Avoiding the Worst Geo-Fencing Mistakes
Geo-Fencing is a great tool used successfully by professional marketers everyday. But some of the worst geo-fencing mistakes are actually very common, and can hold you back from getting the results geo-fencing can generate. In this feature, we’ll discuss the common problems you may encounter, and how to avoid them next time.
Know the Limits of Your Geo-Fencing Platform
One of the worst geo-fencing mistakes is really easy to make, because not all geo-fencing platforms work the same way! The term geo-fencing gets thrown around a lot. And different platforms locate phones within the fence in different ways. For example, one platform might utilize the mobile network while another uses WiFi at that location. It’s important to know which method your platform uses. In fact, you may want to use two different platforms for the same fence, because one will capture the phones NOT on WiFi, while the other will capture the phones ON on the WiFi at that location.
It’s Impossible to Reach Everyone
Another of the worst geo-fencing mistakes is assuming you’re getting 100% of the phones inside the fence. It’s virtually impossible. Here’s why: You’re only capturing the phones that are permissioned to give away their location. So you’ll never get phones that are locked down tight. And in this day and age, phone manufacturers, in an effort to differentiate on privacy, are giving consumers more options to block location tracking.
According to Statista, 25% of iPhone users are blocking location; a lower percentage with Android users. That said, most people are stunned to realize which apps track location (it’s often apps you wouldn’t think NEED to track location), and how “not locked down” their phones really are.
So think of geo-fencing as a sieve, more than a funnel. Not everyone is getting captured in your fence.
Your Budget May Not Be Large Enough
One of the most hidden, but definitely worst geo-fencing mistakes is a lack of adequate budget. Once your fence captures a large enough audience to exhaust your ad budget, you often stop capturing new devices in the fence. This means you’re out of money before you’re out of potential leads! It’s important to:
- Anticipate the size of your audience captured (most platform help you estimate it);
- Set a budget that is designed to exhaust that set of leads (with proper ad frequency);
- Monitor your campaign to know if you’re running out of budget.
If you’re capturing a large audience, you may be spreading your ads too thin and not achieving the frequency necessary to convert actionable leads. Mismatches between budget and fence audience size are one of the worst geo-fencing mistakes.
Why Don’t I See My Own Ads, Even Though I Was in the Fence?
A common question we get from clients who attend an event they’ve geo-fenced is, “Why don’t I see my own ads? I’m in the fence.” Well, the answer could be any of the above issues. But it’s much more likely that they’re ignored by the fence because they’ve recently been at the business location (converted) or visited the business website (converted). These are all indicators to the platform that you either work there or you’ve already converted — so any good platform moves on to new prospects.
Want to Review Your Geo-Fencing Strategy?
If you feel like you may be inadvertently committing any of the worst geo-fencing mistakes, or you’re just not sure how to use geo-fencing successfully, we offer a free consultation to discuss it. Schedule time with our team, and we’ll make sure our geo-fencing expert is on the call so you don’t waste any time.
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