Geofencing vs. Geoframing: What Is the Difference?

While many people may be unfamiliar with the terms geofencing and geoframing, advertisers have been using these practices in recent years to create effective and personalized advertisements. Geofencing and geoframing are marketing techniques that effectively utilize tracking services to send targeted advertisements to people that physically enter a specific area. These are tactics that will often increase customer loyalty, provide an edge over your competition, and ultimately achieve a higher return on investment.

Geofencing and geoframing are often used interchangeably in the industry, but there are some characteristics that differentiate these two advertising methods. In an effort to help you distinguish between geofencing and geo-framing, we have defined each term and described how these practices can be beneficial for your business.

Geofencing

Geofencing is a tactic often used by advertisers to directly target customers. An advertiser can set virtual boundaries around a specified location. By using GPS services to track mobile devices, advertisers can see who enters their store and can send advertisements to them. The advertiser can then redistribute more advertisements to that same device for a period of time after the device has left the location.

Geofencing is most commonly used to target users in a large area, and it allows an advertiser to gain insight into the typical customer demographic. This technology provides valuable information that can be used to create more effective advertisements that can strengthen customer relationships with your brand.

The best part of geofencing is that you choose where you want the location to be. Setting parameters around your business’s store is a good idea, but you shouldn’t stop there. Depending on what type of business you have, geofencing can be used to target customers at your competition’s location. For example, a car lot can effectively utilize this tactic to target customers that walk onto another local car lot. These customers, who have entered onto your competitor’s location, will see your advertisements and could potentially come to your business instead.

Because you can choose the advertisement’s time and place and target people based on geographic location as well as other demographic information, geofencing is incredibly customizable. If you notice that the most people visit your store in the morning, you can set the boundary to target customers who visit your business at that time in order to optimize the effects and reach of the advertisement. Similarly, if you notice that the specific time or date that was previously set for the advertisement is not producing effective results, you can easily change the settings in real time.

Geoframing

Geofencing is a useful technique, but it only works if the device that enters the location has enabled push notifications. Geoframing can accomplish the same things that geofencing does, but it is a newer technology that works without the use of push notifications.

Geoframing technology allows an advertiser to target any mobile device that enters into a much more specific location. This tactic uses latitude and longitude coordinates within a set amount of time on a chosen date. This type of targeted advertising can be used to directly focus advertisements for a designated audience. Geoframing is similar to geofencing in the sense that both methods use a specified location to reach a target audience.

Another key difference between geofencing and geoframing is the timeline that customers can be retargeted. Geoframing takes advertising one step further by allowing you to send multiple advertisements over a larger period of time to the same potential customer. This means that even if the potential customer does not see your first advertisement, there are more opportunities to grab their attention.

Geoframing differs from geofencing because it collects digital information off of the mobile devices that are targeted in that area. Advertisers can also use additional information the technology collects to target people based on more specific behaviors and interests rather than just targeting a device and location.

It can be challenging for a business to identify their ideal audience, especially if the company is new or their customers vary in demographics. Because geoframing can collect and store information for up to twelve months, advertisers can use this information to compile specifications for a target demographic. Armed with the knowledge of what type of customers they are most likely to have, businesses can target their advertisements to fit the audience’s specific needs. This can ultimately lead to a higher return on investment and a higher influx of new and returning customers.

The main benefit of geoframing is that it gives you multiple opportunities to target people that have already shown interest in your business. This type of targeting is the most sophisticated and the most accurate method of location-based targeting. Geoframing works without the use of cookies which means that the audience does not have to accept an invitation for the technology to start working. Users are more likely to see this type of advertisement because it is less distracting than a pop-up advertisement.

Despite which marketing technique you decide to utilize, your advertisements should always be tailored to your specific audience. Implementing current content trends, along with the help of either geofencing or geoframing, will be the best way for advertisers to attract and retain their target audience.

How we can help

As your local marketing partner, Inner Spark Creative will ensure you stay ahead of the competition by working with you to create a successful marketing campaign that meets your specific needs. By effectively utilizing location-based targeting through geofencing and geoframing tactics, we can help you attract new customers, strengthen existing customer relationships, and increase your return on investment. Contact us today to learn more about how we can help you use these strategies to your advantage.