Yes Virginia, We Are Tracking Your Mobile Phone

So what are some ideas for geofencing?  I ran a campaign in Ohio for a community college.  We geofenced seven universities/colleges with a one mile radius and distributed ads to students in the spring.  The message?  “Take classes this summer at the community college at half the rate of the university.  And all class credits are 100% transferable towards your university degree!” 

If you owned a restaurant and wanted to increase your lunch business, geo-target your competitors and serve up a strong call to action – “Save $Xxx on lunch today!”  The beauty of mobile geo-targeting is that it identifies the mobile device’s location below the zip code level and you can customize the size of the targeting area.  Here is an example of targeting the competition.  Your ads only run in the blue geo-fenced areas of your competitor. 

 

Target an event at the AT&T Center, Sea World, Six Flags, North Star Mall, UTSA, USAA, Valero Texas Open, NBA Finals, Texas vs. Baylor.  Thousands of people gathered at a single event makes a great opportunity to reach an unique audience all at one time.  “Leaving Sea World and looking for a great meal?” 

I have a client with an interesting opportunity.  While they are a market leader, they are in an industry plagued by a constant need to hire new employees to handle the increase in business.  Since they need employees with a particular skill, geofence the competition with a “Now Hiring” campaign. 

Targeting Based on Location History.  Smart phones today track where you use them and stores the data for 60 days.  Don’t believe me?  On your iPhone, view Settings, Privacy, Location Services and scroll to the bottom to System Services and select Frequent Locations.  At the bottom of this screen it will show you where you have been using your phone – talk, text or data – for the previous 60 days.   

If you sold automobiles, would you like to target people who have visited three or more competitors in the previous 60 days?  The only people who visit auto dealers this frequently are probably in the market for a new car.  We can target these individuals using their location history. 

For an auto repair company, we are targeting high mileage drivers by identifying individuals who filled up at gas stations 5 times or more in the previous 60 days within their 3 mile trade area.  

A pizza company used the weather activated feature by outlining their delivery area in advance.  When it started raining, they advertised “Stay inside.  We will bring dinner to you.”

How about a campaign that takes advantage of our ability to dynamically change the ad based on your current location?  For a food manufacturer we suggested an ad that changes the closer the individual is to the store selling the product.  “Only one mile to Bob’s market!”  As the prospect gets closer to the store the ad dynamically changes to “Only ½ mile to Bob’s Market!”  “Only 500 yards to Bob’s Market!”  Add in a mobile landing page with two buttons.  Button one outlines the step by step directions to Bob’s Market.  The second button offers a 50 Cents Off Coupon.  Simply press the button and the coupon image is saved to your photos folder on your phone.  Then you just show your coupon photo to the cashier! 

And lest we forget, this mobile device is also a phone, so for many clients, a “click to call” button is perfect. 

"Though no one can go back and make a brand new start, anyone can start from now and make a brand new ending."

    Carl Bard