Geofencing advertising is booming in recent years thanks to improving technology. Mobile phones have much more accurate tracking hardware than they used to just a few years ago.

In the distant past, advertisers on television or radio would target large areas like Counties or DMAs.In recent decades, ZIP code targeting and city based targeting became more common.

With today’s technology it is possible to advertise to people within a 10 meter radius.

For example, in the past you might advertise in a specific city, on a radio station popular among people over 50, now you can advertise to specific retirement homes, and funnel your advertising spend directly to your target demographic.

It helps to provide some context and explain just how geofencing works. If you understand it already, feel free to skip past this video. Ryan M. explains the technology that poweres today’s geofencing ads.

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What is a Geo-Fence?

If you were scratching your head after watching that video, you’re not alone. Most marketers are still playing ‘catch up’ to the times. David Card reports on this in Street Fight Magazine:

Survey Report: Some National-to-Local Marketers Still Need Convincing on Digital Effectiveness

To help suppliers of hyperlocal marketing technologies and services better meet the needs of these national-to-local marketers, Street Fight surveyed over 200 managers and decision makers at big companies in retail, financial services, and other industries. We asked them about spending patterns, perceived effectiveness, pain points, etc., around their local marketing and advertising efforts. The full report is available for download here.

Nearly half of them said they spend $1 in $3 of their digital dollars on local marketing, and 40% of them expect that mix to increase. Their favorite technologies targeted for growth this year include social media and mobile marketing. Many expressed interest in mobile push offerings (41%) and real-time location data (32%). Read full article…

It’s clear that many marketers want to take advantage of all the new advertising technology surrounding geo targeting.
The big challenge is gaining experience and education to conduct geofencing campaigns effectively.

Sarah Din of Placecast covers the most important key points in using location based mobile advertising. These kinds of examples will drive home the point that geofencing is a completely new way to advertise better.

Using Location Data for Mobile Advertising

…Proximity targeting is another valuable use case for location data. Advertisers can geofence their retail locations and deliver ads to people nearby. Geofence sizes can be adjusted, depending on how urban/suburban/rural an area is, or advertisers can use polygons.

Additionally, advertisers can use location data for “conquesting,” meaning they geofence competitors’ stores and deliver ads with promotions or nearby locations to draw users away from competitors, and towards them. And, advertisers can geofence complimentary locations where their users are found and serve ads to them. For example, Nike could serve ads around sports fields, sports bars, or to a stadium during a specific sporting event. Read the full article here…

Given recent advances in technology, the power of geofencing marketing is growing every year. When most forms of advertising are newly invented or early in their development, they tend to be the cheapest and the best opportunities.

Early adopters who properly leverage the unique ability of hyperlocal advertising will get the most of this “gold rush”. Expect cost per click bids to rise quickly after digital advertisers get savvy to geofencing. Consider subscribing to our blog; soon we will cover: how to run your own geofencing ads.

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