GeoFencing: The Secret to Driving New Customer Calls

2020 certainly was the year of curveballs, particularly for the pet care world. When you pair all this uncertainty with an industry that primarily gains business due to owners being on the move or away from home, Plan B turns to C turns to… you get the picture! In today’s world, where in-person interactions are becoming less common, newer and smarter methods must be utilized in order to get your pet care company’s information in front of the pet owners in your area. GeoFencing is one of the most powerful ways to drive up leads and referrals in an efficient and cost-effective way. In short, GeoFencing is the best way for you to hand over your business card – but digitally, on smartphones, tablets and computers!

We know that digital marketing tactics are always changing, and it can be hard to keep up. That’s why we’re going to break GeoFencing down step-by-step!

Display Ads Even if you don’t think you are familiar with Display Ads (also known as online banner ads), you likely interact with them on a daily basis. Display ads are digital banners that are aimed at qualified prospects as they navigate the internet. A classic example is when you look up a favorite tool on Google, and you suddenly see ads on different Websites (Facebook, ESPN, your preferred news provider) all about that tool and where you can buy it. Retailers are able to track people that are looking for their products online. By Googling “hammer,” you are highlighted as a possible sales opportunity. Thus, hammer-related ads make their way onto your screen throughout different sites.

Advanced Targeting What sets GeoFencing apart from simple Display Ads is the more targeted approach to who views a specific ad. To execute a GeoFencing campaign, a marketer sets specific location areas, which we call “geo-fences.” While these areas can certainly be broad, you can set your geofence parameters to precisely target a location. You can draw your fence along the edge of a certain neighborhood, down a particular street, and even around a specific home or address!

GeoFencing is great because it allows pet care companies to target the areas that mean the most to them. Pet care experts can point to the exact neighborhoods that they want to serve the most. The geofence “activates” whenever someone’s wifi-enabled device falls into your target area - prospects don’t receive any notice about this automated process.

In a world where everyone carries their smart phones along with them, this is how smart business operators grow their operation! Sound creepy yet? Well, it may feel that way. But these days, smart service companies are using every tool they can to leverage more relationships and more referrals – you should be doing the same.

Logistics Another highlight of GeoFencing is its relatively low cost to implement. Unlike other marketing models, you do not pay for clicks on your ads. You simply pay for impressions, another word for having your ad appear on someone’s screen. And what is the cost of these impressions? Around $0.01 a pop! That’s right, just one penny. You can keep your costs down even further by targeting specific areas and not casting too wide of a net. This way, there will be minimal wasted impressions!

If you aren’t already keeping a list of important addresses, now is the time to start. Think about the locations that you would want to leave your business card at, and jot down those addresses, zip codes, etc. Consider all the foot traffic places like dog parks and walking trails generate. Now imagine being able to place your pet care services right in front of these owners as they are out with their dogs. With any style of marketing, you get the most out of it when you narrow down your audience and build data on your prospects.

While strategies are always changing, the goal of marketing remains the same: get your pet care facility’s information in front of the pet owners who need your services; especially the brand-new dog and cat owners produced in 2020. To drive more referrals and business, GeoFencing is the way to go for the modern small business. Visit www.markethardware.com to learn more about how we can help you!