Have you ever notice that you get a phone notification after leaving a business asking for a review, or maybe a coupon?
More and more businesses are using a new internet marketing tool called “Geofencing.”
Why should small businesses be using geofencing as a marketing strategy?
Nearly 95% of all American’s own a cell phone, which is your target audience when it comes to geofencing.
An Example being, you’re out with your friends doing some shopping, and you walk into a store at the shopping mall. You look down at your phone and have a notification from the store giving you a coupon.
Another example would be a coffee shop setting up a virtual fence around its competitor and sending ads to anyone that enters that shop.
But it gets better, say you’re a relator, and you happen to know of different open houses in the area. You could set up a virtual fence around those open houses and show your ads to anyone who takes a tour of the open house.
The best way to describe it is, you throw a virtual “fence” over the area surrounding your business or someone else’s. Then when a customer enters the fence, you are able to show them your ads. This is a convenient way for you, the business owner, to market customers. But it’s also very convenient and helpful for your customers.
This all sounds crazy, I know. But it works! And with technology growing, more and more people are using different types of internet marketing, like geofencing.
But how?
What is Geofencing?
Geofencing allows you to target people by their specific location at a certain date and time.
It’s basically, an app (or other software) that uses GPS, RFID, Wi-Fi or cellular data to trigger a pre-programmed action when your mobile device enters or exits a virtual perimeter set up around a geographical location known as a geofence.
We like to think of geo-fencing as extremely advanced mobile advertising based on physical location. This technique is great for events, easy to customize audiences, and can go back to 6 months prior in terms of collecting data.
Geofencing strategy
As a business owner, you know you have to have a rock-solid internet marketing strategy. If not, you’re going to get left in the dark.
One really great strategy is to place a geofence around your competitor. Sounds illegal right? Guess what it’s not, businesses are doing this all the time.
For example, let’s say you own a car dealership in Houston. You can draw a geofence around all the other car dealerships in Houston. Most importantly, you do this during a big sale weekend, like Memorial Day or 4th of July, when all the big sales are going on. Then when someone enters the dealership looking to buy a car, they pass through your geofence. Then you can start showing them your dealership ads, which will drive them to your business.
Is Geofencing right for your business?
Ask yourself a few questions before you consider geofencing, such as:
1. What is your business?
Geofencing isn’t right for every business out there, as a business owner, you need to figure out if this is a right strategy for you.
2. Who is your competition, and how, where, and when do they market?
3. How could you use geofencing to compete?
4. What legalities are involved?
Just know, there are some places that do not allow geofencing. Also, these policies are being updated more frequently, so if you do decide to go with geofencing, make sure you or the internet marketing company you may be using is up to date with them.
For example, Massachusetts doesn’t allow geofencing near any medical facilities. Be sure and look into your state’s laws before spending the time and money on something you may not be able to use.
5. Is your privacy policy updated?
It’s important to update your privacy policy before implementing geofencing. While geofencing typically requires people to opt-in (but not always), make sure your privacy policy is clear about what is going on in case any customer is concerned about privacy.
As you can see, geofencing could be a solid strategy for your small business, and with technology growing, its one that will stick around.