might be looking at this and wondering “Wait, what is geofencing?”. We’re here to talk about it so you can decide if it’s right for you. Read on to learn all about geofencing and why you may want to consider it.
First: What Is Geofencing?
Geofencing is a modern type of mobile marketing that targets people in a specific area. It uses location-based software to pinpoint potential customers and, ideally, draw them in.
In 2022, it’s easier than ever to track and target potential consumers near a business. People will begin to see targeted ads after walking by a business that’s used great geotargeting tactics.
For example, have you ever walked past a clothing store and immediately started seeing advertisements for it on your phone? This is the result of geofencing. It makes people more likely to visit a business even if they’ve never been there.
You can set up a geofence in one specific area (like around one business location), around all of your business locations, in an entire city, or even in an entire state. Most people think of geofencing as it applies to smaller areas, however.
How Can You Use Geofencing?
There are several ways to use location-based marketing for your business.
First, you can take advantage of social media advertisements. Once you define your advertisement radius (your “fence”), the apps will start sending users ads when they’re inside that radius.
If you already use text message marketing, geofencing is a great addition to it. Instead of randomly sending out texts, you can set texts to send only when a potential customer is nearby. They’ll be more likely to visit your business if it’s convenient for them to do so.
If you have your own app, you can get the app to send notifications to people who have downloaded it once they’re in your radius. These notifications are more noticeable than social media ads (which some people block or don’t look at while they’re out and about).
What Are the Benefits of Geofencing?
So why would you bother with geofencing? Any savvy business owner knows that they need to pick and choose marketing tactics and engagement features so that they don’t go over budget. How do you know that you’re actually going to get your money’s worth out of geofencing?
Here are a few benefits to consider before making your decision.
Better Targeting
The most obvious benefit of geofencing is that you’ll have more effective targeting.
With geotargeting, you’re adding an important piece of information to your target audience profile. You won’t just be targeting people who may be in the general demographic that you’re looking for. You’ll add in locations so you won’t be targeting someone who has no way of accessing your business.
Let’s say that you’ve targeted people between the ages of thirty and forty-five who wear makeup. Sending all of them advertisements isn’t going to be cost-effective if you only have a brick-and-mortar location.
When you further target with geofencing, you’ll only pick people who are nearby.
This also allows you to collect more data. You may find that your target audience needs to be revised based on the people who are actually visiting your store and buying your products.
This will allow you to further refine your marketing strategy so you can continue improving.
Higher-Quality Leads and a Great ROI
When you start a new marketing strategy, you know that you’re taking a risk. Not all of your leads are going to be good ones (and as a matter of fact, most won’t be).
Consider your own experience as a “target customer.” How often do you see ads for things that you’ll never use because they just aren’t convenient for you?
Geofencing is a great way to get high-quality leads that are more likely to turn into customers. This means that you’re also going to get a better return on investment.
Geofencing is affordable as-is, but because it’s also so effective at finding your ideal customers, you’re getting more than your money’s worth.
Better Personalization
Geotargeting allows you to customize your ads for each area.
Let’s say that your business is near a local high school and you like to target parents of teenagers. High school graduation is coming up soon in the area that you’re targeting, so you can use that to your advantage.
Run ads including high school graduation-related keywords and you’ll catch the interest of those parents and teens.
Beating Your Competition
Did you know that you can use geofencing to draw people away from your competition? This might seem sneaky, but in reality, it’s just strategic.
As an example, pretend that you have a competitor down the road from your business. When you use geofencing, you can choose an area near your competitor to draw customers your way instead.
They’ll see ads for your business and that might be enough to sway them. This is just another way to rise above your competition!
Is Geofencing Right for Your Business?
So what is geofencing? It’s the perfect way to attract high-quality leads and turn them into customers. You’ll be getting passers-by in the doors of your business in record numbers.
If you’re not already trying it, what are you waiting for?
At Media Shark, we love helping businesses grow and thrive with our digital marketing strategies. Contact us so we can start working together today. Edit Article
