Have you dabbled in geofence marketing but aren’t getting the results you’d hoped for? Like all marketing efforts, geofencing requires a balance of experimentation and data-driven decisions. When deployed correctly, geofence marketing, which reaches customers within a virtual fence, can encourage up to 75% of customers to take a specific action.
But there’s more to geofence marketing than setting up a digital perimeter around your business and sending nearby customers a coupon. There are certain tips that can make this marketing initiative more effective and give you a competitive edge.
To elevate your geofence marketing, try these seven tips:
1. Opt for smaller geofences.
When you begin geofence marketing, you might be tempted to cast a wide net. In other words, you might consider setting up a geofence that covers an entire city, but smaller is usually better.
Customers within a geofence should be able to reach your location within five minutes. Rather than a geofence that covers an entire city, setting it to cover a single shopping plaza or a one-mile radius around your business will likely yield better results.
2. Think beyond your store’s perimeter.
In most cases, a geofence is set up around a business to capture foot traffic in shopping plazas or customers living nearby. However, there are some businesses that might need to think outside of the five-minute radius of their business.
A ride-sharing company, for example, might consider setting up a geofence at an airport or a street with bars and nightclubs where people might need a ride home at night. A sporting goods store might set up a fence around a stadium and offer game attendees a coupon to use on game day. A daycare might consider launching a geofence around a playground or community center to offer childcare services to parents.
You should create geofences where your ideal customers are, and that differs for every business.
3. Target a specific audience
Geofencing gives you the power to send customers messages, but you want to wield this power with care. Frequent messages aimed at a mass audience will become irritating quickly. Instead, target specific customers.
For instance, you might target customers using demographic information, and aim your message at female customers between the age of 18-24. This is often called secondary targeting, since the first target criteria is based on a person’s physical location.
Targeting specific audiences will avoid ad fatigue, but you’re also likely to see better response rates. Targeted ads, on average, are twice as effective as non-targeted ads.
4. Make sure the customer knows they’re near your business.
As a marketer, you know the value of short, clear messaging, especially on mobile devices. However, if the fence is deployed around your company, you need to tell customers that they’re close to your business.
A message that simply says, “Stop in today and save 20%” won’t be effective if the customer doesn’t know that they’re steps away from your store or restaurant. A more effective message would say, “Visit ABC Retailers today and enjoy 20% off — we’re just one block away.”
5. Analyze location data.
When a geofence is set up, you can collect data on customers within the area. Generally, you can see when a customer enters and leaves the fenced area, where he or she stopped, and how much time was spent at each location.
With this information, you get a better understanding of your customers. Where were they before they came into your store? Is there a day of the week that seems to capture more customers than others? These details can make your geofencing efforts even more effective.
6. Retargeting ads are possible.
If you’ve done any kind of online or digital marketing, you’ve heard of retargeting ads. If a customer clicks on an ad or visits a particular page on a website, those same customers can be reached through retargeting. The same concept applies to geofencing. You can set up messages or promotions that only appear to people who have been inside a geofence within, say, the last week.
Why are marketers so keen on retargeting ads? The simple answer is because they work. Retargeting ads have a clickthrough rate that’s 10x higher than other ads.
7. Not all platforms are created equal.
There are dozens of platforms that give brands the ability to use geofence marketing, but they’re not all the same. When comparing different platforms, look for one that’s easy to use, collects comprehensive customer data, offers actionable campaign metrics, and gives you the ability to target multiple locations at once. You might also consider a platform that has integrations with location services like Foursquare, Bluedot Innovation, and Plot Projects.
CleverTap, a mobile marketing platform, checks all of these boxes. The platform offers geofence marketing with easy setup. Simply enter a zip code or drop a pin in a map to set up a fence. From there, the intuitive platform will help you create a targeted message, deliver it to customers, and track not only the success of the campaign but the movements of customers.
With the right mobile marketing platform coupled with the tips above, brands can start using geofence marketing effectively and quickly.
