By Kevin Nissen

The most effective marketing campaigns always unite a great value story, strong call to action, and a local way to get the solution fulfilled.  All things being equal, proximity to the client can sometimes be a strong enough market differentiator to mean the difference between success and failure.  Businesses are left struggling to acquire new customers while defending their existing market share from the competitor across town.  One of the most effective ways to accomplish this goal is by using geo-based targeting solutions like Geo-Fencing when distributing digital ads.

Geo-Fencing is a powerful strategy for protecting market share and reaching customers when they are ready to buy.  The technique involves creating a virtual perimeter around a physical address utilizing gps technology.  When customers enter the virtual fence their smart phone is identified and machine id is stored.  The phone is then targeted for distribution of ads that entice the shopping customer to consider alternatives.  For example, a customer is shopping for a new car at a local car dealer.  While he waits to speak to a salesperson he interacts with his smart phone’s applications.  Because an advertiser across town placed a virtual Geo-Fence around the dealership the customer is seeing ads for the advertiser.  The customer is made aware of the great deal nearby and travels to the advertising dealership to make a purchase.

Geo-Fencing gives the advertiser a voice when their customer looks to defect or when they are competing to acquire new customers.  Additionally, Geo-Fence retargeting allows the advertiser to continue to push digital ads to the customer’s phone long after the customer has left the fence.  In that way they will be reminded of the great value story the advertiser wants to tell and will continue to be influenced until it is time to make a purchase.