Geofencing is a location-based service that uses GPS, RFID, Wi-Fi or cellular data to send/trigger messages to mobile devices that enter, exit, or remain parked in a targeted geographical location.
While we have used this technology for a few years to drive traffic to our clients’ websites, the downside has always been that we could never prove that those who clicked the ads turned into customers. The best we could do was show that some of the clickers submitted a form on the website
But now, geofencing campaigns can be set up to not only feed ads to those in a certain geographic location, but they also can track the phones of the clickers all the way through to specific addresses we add to the system.
What’s the point?
Whereas before we could only share with our clients the numbers of clicks the campaign received and whether any of those clickers submitted a form, now we can also show the number of clickers who actually ended up at a location we specified.
How we use this technology
Most of our clients sell their products or services at specific locations, so the ultimate goal is to get potential customers to the location. We first start by geofencing the locations of our clients’ competitors since this will feed our messages to people who are in the market for the products or services our clients are selling. Then we add to the campaign the “Goal Location(s),” meaning, the locations of our client’s physical place of business.
Once the campaign is live, we are able to track the clickers’ actions on the website including time on site, pages viewed, actions taken, and any goals that are reached. But most important is that over the life of the campaign, we can also report to the clients how many of the clickers actually appeared at our clients’ locations.
But the campaign does not have to be limited in scope to only competitor locations. Instead, we think of places where the client’s market is likely to appear, and we target those locations. For instance, if we’re targeting parents of preschool aged children, we can geofence day care centers.
Businesses That Benefit From Geofencing
We have used this new technology to generate sales for home builders, apartment communities, and remodeling businesses. In healthcare, this technology is ideal for medical practices that see patients because we can show that the patient came from the campaign. If a practice relies on virtual appointments, we will not be able to show success by driving patients to the location; however, we will be able to show success by showing that clickers of the ads ended up on the virtual appointment page.
Hospitals that market services such as hip/knee replacement, imaging, or colonoscopies can benefit tremendously from this technology because prospective patients will go to the hospital’s location for their consultation.
Net-Net
All advertising is an investment that is supposed to generate revenue far above the expense. Connecting a sale to a click has always been difficult for businesses that do not sell their products or services online because there is literally no way to connect clickers to a sale that occurs at a location — the tracking gets disconnected.
But now we’re able to connect the clicker to the location. And to our clients, that connection gives proof that the investment they made through us is generating a nice return.
