In today’s digital world, businesses are always looking for more effective ways to reach their customers. 

Geofencing is a marketing and advertising tactic that uses GPS location-tracking to deliver ads to an audience within a specifically defined physical area, such as a building or neighborhood. Anyone inside the virtual fenced area is served an interactive display ad that can follow them for up to 30 days on over 600,000 apps or websites.

There are two main types of geofencing: location-based and demographic-based. 

Location-based geofencing pings anyone’s phone within a physical location. There is no demographic distinction. Every phone that has their GPS on and are opted in to receive advertising will be served an ad. Typical uses of location-based geofencing include tradeshows, sporting events, concerts, and densely-populated areas such as apartment or office buildings.

This sort of targeting is for marketers looking for a common audience that may not have the same demographic profile (ie: age, interests, etc.). The commonality of this audience is their interest in the event or location (ie: an industry trade show, a sporting event, or a day at the beach).

For example, restaurants or bakeries could draw a fence around their location and surrounding buildings to drop lunch ads to their neighbors. Lunch is less about demographic information and appeals to a wide audience.

Demographic-based geofencing extends the virtual fencing concept but applies a layer of demographic information such as age, gender, income level, family composition, etc. This sort of targeting is more specific, making the actual target audience much smaller.

For example, if you know that you are looking for an audience that owns their home, is over 45 years old, has young children, and makes over $175,000, demographic-based geofencing can target that audience on a household level. Not everyone in that neighborhood meets that criteria, so only the homes that do will have a fence drawn around the parcel. This provides for significantly more  targeted advertising and less wasted marketing dollars sending ads to people who don’t qualify. 

By using these different types of geofencing, businesses can make their marketing efforts more effective. Instead of blasting out generic messages to everyone within a certain zip code, you can target the people who are most likely to be interested in what you have to offer. This not only helps businesses attract more customers but also makes sure that consumers get ads and offers that are actually relevant to them.

In conclusion, geofencing is a powerful tool that helps businesses connect with customers in a smart and targeted way. Whether it’s by focusing on where you are or who you are, geofencing helps businesses reach out to the right people at the right time. So, the next time you get a notification on your phone when you’re out and about, just remember—it might be the magic of geofencing at work!