Geofence

What is a Geofence?

A geofence is a virtual boundary that delineates the perimeter of specific stores, venues, and other commercial properties. When a mobile device crosses a geofence, a notification can be triggered to provide timely and customized offers, alerts, and messages. 

Why a Geofence is Important?

A geofence allows businesses to dynamically engage with consumers. By sending a push notification to a mobile device entering a shopping area geofence, a brand can deliver a coupon to a specific individual for a specific item they’ve recently browsed online or may be interested in based on their proximity to it. These dynamic messages entice consumers not only by offering deals or discounts, but also by reminding them of a brand’s presence in the area.

Brands can also leverage a geofence to gain a competitive advantage. Triggering notifications for compelling offers to consumers that enter competitor’s locations can increase market share. For example, a clothing store could trigger alerts for sales on their own products to individuals entering a competitor’s store. Brands can apply the same methodology to geofencing complementary businesses. A juice bar may choose to send a mobile coupon to devices entering a yoga studio’s geofence based on the interests and lifestyles of their target customers.

There are many other potential uses for geofencing. A retailer may want to measure foot traffic across multiple business locations so they can deploy resources in the stores that most need help. A financial analytics firm can monitor parking lot volumes to predict future revenues. An auto dealer may wish to gain a better understanding of where its customers are coming from and how far they will travel for service. Geofences can be applied in a variety of ways, as generic or specific as necessary. 

To effectively geofence, these virtual boundaries need to be generated accurately and updated frequently. Imagine living nearby a baseball stadium and receiving regular notifications for a deal on hot dogs. Not only would this be extremely annoying, but it might potentially even deter someone from attending a game out of frustration. Likewise, sending a push notification to a customer for an offer that isn’t relevant to them can negatively impact brand perception. To avoid these pitfalls, businesses should geofence based on data of the highest accuracy and consistency.

How Precisely Can Help

Precisely can offer a pre-built geofence for venues where geofencing is common. Each is built from high quality geocodes and updated frequently to ensure accuracy when deploying messaging and services to specific locations. For organizations looking to customize their geofences, Precisely Points of Interest data provides accurately geocoded locations of businesses and landmarks that can be used to generate specific geofences.

Learn more about Precisely Points of Interest datasets and how geofences can be applied in analytics.