Is Geofencing Right for Your Business?
In today’s world, location-based technology and digital marketing are growing by the day. If your business isn’t already evaluating the use of geographic targeting methods, you’ll soon be left behind.
What is Geofencing?
Geofencing is the definition of a geographic area using global positioning (GPS) or radio frequency identification (RFID). Once the virtual outline is established, triggers are setup that can send app notifications, emails, or text messages when a user’s mobile device enters or exits the defined area.
Using IP geolocation, which maps the IP address to the geographic location to the web from a given connected device, a family-owned pizza shop can set up a geofence just outside of a rival’s shop, sending them a coupon or letting them know about kids-eat-free Tuesdays at their pizza shop.
If the location-based offer doesn’t provide a conversion, you’re informed a consumer was there, where and when, which provides valuable information.
Why is Geofencing So Important?
Having the capability to deliver personalized messages on a personal, local level is amazing and offers up a whole new way of marketing to mobile users. The focal point is mobile advertisements and push notifications tied to a place of local business using IP geolocation.
People are often emotionally invested in their hometown, their favorite sports teams or restaurants. The sense of pride that accompanies that investment is what makes location-based marketing work where other methods of demographic targeting failed.
When geomarketing efforts are combined with organic search traffic, paid search and social media ads, the increase in their click-through rates and conversions can be substantial. Add to that the coordination of your website content using geotargeted personalization and you’ll have an effective way of reaching your targeted audience and converting them.
Since hyper-targeted location-based marketing is the next step in the evolution of digital marketing, let’s look at how it benefits businesses.
Benefits of Geomarketing
Local Sales
The ability to rank well in local searches is valuable for most small businesses and their SEO marketing efforts. If your goal is to improve your local optimization, use geomarketing to target local customers in the defined geographic location. Push notifications can be changed as often as desired or sent as limited-time offers can be sent to increase visits and sales from local patrons.
Analytics
When a local patron comes to your store, how do you know what brought him or her there? Unless you plan to survey each person who enters, it can be difficult to find out how they heard about you. However, if local customers are coming in prompted by push notifications from your geomarketing efforts, you have results you can measure.
The metrics you can gain from this will tell you about their sales, how often they visit, how long they visit your store, and more. It’s data you wouldn’t normally have on how your local customers do business.
Making it Personal
Geomarketing also gives you the information you need to maker customer offers more personal. When you know what type of offers interest them most or will prompt them to visit your store, you can offer them exactly what they want. The information allows you to study their purchase history and see what products or services they prefer and you can adjust your promotions using that.
Geo-marketing is always a Good Idea
While it’s relatively new, it’s a good idea to get in on geomarketing for your business as soon as possible to learn more about your local demographics, boost your sales, and increase your local-based marketing efforts.
