Mobile phone use is at an all-time high and that doesn’t appear to be changing. In 2019, 52.2% of all web traffic came from a mobile phone. If your company is looking for a way to cash in on this new normal, look no further than mobile geofencing.
What is mobile geofencing and how can marketers use geofencing technology?
Good questions! Keep reading this beginner’s guide on mobile geofencing, and we’ll explain everything you need to know.
What Is Mobile Geofencing?
Even though you are not familiar with mobile geofencing, you’ve likely come across it in your daily life. Perhaps you’ve received a pop-up advertisement on your mobile phone when you walked past your favorite clothing store.
The ad usually gives an incentive designed to make you want to walk into the store.
To people who are unfamiliar with mobile marketing, it may seem as if the retailer was able to purchase an ad that happened to display right as you were walking by, but this ad was planned.
Geofencing allows mobile apps to take advantage of location-based marketing. With geofencing, marketers can collect information and engage with mobile app users as they enter or leave certain geographical areas.
A virtual fence, or a geofence, is placed around a location like a car dealership, airport, or restaurant. The fenced area can be as large as a city or as small as a store. They can be in the shape of a square or the irregular shape of a complex voting district.
Once a person steps into the geofenced area, marketers can interact with them via mobile apps on their smartphones. This tool has become an extremely important part of a company’s overall mobile marketing strategy.
It’s quite possible that you may be experiencing mobile geofencing every day and never noticed it before.
How Does Mobile Geofencing Work?
If this sounds a bit like black magic, don’t worry. We can explain.
You can locate a user inside a geofence that is carrying their smartphone. There are sensors inside your mobile phone that do all the hard work. Geofences are virtual perimeters that work off cell tower data, GPS, and low-ambient wifi.
Cellular data and wifi are the best methods for geofencing. GPS solutions have been known to seriously drain a user’s battery.
The sensors can pick up when a person is entering a specific area, and they can serve the users an advertisement. Geofencing doesn’t require any hardware. Common geofencing tools use software that is integrated into a mobile app and managed online through an account.
Geofencing requires the use of a user’s location and proximity to areas of interest. Therefore, mobile app developers must ask the users permission to use this data. The mobile apps that use geofencing ask the users permission to monitor their location and send them notifications.
How Can I Use This Technology?
Businesses can use geofencing technology in three main ways: geopush, user targeting, and data analysis.
A geopush is a notification that is sent to a user's phone when the user steps inside a geofenced location. The goal is to drive interactions with your brand and keep your company top of mind.
These notifications are based on where the user is located and ae intending to help companies in finding an audience for their ads.
Here is an example of geopush advertising. Let’s say you are a fan of Starbucks. So much so that you have their app downloaded on your phone. When you downloaded this app, you gave Starbucks permission to use your location and send you messages.
Starbucks could place a geofence around its stores. If you were to walk into that geofence, you would then be served with an ad. It would probably tell you that there is a location just ahead of you and invite you in with a 50% off coupon for your favorite beverage.
If a user has recently visited a specific location, companies can use that information to target users to make the messaging feel more personalized. This is known as user targeting.
Lastly, companies can use this technology to learn more about their consumers. Understanding where a user frequents is a key step in building a profile about them.
With geofences, companies will learn when a user enters and exits a designated area and can better tailor to their needs.
Advice for a Mobile Geofencing Campaign
Companies should place a geofence around areas where it makes sense for them to engage with users and learn about them. Here are a few places to consider using a geofence.
Airports
Brick and mortar stores
Competitor’s locations
Large public events like concerts or sporting events
Public places of interest
Locations of physical advertising such as billboards
Aim to provide value to consumers as opposed to just being annoying. If you are going to place a geofence around your store, make sure it is relevant to users or else it could come off looking like a desperate plea for attention.
Data tracking is one of the many benefits of geofencing. Track data of your users so you can reach them in new and more personalized manners.
This data could help your brick and mortar locations make important business decisions, such as where should you open up your next location. Here are a few data points to pay close attention to.
The number of time customers in your geofenced area
Purchasing information
mobile-friendly website browsing
Closing Thoughts on Mobile Geofencing
Mobile phone usage has never been higher. Companies can use this to their advantage by using mobile geofencing as part of their digital marketing mix.
This is where we can help! We are Savant, the world's first comprehensive digital marketing placement company. We use smart technology like mobile geofencing and smart people to help your business get noticed and increase sales.
Savant can help your company create a mobile geofencing campaign. Check out our website and learn more about our mobile advertising solutions today.