If you need to attract customers in a specific geographic area, you should know about geofencing.
Geofencing is a type of location-based marketing that uses WiFi, GPS, or cellular data to set virtual perimeters—called geofences—around a location. With a geofence in place, you can serve highly personalized promotions to people in a specific location at the perfect time.
Imagine sending discount codes for your pet grooming business to people in local dog parks. Or texting a coupon to someone as they walk near your competitor’s location.
The best way to understand just how powerful geofencing can be is to see how brands are using it to engage customers in the real world. These geofencing examples will show you some of what’s possible with this strategy, and the tips that follow will help you get the most out of it.
Contents
- 8 clever examples of geofencing marketing
- Tips for successful geofence marketing
- Geofencing marketing FAQs
🛑 Geofencing is a great tactic to find new customers. Download The Definitive Guide to Lead Generation: 25 Ideas (+Tips & Examples) to get more.
8 clever geofencing examples
Geofencing is a versatile marketing strategy with several applications. These brands got really creative and used it to improve their product, win new customers, and even troll their biggest competitors.
1. Burger King flame-broiled McDonald’s
If there were a hall of fame for trolling your competitors, Burger King would be inducted immediately for its “Whopper Detour” promotion. This amazing geofencing example turned more than 14,000 McDonald’s restaurants into Burger King ordering kiosks.
Here’s how it worked. When someone with the BK app installed on their mobile device got within 600 feet of most McDonald’s locations, they saw a promotion to order a Whopper for a penny. Once they placed the order, the app directed them to the nearest Burger King location for pickup.
The clever campaign generated over 1.5 million downloads of the BK app, a spike in sales, and untold brand awareness on social media.
How you can use this geofencing strategy
The Whopper Detour promotion is an example of geo-conquesting, where you place geofences around your competitors to try to lure them to your business.
Burger King’s geo-conquesting strategy worked because its one-cent Whopper offer was very compelling to people hungry for burgers. To get similar results, make sure your promotion is exciting enough to entice people away from your competitor.
Try offering a buy-one-get-one-free deal or a deep discount. Make it a limited-time offer to motivate people to act now.
2. Greek’s Pizzeria played the long game
When a local pizza joint saw new competitors slicing into its business, the family-owned restaurant used geo-conquesting to deliver hundreds of new customers. But there was a twist. Instead of trying to pull people right away, the Pizzeria delayed its ads to catch patrons when they were likely to be hungry for pizza again.
Geofencing perfectly paired with Greek’s Pizzeria’s other strategies, like social media marketing and discount codes.
This version of geofencing starts the same way as the BK example. Greek’s Pizzeria placed a geofence around a dozen competitors within a three-mile radius of its shop. The ads were delayed by two weeks, though. The plan was to catch people the next time they craved a hand-crafted pie.
The plan worked. In just the first month, 269 people visited Greek’s after being served one of the ads. On average, those visits happened within five days of seeing the ad.
How you can use this geofencing strategy
The Greek’s Pizzeria example shows that businesses of any size can use geofencing. The key is knowing your customers.
If you offer something people spend on repeatedly, like food, yoga classes, or doggie daycare, you can use a delayed geo-conquest tactic. Say you’re a local masseuse, and you know most people get massages every month. Set up geofences around your competitors and show ads three weeks after people visit them.
đź‘‹ Not sure who to target with geotargeting? Download How to Find Your Target Audience
3. HotelTonight elevated last-minute lodging
The HotelTonight app helps hotels fill unbooked rooms by matching them with travelers who need beds. Of course, if you’re looking for a hotel room tonight, you probably don’t care about hotel deals hundreds of miles away.
That’s where HotelTonight’s GPS data and geofencing magic come in. The app sends its users information based on their current location. When they get close to a property with rooms to spare, the user will get an extra-special deal, increasing the chance that they’ll book through the app.
How you can use this geofencing strategy
The secret sauce of HotelTonight’s success is the perfect timing of its promotions. Travelers need lodging when they arrive at a new location, so the app serves that need when it’s at its highest.
As you contemplate your own geofence strategy, think about where your customers are when they most need what you sell. For example, a healthy juice bar could geofence local fitness classes and offer a discount on recovery drinks.
4. Sephora built a foundation of brand loyalty
Sephora knows a thing or two about fostering customer loyalty. The beauty brand has built huge online communities, and millions of people follow its social media accounts. So, of course, it used geofencing to deepen its relationship with its most loyal customers.
How’d they do it? By creating custom offers that trigger when their best customers travel near a store.
Promotions also connect to the brand’s customer loyalty program, sending invitations to in-store events, and showing shoppers sales items they may like based on prior purchases.
How you can use this geofencing strategy
Sephora’s in-store app is like a personal shopper that already knows what each customer likes. It helps visitors make decisions and discover products and discounts. In short, Sephora used geofencing to personalize the in-store shopping experience.
How can you personalize your customers’ visits? A grocery store could send shoppers personalized recipes when they enter based on what’s on sale. A clothing store could share outfits with shoppers using in-stock inventory.
5. Dunkin’ sweetened Snaps for World Donut Day
Dunkin’ Donuts celebrated World Donut Day in an unexpected way—by letting people transform their mugs with a frosting-face filter on Snapchat. The catch? It only worked when they were near a Dunkin’ location.
Dunkin’ coupled the Snapchat feature—called a Geofilter—with a free donut promotion. The one-two combo of silly fun and a valuable offer drew people in who may have otherwise driven by (or worse, got their fill from another donut shop).
How you can use this geofencing strategy
Dunkin’s outside-the-box geofence promotion stood out against a dozen other Donut Day deals. The lesson is to get creative with how you use your geofence to create unique experiences no one else has.
For example, a gym’s geofence promotion could trigger a link to an uplifting workout playlist when fitness enthusiasts pull into the parking lot.
6. Walmart rolled back product pickup times
The buy-online-pickup-in-store (BOPIS) phenomenon really took off during the pandemic. But shoppers still love the convenience of a quick curbside pickup. Walmart used geofencing to make the process even smoother.
Let’s say you order several items on the Walmart app. As you pull into the parking lot, the store’s geofence tells employees you’ve arrived, so there’s no need to contact them. Before you know it, your products are loaded, and you’re on your way.
How you can use this geofencing strategy
Geofencing is a powerful marketing tool, but Walmart showed that it can also make shopping more convenient. Any time you remove friction from the buying process, your conversion rate will increase.
How can you make your customers’ lives easier? How about a store map that pops up on a customer’s phone when they come in? Or maybe a click-to-call ad for your landscape business that gets triggered when people visit a local plant nursery.
7. Starbucks swung for the geofences
Starbucks is often at the forefront of crafty marketing and communication ideas. In this case, the coffee chain uses its geofence-powered app in several ways to get more people in the door.
In one example, the coffee chain tested sending ads to people who visited local coffee shops. The campaign came complete with an opt-in ad, a matching landing page, and a click-through site.
The test showed that ads like these successfully generate awareness, even more so than other types of audience targeting.
How you can use this geofencing strategy
Starbucks’s strategy is one of the most common in the geofence marketing playbook. It works a lot like a physical sign you’d put in front of your shop to promote daily deals. Only when you use a geofence can you reach people a mile away, personalize the message for different customers, and track how many people see and use the promotion.
This is a great place to start your geofencing journey if you have a location-based business. Set a perimeter around your shop and trigger ads with a compelling offer. Try discounts, BOGOs, and even promoting your referral program—whatever brings in the most foot traffic.
8. Uber uses geofencing to take you for a ride
Uber flipped the script on public transportation when it launched in 2010. Much of its success was built on the capabilities of geogencing.
For example, Uber defines geofences around geographic areas to measure activity and show products and services to people in areas where they’re offered.
Here’s how an Uber geofence looks around an airport.
When travelers get off their plane, Uber sends them a push notification letting them know that Uber services are accessible nearby. Uber also uses this to implement dynamic pricing in neighborhoods with a surge in demand for cabs.
How you can use this geofencing strategy
This is a fantastic strategy for local businesses that operate in multiple areas. Your restaurant could push local menu specialties. Your outdoor gear shop could send deals on winter jackets for people in Vermont and the latest fishing gear to Florida shoppers.
Tips for successful geofencing
What goes into a successful location-based marketing strategy like geofencing? Here are five tips for geofencing success.
Define (and refine) the right geofence
The first step in a successful geofencing marketing campaign is defining your geofence.
You want to make sure you target an area:
- With people who would be interested in your business.
- Where people are close enough to travel to your business.
- Where there are a lot of people to target.
If your business is on a road where there’s not much foot or vehicle traffic, you might want to expand your geofence to a grocery store that’s near you–or this is where a complementary business would come into play.
For example, an apartment complex was looking to sign more leases. They had a lot of current residents who worked at a nearby hospital, so the apartment complex targeted the physicians’ parking lot with a geofenced ad highlighting the short commute and included a discount for hospital employees. They were able to sign a number of new leases as a result with renters who may never have driven near their location on their commute home.
The area you geofence is the most important part of your geofencing strategy, and it may require some testing to identify the ideal location for your fence. Analyze the data to measure the effectiveness of your existing geofence, and don’t be afraid to A/B test locations to see which drives the best results.
Identify a compelling offer
The best geofencing campaigns include some kind of incentive to entice your target audience to visit or try your business.
Here are some ideas for offers for your geofencing ad:
- A 20% discount on a service or their purchase
- A buy-one-get-one-free offer
- A future-use coupon after their first purchase
- A piece of branded swag for your business
- A welcome gift for becoming a customer
Whatever you decide, make sure your offer will be effective in bringing in new customers–you may even consider talking with your existing customers or employees to help you identify the right geofencing offer.
Craft an effective ad or message
Your geofencing marketing campaign will show people an ad for your business that may include an image with copy or just copy. Either way, you need to make sure your ad stands out, captures attention, and urges the user to take action and become your customer.
Your ad should include:
- Your offer or selling point.
- A brief description of your business or services.
- A strong call to action.
- A sense of urgency.
By including the above elements in your geofencing ad, you can drive people to visit your business. Because geofencing works by targeting consumers nearby, a sense of urgency can be the extra component of your ad that drives them in–so try testing language like “limited-time offer” or “hurry in before this offer expires.”
4. Measure your geofencing results
Just like any local marketing strategy, measuring the results of your geofencing campaign is extremely important. You want to ensure your ads are reaching people and driving them to take an action.
Here are some geofencing metrics to measure:
Impressions
Impressions are the number of times your ad is seen by a customer. You want to measure impressions to track whether or not your geofenced ad is getting seen. If you’re seeing low impressions, it could be a sign that you need to adjust your geofence.
Clicks + click-through rate
Just like other forms of digital marketing, you’re able to track how often a person clicked your ad as well as the click-through rate (CTR) of your ad. The more clicks you have on your ad and the better CTR, the more likely it is that your ad creative and messaging are effective at driving someone to take the next step.
Website visits
Depending on the goal of your geofencing ad, you may be driving people to your website and will want to measure the number of website visits you’re getting from your ads.
Calls
If your geofencing marketing campaign includes click-to-call, you can track the number of calls that came from your ad.
Walk-ins
One of the great things about geofencing for your small business is that it’s one of the few marketing strategies that can easily track online-to-offline conversions through walk-ins. Because geofencing works by using the GPS on a customer’s smartphone, you’re able to track whether or not that person visited your business after seeing your geofencing ad by setting up conversion zones around your business.
As part of measuring walk-ins, you can also calculate the cost per walk-in (CPW) to see how much each walk-in costs relative to your budget.
Additional metrics
Some other marketing metrics you’ll want to measure include:
- Cost Per Click (CPC)
- Cost Per Call (CPC)
- Cost Per Thousand (CPM)
Measuring and analyzing these metrics will help you see the success of your geofencing marketing campaign and track your overall ROI.
5. Always be testing
With geofencing, there are many opportunities to optimize your campaigns, A/B test different offers and creatives, and geofence different areas to see what drives the best results for your business.
Don’t be afraid to try different variations to maximize your marketing budget and ensure you’re reaching the right audience in the right way with the right offer.
Geofencing FAQs
Let’s dig into the nuts and bolts of geofencing, so you’re prepped to try it.
What is geofencing?
Geofencing is a location-based marketing tactic that lets you draw a virtual boundary around a specific area, like a neighborhood, a competitor’s parking lot, a fairground, or a college campus, and serve messages to people who enter that zone.
How does geofencing work?
Geofencing works by using GPS, Wi-Fi, and cell tower data to detect when a mobile device enters or exits a boundary you’ve set. When someone crosses that line, they become eligible to see your messages in apps, on websites, or via text if they’ve opted in. The great news is you don’t need to know the background tech to make it work!
What are the benefits of geofencing for a local business?
The biggest benefit of geofencing is relevance. You’re reaching people based on where they physically are or have been, which is a much stronger signal than age or interest alone. For a local business, that means less wasted spend on people who are simply too far away to ever become customers.
Geofencing is also one of the few digital ad tools that directly ties your spend to physical proximity. Instead of hoping the right person sees your ad, you’re reaching people who are already near you, already near a competitor, or already in the mindset to buy (think: someone at a bridal expo seeing your catering ad).
Let these geofencing examples inspire your next campaign
Like all geotargeting ad techniques, geofencing helps you serve more relevant ads to the people most likely to buy. That means less wasted ad budget, higher conversion rates, and happier customers.
The geofencing examples we’ve shared show various ways to use the technology to increase foot traffic and improve the customer experience. Each can be scaled and adapted to most businesses, regardless of size.
Ready to refine your ad and audience targeting for better results? Contact us, and we’ll show you how we help businesses get more from every marketing campaign.
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