Geotargeting, Geofencing and Remarketing Explained
What is Geofencing?
Geofencing is a method of attracting customers by advertising to them digitally with the help of GPS tracking and radio frequencies. Businesses set up geofences by selecting an area in the vicinity of their services to send ads to people that pass through that area.
How Does This Work?
Marketing agencies are one of the biggest purchasers of data; and geofencing uses the tracking systems in cell phones to collect information about the places people frequent, roads they take and billboards they often see, for how long and what potential ads or information they saw on their phones that got them there in the first place. Marketing agencies then use this information to come up with better methods of advertisement.
What is Geotargeting?
While geofencing are digital maps within an area, geotargeting is the process of sending those ads at the right time.
How Does This Work?
If you have been searching for a good washing machine, you receive an ad about a sale on a washing machine while you are at a particular competitor’s store looking at washing machines.
What is Website Retargeting?
When on the internet, we as people tend to search for things that we need, want or that look interesting. Forbes reports that approximately 92% of people who visit a website are not ready to purchase your product or services – in other words, just browsing. Website retargeting regains contact with customers after they leave your site or e-commerce store. This type of advertisement shows ads to potential customers’ screens after they leave your website.
How Does This Work?
Businesses can install cookies and use websites to show ads. The most basic example is notifications that you left items in your shopping cart. Ads that express that there is a sale going on for a particular item you were looking at while browsing the internet is another example.
Sending ads to capture a client is important but ensuring that you regain the attention of people that visit your website and purchase your product or service is where the value truly is.
Most Basic Types of Retargeting:
Facebook Pixel: Facebook allows you to install a Pixel, which is a code that is installed on a website for retargeting efforts. It tracks the funnel of searches and pages that lead users to your website and the Facebook ads they saw before reaching your page. It gives marketing and advertising agencies information on which ads work and how to best market and advertise certain products or services.
One advantage of Facebook is that it was designed as a social platform, and unlike Google, it already has a background on the users. Of course, which platform you use all depends on your business objectives and industry.
Google Remarketing: Google’s remarketing platform assigns a tag on your website that collects data on users behaviors which help in targeting audiences based on their actions and characteristics. Like Facebook, Google is largely used by millions of people, so with their remarketing platform, you are able to reach a large number of users.
As the marketing and advertising industry continues to evolve, new methods of targeting customers become available on a daily basis. It is best to work with an outside firm to define your short, medium and long-term goals that will work honestly, ethically and diligently to get you from point A to point B.
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