Standing out as a brand has never been more important, especially when consumers have a world of possibilities at their fingertips. Providing a personalized experience to your customers allows you to rise above the competition and geotargeting should be part of your personalization strategy.
What is geotargeting?
Geotargeting makes use of your customer’s location, provided by the IP address of their device. You can detect where your customer happens to be at a specific moment in time and target marketing accordingly.
Geotargeting can be used to locate your customer’s country, state, and zip code. Knowing this information allows you to develop more personalized communications. For example, you can avoid marketing items like rain boots and umbrellas to areas of the country experiencing a drought and instead target those items to customers in the PNW that are experiencing a current bought of rain.
Examples of great geotargeting
When Denny’s faced a plummeting sales rate, they turned to geolocation for help. The company was able to target customers that were near a Denny’s restaurant and those that had visited Denny’s before, in order to remind them of an ongoing promotion. That campaign resulted in 11.6% more in-store visits. A similar campaign raised that number to an impressive 34% increase.
Another example comes from the Container Store. Customers are now able to make purchases online and schedule a time to pick up their items from a physical store. When they arrive, the store is alerted to their presence by geotargeting. A staff member is then able to deliver the items directly to the customer’s vehicle without the customer needing to enter the store.
How can geotargeting help your business?
Geotargeting can help with marketing at specific times, such as the above example of rain versus drought. It can also give you a bigger picture of how your customers spend their time and what products and services they are likely to engage with.
Ads that make reference to a customer’s location feel more relevant to the customer, and that results in higher engagement. Additionally, the data provided by geotargeting can help you develop better campaigns in the future.
Think outside the box
In addition to more traditional advertising, geolocation can be used to develop events or games that engage your customers. For example, L’Oreal took advantage of geolocation to develop a virtual art exhibit. Consumers were able to uncover art and feel like they were physically in front of it.
Using geolocation allows you to get a big picture of your customers and learn what appeals to them. It could be a game, an event, or a mobile app. Using the data provided by geolocation opens up a world of possibilities to better reach your customers in the ways they want to be reached.
Leveraging geotargeting with complex personalization
Marketing is becoming more and more complex today. Customers expect a smooth experience across channels, and they want relevant, personalized marketing. Technology enables us to collect a wealth of data about customers, but how do you sift through it to figure out what is helpful to your company?
That’s where Blueshift comes in. Our Customer Data Activation Platform uses AI to take the guesswork out of your marketing strategy. Data is collected in real time to provide you with a single customer view, and our predictive intelligence helps you reach the right customers in the right places at the right times.
Whether you want to pull locals into your coffee shop or launch a new product line in Europe, geotargeting allow you to personalize your message to your customers. Want to learn more about how geotargeting can help your business achieve true personalization? Schedule a demo today.
