Building smarter audiences with geofencing

As marketers we know that, often, the hardest part of any campaign is finding the right audience. Traditional targeting can cast the net too wide, wasting spend on impressions that don’t convert. Geofencing gives us a far more precise way of identifying, segmenting, and building high-value audiences based on real-world behaviours.

Identifying audiences in the right place, at the right time

Geofencing uses virtual boundaries around specific locations - retail stores, competitor venues, event spaces, or even transit hubs. When someone enters or exits these zones with their mobile device, anonymised data points are captured. This means you’re building an audience of people based on their actual actions, rather than based on what they do online.  So, instead of targeting “people aged 25–45 with an interest in fitness,” you’re targeting people who were recently inside your local gym. 

Using geofencing to build richer audience segments

But we don’t stop there… The data generated by geofencing doesn’t vanish after a customer leaves the location. Instead, it helps build an audience that you can retarget across digital channels - social, display, or connected TV, for example. This means your campaigns aren’t limited to a single visit or moment in time. You can continue to reach these audiences later, reinforcing your message through multiple touchpoints. 

Why is building an audience through geofencing effective? 

1. Higher relevance: Audiences built through geofencing are based on actual behaviours, not assumptions. That makes your message more relevant and cuts through the noise.
   
   
2. Better ROI: By focusing spend on people who are more likely to convert, targeting a geofenced audience reduces wasted impressions and drives stronger cost-per-acquisition results.
   
   
3. Competitive advantage: Geofencing competitor locations allows you to identify and target potential customers who are already in-market. Imagine targeting car shoppers who just visited a rival dealership or diners who frequent nearby restaurants.
   
   
4. Omnichannel reach: Once you’ve identified who your audience is, you can target them in tons of different ways, making sure your brand stays present wherever they browse, scroll, or stream.
   
   

Top takeaways 

Geofencing is a ‘sooper’ smart way to reshape how you define and activate audiences. By combining location intelligence with your existing data, you can create campaigns that are sharper, more efficient, and more attuned to real-world behaviours.

In a world where budgets are under constant pressure, geofencing is one of the most effective ways to reach the right people, in the right context, at exactly the right time.

‍