What is Geofencing, and why is it important to my Business?W
If you’re not familiar with all the marketing lingo, geofencing might be one of the terms that confuse you. Our goal is to shed some light on the matter and give you a clear understanding.
Continue reading this article to learn more about geofencing, what it is, and what it means to your business.
The Basics of Geofencing
Geofencing is one of the most effective ways small businesses can bring people into their stores. We’re not talking just any people. We’re talking about people that are looking for the exact products and services they provide.
Geofencing services allow businesses to engage their customers based on their location.
This is done by sending messages to smartphone users that are within certain boundaries — within the fence. These messages are often short term promotions, and one time offers for coming into the store right away.
How Does Geofencing Marketing Work?
If how geofencing works eludes your understanding, you’re not alone. The thought that you’re able to target people that are right by your business through their smartphones is mindblowing.
This method of marketing has been around for years now, but still, many businesses don’t even know about it. And using it is definitely not on their radar.
Geofencing Is Not Limited to Mobile Devices
While smartphones and other mobile devices might bring people to your store, you don’t have to limit your geofencing to mobile devices. Businesses can target desktops and tablets just as easily as mobile devices.
Using geofencing marketing on desktops and tablets might be essential when you want to scale. Many times, people are not within the geofence area long enough when they are on their smartphones for your blast to go through.
The User Must Be Within an App or Browser
If you are targeting someone on their mobile device, keep in mind that they have to be within an app or using a browser to get your message. Even if you could message them while their phone was in their pocket, it wouldn’t be helpful. They are most likely going to see your message after they’ve left the geofence area.
The Action You’re Asking for Should Be Easy to Do
If you want people to make an impulse stop or come in for a sale, you need to make the action easy for them.
Instead of sending a message about a storewide sale, you might consider sending a message about a specific product or service. A coupon or limited special offer is another great way to get attention and entice people to come in right away.
Can My Business Afford Geofencing?
While all of these things sound good, and you might already be won over to the geofencing side of things, we can’t forget the issue of money.
You have a limited marketing budget, and you likely have a good deal of the money in question set aside for other means of marketing. While you do want to keep doing what is working, if you don’t give geofencing a try, you’ll never know if it can provide better results.
There is no one set price when it comes to geofencing. Depending on your area, your business, and other factors, you might pay $5, $10, or even $15 per thousand impressions.
Best Practices for Geofencing
If you’ve determined that your business is ready to try geofencing, we are going to help you by giving you some best practice tips.
Be Smart With Your Promo Messages
Before you start sending messages, think about your target audience.
What are they doing when they are passing through your geofence? Are they on the way to an appointment and limited on time? Are they going out for date night and ready to relax and have some fun?
Keeping people’s state of mind and interests in mind when sending your message will make a big difference in how well it converts.
If you are sending messages to people that are at home on their desktops, that is going to be a very different message than the one you’d send to people driving near your store.
Set a Tight Enough Fence
If you think setting a bigger fence is going to give you more opportunities to get people in the door, that might be the case. The only problem with this strategy is if you set the geofence too big, your messages might not convert as well.
Setting an appropriately sized geofence means finding a balance between relevance and reach.
Let’s say that your store is a hardware store in a small town. If you set your geofence too wide, you might send messages to people outside the town that is close to another hardware store.
These people are unlikely to come to your store because they have other options that are easier for them to access.
Knowing who your customers are and where they live will make it easy for you to set your geofence. Stick to promoting to these people in the beginning, and later you can experiment with a bigger geofence.
What Is Geofencing? – Now You Know
Now you know what is geofencing, and you can use it to get the attention you need, so you can boost your business.
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