What is Geofencing and How Does It Work?

In today’s digital world, reaching the right audience requires more than broad targeting—you need precision. That’s where geofencing comes in. Geofencing allows businesses to draw a virtual boundary around a specific geographic area and deliver targeted ads to people within that space, in real time.

What is Geofencing?

Geofencing is a location-based marketing strategy that uses GPS, Wi-Fi, cellular data, or RFID technology to create a virtual perimeter around a defined area. When a mobile device enters or exits that area, it can trigger a specific action—such as displaying a digital ad, sending a push notification, or tracking foot traffic.

In advertising, geofencing allows you to target potential customers based on where they physically go. For example, you can serve ads to people who visit a competitor's location, attend a specific event, or simply enter your defined area of interest.

How Does Geofencing Advertising Work?

Here’s a simple breakdown of how geofencing works for digital advertising:

1. Define the Location
   Using GPS and mobile data, we create a precise virtual boundary around a building, store, neighborhood, or event.

2. Capture Device Data
   When mobile devices with location services enabled enter the geofenced area, they are anonymously tagged.

3. Serve Targeted Ads
   Ads can be delivered to those devices instantly or later across apps, mobile websites, and even streaming TV platforms.

4. Track and Measure Results
   Advanced reporting tools, like Foot Traffic Attribution, allow you to see how many people visited your business after seeing your ads.

Examples of Geofencing in Action

• Targeting Competitor Locations: Serve ads to people who visit a competing store or service provider.

• Event-Based Marketing: Reach attendees at trade shows, concerts, sporting events, or conferences.

• Neighborhood Targeting: Focus your ad spend on specific zip codes, neighborhoods, or business districts.

• Customer Retargeting: Re-engage people who visited your location by continuing to show them ads after they leave.

Why Use Geofencing?

Geofencing is ideal for businesses that want hyper-local, high-intent targeting. It helps you:

✅ Reach people based on real-world behaviors, not just online activity
✅ Increase ad relevance and campaign efficiency
✅ Gain a competitive edge by targeting your competitors’ customers
✅ Measure foot traffic and campaign impact in the physical world

Get Started with Geofencing

At Towne Post Digital, we use geofencing as part of a broader, data-driven strategy to help you reach the right audience at the right time. Whether you're a local business, retailer, or service provider, we can help you leverage geofencing to increase visibility, drive foot traffic, and grow your customer base.

Ready to add geofencing to your marketing strategy?
Let’s talk about how to make your next campaign smarter—and more precise.