Four Limitations of Mobile Marketing within a Geo-Fence

After reading the case study on “Proximity marketing” by iSIGN Media Corp, I did a bit more reading on the term “Geofencing”. It is quite an interesting topic for me to understand what are the other applications and challenges beyond supermarket mobile marketing.

“Geo-fence” is a fairly new term in the world of digital marketing. Basically, it depicts a virtual boundary created within a real-world geographical location. This boundary could be dynamically generated within a store or at a point location. Beyond that, geo-fences can also be set within school premises or neighborhood boundaries. It can be used for tracking of people's movement as well as providing crucial messages to users.

Although this form of mobile marketing is new, more targeted and more cost-effective as compared to standard in-store advertisements; it apparently has its limitations. Here are limitations that need to be addressed when using geo-fencing methods.

1. Call to Action - It is imperative that the marketing message and value preposition are attractive enough to entice users giving up their location privacy. Without participation, no campaign can be launched. Thus, the message needs to be succinct, location-relevant and one that calls for action.
   
   
2. Collect, analyze & refine – It is important to make use of the data collected during the marketing exercise to continue to fine tune the campaign based on data about buyers' behaviors, demographics and movements within the boundaries.
   
   
3. Permission Marketing – Make sure that customers' privacy are respected and permission is sought from them so as to prevent unnecessary interruption or intrusion to their shopping experience. They need to be well-informed of how the data are being used, why they are being invited to opt in and what they will be receiving in return.
   
   
4. 4 minutes rule & others – Within a relatively smaller geo-fence, the basic rule-of-thumb is to maintain the targeted location to be within 4 minutes walk or drive of the customers. If you are marketing to the customers while they are at the target location, then the call-to-action message must be more emphasized. Lastly, pre-event marketing for store, may be conveyed within a geofence that is not even at the store's vicinity.

Cheers!

Tony Leu