In a world where we can book a car or an Uber with the tap of a button, it’s no wonder that geo-location services are becoming more and more useful. For businesses, geo-locating your customers makes it easier to track their habits and whereabouts. And for users, geofencing can mean getting that special deal or service only when you need it most. The technology is not so new – it’s been around for almost two decades now. With the advent of smart home devices that can be monitored and controlled remotely through a mobile app, geofencing has become an essential function of these smart devices. Geofencing can be used to trigger a variety of actions depending on the specific device.
For example, a smart garage door opener can be programmed to close the door when you leave work and open it when you approach a few hours later. A smart doorbell can alert you when a visitor arrives and provides the exact location of the person at the door. A smart security system can monitor its location and arm itself when it detects that you have left the house. As you can see, geofencing has a variety of uses and is becoming increasingly important for the ever-more connected world. But as smartphones become even more connected than ever before through the Internet of Things (IoT), geofencing is becoming increasingly popular. As you’ll see from this article, there’s much more to geofencing than meets the eye.
What is geofencing?
Geofencing is the practice of using a digital geolocation system to create an invisible barrier or “fence” around a certain area. Once a user enters or exits the designated “fenced” area, an app can trigger an action. Geofencing is used in many industries, including retail, marketing, and smart homes. A retailer, for example, might use geofencing to send coupons to customers when they enter a certain location. Or a medical clinic could use geofencing to send reminders to patients when they are due for a vaccination. Technically, geofencing is a type of “geo-awareness” that uses a device’s GPS and other sensors to detect real-world locations. A geofence, as it’s more commonly known, can be virtual, e.g., a line on a map, or it can be a real-world fence like a building or a park. In the simplest terms, geofencing is a virtual barrier that is created around a real-world location.
How Does Geofencing Work?
The first step in geofencing is to create a virtual boundary around a location (i.e., the virtual fence). This is usually done via a digital map, where the fence is drawn by hand or through computer-generated mapping tools. Once the fence is drawn, the software must then be programmed to trigger an action when the fence is entered or exited. This action can vary depending on the needs of the business but is often a notification sent to the user.
Why Use Geofencing?
Geofencing can be a powerful tool for businesses of all kinds – especially when used for marketing. Geofencing allows companies to target potential customers and ensure that their ads are shown only in their relevant areas. It can also be used to create virtual “no-fly zones” to block ads from being shown to certain groups of people. Geofencing can be used to create marketing campaigns that are more relevant to your customers. For example, a sports equipment store might offer a discount code to customers who shop from their mobile app. But if you are close to one of their stores, you will only receive the message if the app detects that you are physically close to the store. For example, a cafe may want to offer a special deal for people who walk past during a certain time. A retailer may want to send special coupons to customers who enter the store. These are just a few examples of geofencing in action. There are many more uses, including:
- Collecting data – Geofencing can be used to collect data on foot traffic and shopping habits. When used correctly, it can help businesses better understand their customers and how to serve them better.
- Limiting service area – If you run a location-specific service, geofencing can be used to inform customers where you operate. For example, a plumber can use geofencing to let customers know they only serve a certain area within the city.
- Triggering an action – Geofencing can be used to trigger an action, such as sending a notification or an automated process. For example, a school can use geofencing to send out an automated reminder to parents when their child’s bus is approaching.
Geofencing for Marketing
Geofencing for marketing is one of the most common uses of geofencing. Businesses use this technology to target customers who are near their storefronts. This allows businesses to deliver special offers and deals, which can help increase foot traffic. Geofencing for marketing is a user-friendly and cost-effective way to engage your customers.
Geofencing for Safety and Security
Geofencing can also be used for safety and security. For example, an elderly person with special medical needs who lives alone may want geofencing around their home. This limitation can help seniors live more safely and securely by triggering an alert if they leave their homes. Another example is a child who is too young to walk home on their own after school. Many schools now use geofencing to send an alert to parents when their child is let out of the building. Geofencing works by creating a virtual barrier around a specific location. When your child arrives at or leaves a school that uses this technology, the system will send you a push notification. Some schools even use geofencing to keep kids in a safe zone around the school during dismissal. This can help reduce car accidents and keep kids safe as they make their way home.
Conclusion
Geofencing is a useful tool for a variety of businesses. Whether you’re trying to capture more customers or engage with current ones, this technology can help. Whether you’re looking to drive foot traffic to your brick-and-mortar store or increase online sales, geofencing can help you target specific areas and better serve customers where they are. With geofencing, you can schedule location-based ads to appear when customers are near your store, invite shoppers to visit your site by offering exclusive deals, or even send push notifications to people who are near your store.
By serving ads and push notifications to people who are near your store, you can help drive traffic and increase conversions. It can also be used for safety and security purposes, like triggering an alert when someone leaves a certain area. The technology behind geofencing is constantly improving, so it may only get more useful and powerful as time goes on. This technology can also be used to create a virtual fence around a location. For example, let’s say you have a warehouse with expensive equipment in it. You can set up this technology to trigger an alert if anyone gets too close to the warehouse doors. Another example of geofencing for safety is triggering an alert if your child gets too close to a swimming pool. There are many different types of GPS-enabled devices that you can use to create geofences.
