Location Based Advertising Geofencing

Location-based advertising is a necessity for local brick and mortar businesses. Geofencing is one of the most effective marketing techniques for location-based advertising.

A business owner can effectively target audiences based on the physical places they visit like competitor locations, places of interest, events, nearby office buildings, etc. Remember, the places people go is the strongest indicator of their buying intent.

Many businesses use geofencing marketing to drive valuable leads and in-store visits. If you want to take advantage of this great marketing tool, here are three best practices for using geofencing effectively.

1. Keep geofences small and targeted

Effective geofences are small and targeted. The biggest mistake companies make when utilizing geofencing for location-based advertising campaigns is creating fences that are too large. Correctly targeting your audience will increase response rates and ultimately increase in-store visits.

Additionally, you want your geofences to be close to your business. If you create a fence that reaches people 20 miles away, they most likely will not be effective. Geofencing only works if your audience is within a short enough distance to visit your shop.

Generally, you want your geofences placed within a 1 to 2-mile radius. If people typically walk to your business, you’ll keep your geofence within a four to five-minute walk. If people drive to your business, you’ll want to keep your geofence at a four to five-minute drive.

By keeping geofences small and within local proximity, your location-based advertising campaigns will be more successful.

2. Geofence locations your audience is attending

Think about your audience and the places they go. Once again, the places people go is the strongest indicator of buying intent. To have a fully effective campaign, you must set up your fences where your audience is likely to engage with your content.

A very good place to set up geofences is at a competitor’s place of business. People going to a competitor location use similar goods or services that you are offering. Competitor geofencing enables you to deliver ads and push notifications that get people to choose your business over your competition. It’s a great place to set up a fence and reach users who are interested in the products or services you offer.

You want to target people where they are likely to be or need your business. For example, car dealerships target competitor dealerships because this builds an audience of people actively out shopping for a car. Burger King targets McDonalds because people going to McDonalds eat fast food. Uber targets people at airports and hotels where users are likely to need a ride.

Your location-based advertising campaign will tap into local audiences already actively using your products or services.

3. Your ads should feature benefits

Give your audience a reason to visit your store. Featuring a benefit that compels your audience to react should be the headline of your ad.
Whether it’s a sale, exclusive discount, or personalized offer, you must get your audience to act.

For example, Starbucks sending a push notification like “Take a break! Come to Starbucks for BOGO any handcrafted beverages (grande or larger) from 2-7 p.m.,” tell users exactly what to do and what they get out of completing an action.

Creating compelling offers is critical to the success of your location-based advertising campaign. Use creativity with images to capture attention and a headline to compel action. Your ad should not be too wordy.

Remember, your audience will glance at the ad. In an instant, your audience will decide whether to click on it or not.

In summary, geofencing marketing is a powerful tool in your location-based advertising campaigns. It is better to launch these campaigns before your competitors do!