Geolocation for Marketers: How to Most Effectively Use It

Geolocation is an important tool in a digital marketing world. From targeting locals with their offerings to creating personalized campaigns, geolocation helps businesses market where their customer is-both physically and digitally. If you're new to geolocation and/or questioning how you can harness its power for your marketing efforts, then you have come to the right place.

In this article we’ll take a closer look at what you need to know to get started with geolocation, the strategies for implementing, and how to avoid common pitfalls.

Geolocation refers to the process of defining the physical location of a human or device by using digital data.

If you use a smartphone, your device sends GPS signals, and/or signals to Wi-Fi networks or mobile networks to triangulate your position. This information can be used by marketers to target specific content, ads, or offers based on where you are.

Geolocation in simpler words, is about businesses knowing where their customer is in real-time and being able to target them.

Geolocation allows marketers to serve hyper-targeted ads and use their marketing spend efficiently by reaching only those customers who are most likely to accept their offers by offering location-based personalized content.

It is a perfect tool for physical store owners to drive traffic into their stores. And, as any solid event venue business plan will detail, it’s a great way to tell those who pass by about your venue. Likewise, if your store is located near a large venue such as a sports stadium, geolocation marketing could drive significant amounts of traffic to your store after a game.

Now that we understand what geolocation is, it is time to discuss the types of geolocation marketing you can use for your business.

Geo-targeting is when a site or ad targets users by their geographic location. It can be as broad-scale as per-country targeting or as hyper-local as targeting a certain radius around a store. The capability for geo-targeting on various social media platforms, such as Facebook, Google Ads, and Instagram, empowers businesses to reach any city, region, or even zip code they want.

Try this: If you’re running a local business, create geo-targeting ads through Facebook or Google Ads to reach only those customers who are within a 5-mile radius of your store. This will be especially effective if promoting an event or offering a limited-time discount.

Geofencing is one of those more evolved forms of geolocation marketing. It creates a virtual perimeter around a physical location: a store, event space, a stadium or any other geographic area. Whoever steps in and out of that pre-defined space with an enabled device gets your content, ads, or notifications.

Example Strategy: Utilizing geofencing, a coffee shop can serve a push notification offering a 10 percent discount when prospects pass within 500 meters of the store.

Beacons are small devices that are Bluetooth-enabled and send signals to smartphones or tablets around them. As customers with a compatible app approach a beacon, they might receive notifications, special offers, or product information.

This type of marketing is ideal for an in-store promotion or event. As an example, it might send a discount code to a customer who is shopping in a clothing store or let a customer who is in the vicinity know about a sale on items within a certain section.

Tactic to Try: If you are a retail business, consider installing beacons near big-ticket or popular items to send customers nearby special offers.

There are several advantages of using geolocation in your marketing efforts, which can enhance the efficiency of your campaigns. Some of the key advantages are highlighted below:

People respond better when messages are personalized for them. Geolocation enables personalization in real time. Think of providing an exclusive discount to the user while they pass by your store; such relevance should increase conversion rates significantly.

For example, a restaurant might send personalized dinner offers to users who are passing the restaurant during peak dinner hours.

Since you are geo-targeting users around your business, the chances of driving them to your location should increase. Geofencing and beacon marketing are very effective in driving foot traffic.

Because you are marketing only to those customers who are most likely interested in your business, geolocation marketing cuts waste on money spent on irrelevant audiences. You reach the right people at the right place and use your marketing dollars effectively.

Like any other marketing tool, geolocation comes with its own set of challenges. Following are some common pitfalls and how to avoid them:

One of the biggest concerns with geolocation data is that of privacy. There's something that can make a customer uneasy, knowing that businesses are tracking their location, especially if they haven't given permission.

Solution: Always be open about how you use location data. Require users to opt-in when receiving geolocation-based offers and make it easy for them to opt out.

Just because you can send multiple notifications doesn't mean you should. Bombarding users with too many location-based messages can be annoying and lead to app uninstalls or ad fatigue.

Solution: Limit the frequency of your notifications. A good rule of thumb is to only send location-based messages if they offer extreme value to the customer; an exclusive deal or important information, for example.

Targeting too broadly wastes your ad spend, while targeting too narrow limits your audience. You need to find that middle ground.

Solution: Start with a moderate radius and refine over time, looking at data from your campaigns. Test different radiuses and messaging to find what works best for your business.

If you're ready to start using geolocation in your marketing strategy, follow these actionable steps to get going: 

In using geolocation marketing, it is essential to set clear goals. Are you trying to increase foot traffic, boost online sales, or create brand awareness? Your goals will be the basis of what kind of geolocation strategy to use. 

There are various means and platforms from which to conduct geolocation marketing. Google Ads and Facebook Ads are fantastic options for geo-targeting, while Simpli.fi and GroundTruth are two of the platforms which can provide you geofencing. The right platform should be chosen based on your goals.

Geolocation marketing is all about delivering the appropriate content to the right audience. Whether a push notification, an ad, or an offer, make sure your message is clear, relevant, and appealing.

Once your campaign is live, start monitoring it with analytics. Click-through rates, conversion rates, and foot traffic will provide a sense of the effectiveness of your geolocation strategy. Review the results and adjust your campaigns to yield even better performance.

Geolocation marketing will continue to evolve at a rapid pace, and the advent of 5G coupled with highly improved location accuracy will further empower marketers to target customers in real time. In addition, the more sophisticated geolocation becomes, the greater the advantage available to businesses adopting it before the competition.

By applying the strategies contained in this article, you'll be able to drive growth with geolocation, engage customers, and make wiser marketing decisions. So long as you respect customer privacy and don't over-saturate, geolocation can become one of the most effective pieces of your marketing strategy.