These days, mobile devices are basically an extension of our bodies. Where we go our phones go: operate, holidays Friday night drinks. In 76 mobile sessions a day that amounts to almost 3 hours every day, we participate on average. All those sessions take place. Utilizing this information creates an opportunity for entrepreneurs to:
1. Reach out to clients during those mobile minutes
2. Learn about customers’ behavior in the real world
BUTmobile is also a rather private channelto most folks. Therefore marketing and advertising tools, like geofencing, are getting more popular with entrepreneurs.
In this article, we’ll touch upon what geofencing is, how you can use it for marketing, exactly what the difference is with other popular location-based marketing procedures, how you decide whether it is right for your business and how to keep on the right side of privacy issues. Once you have read it, you will have a good idea about how easy it could be for you.
What is geofencing?
Geofencing is a location-based marketing technologies. Advertisers utilize this technology to collect information about and target their customers as they leave enter or remain in specific areas known as geofences.
A geofence is a digital fence around a real geographical place, like a restaurant or even an airport. It can be as large or as little as shop . Geofences can take different shapes. For use cases that are more straightforward it might be round. For complex situations, shaped geofences could be built by marketers.
The general functioning of geofencing is the fact that it utilizes mobile triangulation, WiFi tower triangulation or GPS to find a user’s device. Geofencing comes in the kind of a software plugin that managed through an online dashboard and may be implemented into a program.
Geofencing demands cellular users to give permission into the app to use their place and also to send notifications (in the event the program would like to send them).
Utilizing geofencing in marketing
There are just two ways any marketer in almost any business can go about utilizing geofencing. In the initial scenario, marketers actively reach out to customers with alarms at particular locations. The approach is about collecting data related to client behaviour and these locations. Let us look in detail into them.
Location Based Notifications
Location based notifications would be the most well known approach to utilize geofencing. It entails using a geofence to activate notifications on a device when a customer leaves, enters or stays in a certain location. The use cases for notifications are countless, here a few of ones that are most Well-known:
○ Sending promotional messages with coupons, discounts, seasonal upgrades
○ Capturing feedback when customers leave your company, take your flight etc..
○ Giving loyalty points to returning clients only instead of everybody
○ Geo-conquesting competitions locations with deals and luring customers away
Location Data
An up and coming way to use geofencing collecting insights about customers and is monitoring geofences. This entails keeping an eye on the amount of visits to geofences long clients remain there, which kind of locations they see and so on. Here are the most employed scenarios:
○ Measuring and attributing foot visitors to internet marketing campaigns
○ Construction profiles based on place customers visit for improved personalization
○ Retargeting clients based on physical visits with ads, email etc..
How can geofencing compare beacons and geotargeting?
Geotargeting, Geofencing and beacons are wholly utilized for location based advertising and different providers choose to rely on either a single or several of those technologies, but the difference lies in how they create their goal range and location information.
|
Geotargeting |
Beacons |
Geofencing |
|
|
Data collection |
IP-address |
Bluetooth |
Cellular/Wifi/GPS |
|
Target Range |
Large (state, zip code) |
Little (store aisle, bus stop) |
Moderate to large (shop, neighborhood) |
|
Real-time targeting |
No |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Best for |
Browser marketing |
Mobile & program marketing |
Mobile & program Advertising |
|
Location data collection |
No |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Hardware and maintenance |
No |
Yes |
No |
Is geofencing appropriate for your business?
Hopefully by now you have recognized what use cases and the benefits are and what geofencing is. But truth is, it’s not appropriate for everybody. Industry, audience, tools are the determining factors; so are you the poster child for geofencing or is it simply not? It is for you if you can relate to one or a few of the points under.
❏ You’ve got an program
❏ You’ve a proven mobile presence
❏ You’ve got tech resources available to implement technology like geofencing and beacons
❏ You’re a brick-and-mortar company or you’ve got location-relevant content (e.g. travel guide)
❏ You are a business with mobile-centric users
❏ You’d like to calculate the effects of your advertising on foot traffic
❏ You’re looking for ways to participate with your customers in a more contextual way
Geofencing & Privacy Concerns
Privacy concerns are an significant part the conversation about geofencing. Geofencing relies on location services that brings up clients’ concerns about companies accessing their location and phone data.
From the standpoint of a customer, geofencing could be useful and alarming. As consumers, we need info and requirements and offers that are relevant to our interests. But it can feel a little frightening to consider companies.
Here are a few things when it comes to privacy and geofencing, to guide you:
○ The power is always with the client. By default, to be busy geofencing demands permission of their client to talk about their location information. Client can revoke this consent
○ The secret to geofencing is being transparent. You have to explain to your customers why you have to get their location. Customers will be more willing if they know they’re using their advice to help you
○ The rationale supporting you accessing and using your clients’ place and mobile phone data is important: it must benefit the customer experience, not just you
○ Provide safety to keep customer data safe.
○ Ensure that as an app, you have a privacy policy that communicates all of the assurances you deliver to your clients. It needs to be clearly recorded and available online
○ Choose your words carefully. When communicating with your clients about place sharing, your choice of words is crucial, it can take All Their concerns away or scare them off
By now you should have a very clear idea of if geofencing is ideal for you and how to use it. It is a instrument for supplying information that is relevant to consumers, collecting information and gathering feedback.
Whether you inspired, start considering how it is possible to use.
