What is geo-targeting?
Geo-targeting is a form of advertising that enables businesses to concentrate on customers based on demographics and behavioral patterns in addition to a specific geographical area. For this, the target audience is categorized into groups based on their location. Content or advertisements are adjusted after segmentation to make them relevant to the audience. By doing this, companies can communicate directly to the right audiences and meet their objectives and preferences.
Ads, for instance, may be shown to certain mobile app users when they are close to a physical store. The outcome? Messages that are particularly customized and appropriate can significantly boost engagement and return on investment.
It is undeniable that geo-targeting as a tool has given advertisers access to a wealth of opportunities. To put it simply, geo-targeting enables marketers in expanding their audience by focusing on a certain area, developing more meaningful, customized offers for customers, and increasing engagement.
Examples of geo-targeted marketing
- Direct newspaper ads
- Geo-targeted text messages
- Print ads in premium local magazines
- Personalized display ad campaigns
- Advertisement of promotion in local stores
- E-mail notifications for new products and services
- Position campaigning
- Custom landing pages
Goal of geo-targeting
The purpose of geo-targeting is to help marketers create campaigns that are specifically catered to customers, increasing consumer involvement and conversion rates.
How does geo-targeting work?
The geo-targeting technique uses GPS, mobile towers, or the IP address of the visitor’s device to identify the user’s geographical location.
A software or app uses this location-based data to target users and chooses the type of content that will be shown to them. For instance, when you log into a meal delivery service, you are shown various available alternatives in your area.
Additionally, Google Ads geotargeting enables search marketers to choose a location or a group of locations as the exclusive region in which they want their ads to appear. This is a crucial strategy for companies like restaurants, physical stores, and eCommerce websites that rely on customers walking in the door or ordering delivery to their homes.
Types of geo-targeting
Before adopting a geo-targeting advertising strategy, take some time to determine the purpose of your marketing initiatives. A few inquiries to think about are:
- Are you attempting to draw customers from the weekly market that is taking place a block away?
- Do you want to retarget clients who visited your shop or website days ago?
- Are you planning an annual sale? Do you want locals to visit your landing pages?
- Are you trying to attract as many ready-to-convert, high-quality leads as you can?
Depending on your response, you should choose from the below geotargeting advertising strategy that will best support your objectives while focusing on tiny, niche client base segments:
Location targeting
Location-based targeting can be termed geo-targeting’s foundational principle. It is utilized when you wish to target customers in a very small, exact area. By doing this, advertisers will obtain in-depth information on the buyer persona and customer behavior. The most straightforward technique to avoid wasting clicks is to choose an exact location.
Audience targeting
The main goal of audience targeting is to advertise a certain genre or business to individuals who have recently visited it. Through behavioral targeting, both demographic and visiting data are used. It is a beneficial remarketing choice.
Weather targeting
Weather targeting is significant where the weather has a substantial impact on purchasing decisions. You may make predictions about the type of purchase that could occur based on the weather. For instance, if you sell umbrellas, you might enhance your marketing efforts during the rain to attract more customers.
Benefits of geo-targeting
Geo-targeting allows you to concentrate on the locations where you’ll find the right consumers and ignore the places you won’t. Additionally, it enables you to run several advertisements in various places that may be tailored to the various audiences in each. This is frequently experienced by customers through Google PPC advertising, which offers distinctive and frequently local content based on your location. Some additional benefits include:
Customization
Boosts engagement with tailored content marketing.
More precise targeting
Enables companies to be more relevant locally by connecting with consumers who are based there or frequently visit that region. This increases the relevancy of content to customers while minimizing the number of unnecessary impressions and clicks.
Lower acquisition costs and expenses
Boost advertising returns by reducing average cost-per-click (CPC), enhancing conversions, and reducing costs.
Enhanced user experience
Enables businesses to interact with customers when and where they are most desired, giving a more meaningful experience during brand-defining moments.
Assist in informing local audiences about deals and discounts
- Products on display that are suitable to the local environment and culture
- Promotions based on location
- Promotions are specific to the weather
- Regional shipping offers
Improved local SEO
Giving users regionally appropriate search results will aid companies in promoting local marketing initiatives:
- A listing of the nearest stores’ contact information
- Timeframes for local deliveries
- Applicable local taxes are shown
Competitive edge over rivals
Allows companies to conceal key advertisements from competitors.
Faster service and shorter wait times
By determining the user’s physical location, you can design your website so that information is retrieved from a server closest to their physical location. As a result, users spend less time waiting for relevant information, and the service is faster as a whole.
Strategic tips for implementing geo-targeting
Putting a geo-targeted marketing strategy in place is quite different from understanding its benefits. To improve the efficacy of your geo-targeting campaigns, adhere to the following rules while designing them:
- Make each geo’s campaign distinctive. This enables you to more accurately monitor performance and provide particular regions the time and focus they deserve.
- Make your ad targeting as precise as possible. Make use of micro-targeting by neighborhood, zip code, or custom limits you define.
- Run test campaigns with various radius values. Depending on the effectiveness and outcome of your campaign, expand or contract your radius.
- Implement tools like VWO Insights to analyze your traffic to determine where you should focus your attention.
- The behavior of geographic traffic varies. Invest in successful geographies and look at the reasons why other geographies aren’t producing results.
- Test regionally specific and general “near me” keywords. To reach a wider audience, you may also change your match types.
- To demonstrate to clients your commitment to their region, provide location-based images and material that is unique to the geo you are targeting.
- If you have any doubts about a visitor’s geo or if you notice that they are looking from a place outside of your target region, provide them with location options.
- Design a non-geotargeted landing page for visitors who wish to learn more about your company before locating a specific location.
- For each location, you can consider creating a social media presence. Will creating a distinct profile for each area boost visibility or will it merely confuse your brand’s message? Before deciding to have more than one, test out several profiles.
Conclusion
A small step like geo-targeting can have a significant impact on your marketing campaigns. With VWO Personalize you can release hundreds of contextual and targeted experiences. Take a free trial to find out how.
