In digital marketing, reaching the right audience at the right time is key—especially for destination marketing organizations (DMOs) and tourism brands that rely on drawing visitors to a specific place. Location-based marketing allows businesses to target potential customers based on their geographic location, making it a valuable strategy for connecting with travelers and promoting nearby attractions, events, or experiences.
Two powerful tools within location-based marketing are geofencing and geotargeting. Both allow brands to engage with people in a specific area, but they work in distinct ways and offer unique advantages.
In this blog, we’ll:
- Break down the key differences between geofencing and geotargeting
- Explore popular use cases
- And highlight the benefits of each strategy
By understanding how these tools work, business owners and marketers in the travel and tourism sector can choose the best approach to boost their advertising strategies and connect with their ideal audience.
What is Geofencing?
Geofencing is a location-based marketing technique that creates a virtual boundary around a physical location. When people with mobile devices enter or exit this geofenced area, it can trigger push notifications, alerts, or advertisements directly to their phones. This virtual boundary, often established using RFID, Wi-Fi, and cellular data, allows businesses to connect with people in real time as they move within specific geographic zones.
How It Works
Once your geofence is set up, it detects when someone enters or exits the boundary and can deliver targeted messages or promotions via their mobile device.
Geofencing allows DMOs to use location-based advertising within these targeted zones, promoting local businesses, attractions, and events. By connecting with travelers at the right place and time, DMOs can increase brand awareness and create a memorable, location-driven experience that encourages tourists to explore and share their discoveries.
Benefits of Geofencing
Enhanced Brand Visibility and Awareness
Geofencing provides businesses with the ability to reach people in the immediate vicinity of their location, promoting local attractions, events, or businesses right when people are nearby. This real-time interaction can boost brand awareness and encourage spontaneous visits to nearby destinations.
Increased Foot Traffic
By delivering targeted notifications to potential customers, geofencing drives foot traffic to physical locations. DMOs, for example, can alert travelers to nearby points of interest, restaurants, or retail stores, which can lead to higher engagement and spending within the local area.
Data Collection and Insights
Geofencing allows DMOs and other businesses to gather valuable location data about visitor behavior, including the most popular spots and times of day for visits. This data can guide future marketing strategies by identifying high-traffic areas or popular events and adjusting promotions accordingly.
Efficient Marketing Spend
Since geofencing targets users in a specific location, it allows for more focused advertising efforts and minimizes budget waste. Businesses reach only those who are most likely to engage—nearby travelers who may be ready to explore the area or make an immediate purchase.
What is Geotargeting?
Geotargeting is a more refined approach to location-based marketing that goes beyond just a user’s location. It allows businesses to tailor ads based on additional data points like demographics, interests, and behaviors. By layering these insights with location data, geotargeting reaches a specific audience within selected geographic areas, making it a more precise tool than general location targeting.
How It Works
In geotargeting, segmentation plays a key role. Marketers use it to deliver ads to people in a specific area who fit particular criteria, like age, lifestyle, or past interactions with similar brands. For example, a destination marketing organization (DMO) might use geotargeting to reach travelers interested in outdoor activities, showing them ads about local hiking trails, kayaking spots, or adventure events happening nearby.
Benefits of Geotargeting
On top of the benefits of geofence campaigns, geotargeting also has a unique set of advantages that make this a popular choice.
Higher Conversions
By reaching only the most relevant audience, geotargeting can significantly improve conversion rates, as ads are more likely to resonate with the interests and demographics of the target audience.
Efficient Marketing Budgets
While geotargeting can be the more expensive option up front, this strategy helps DMOs and other marketers make the most of their marketing budgets by eliminating broad, untargeted reach. This approach makes sure ads are seen by users with the highest potential to engage, visit, or spend, making each ad dollar go further.
Through geotargeting, DMOs can deliver highly relevant, personalized experiences that not only draw in visitors but also highlight the unique aspects of their destinations, ultimately creating stronger connections with target users and boosting local tourism.
Use Cases and Best Practices for Geofencing and Geotargeting
By leveraging location data, DMOs and travel brands can create timely, relevant interactions that drive engagement and support local economies. Here are some potential use cases to inspire your next campaign:
Event Notifications for Tourists and Visitors
Geofencing can help DMOs improve the visitor experience at events or attractions. For example, by setting a geofence around a festival, museum, or cultural site, DMOs can send real-time notifications to attendees with reminders about event schedules, special on-site experiences, or exclusive offers. This helps visitors stay informed, engaged, and more likely to explore everything the destination has to offer.
Location-Based Retargeting for Attractions and Hospitality
DMOs and tourism businesses can use geofencing to retarget visitors based on their previous locations. For example, if a traveler stops by a competitor’s attraction, a nearby business can later target them with promotions for guided tours, accommodations, or dining experiences. This strategy can help redirect interest and encourage visitors to explore a broader range of offerings in the area.
Customizable Ad Campaigns for Specific Traveler Segments
Geotargeting allows DMOs to tailor campaigns for specific audience segments within a geographic area. For example, a campaign might target travelers already visiting nearby destinations (like national parks or ski resorts) with ads promoting an extended stay in the area. By using demographics and interests, such as targeting outdoor enthusiasts or family travelers, DMOs can create ads that resonate with the audience’s preferences.
Personalized Notifications and Discounts for Visitors
Geotargeting can be used to deliver highly relevant offers to travelers who meet specific criteria. For example:
- Locals exploring a downtown area could receive personalized coupons for restaurants, boutique shops, or theater shows.
- Tourists arriving at a nearby airport might see ads promoting exclusive packages for weekend getaways, including lodging and activities.
These personalized notifications ensure that messages are tailored to the needs and interests of travelers, increasing the likelihood of engagement and boosting local businesses.
Best Practices for Geofencing and Geotargeting
Let’s take a look at some of the steps to take to make sure your campaign is set up correctly and also set up efficiently for the best results.
Accurately Set Up Virtual Boundaries
For geofencing, make sure the virtual boundary is precisely set around the intended area. Too broad a range can dilute the audience, while too narrow a range may limit reach. Test the radius to find the optimal size for effective targeting.
Refine Target Users with Demographic and Interest Data
When using geotargeting, refine your audience based on demographic data to reach those most likely to convert. Leverage data on age, interests, and behaviors to ensure the target users match your marketing campaigns’ goals.
Balance Advertising Strategies
Combining geofencing with geotargeting can help balance reach and precision. Use geofencing for broad awareness campaigns, then retarget those users with geotargeted ads to drive conversions. This dual approach can be particularly effective for digital marketing initiatives that aim to increase both foot traffic and brand engagement.
How to Choose the Right Strategy for Your Business
When it comes to advertising strategies in location-based marketing, both geofencing and geotargeting offer unique benefits. Choosing the right approach depends on your business goals, marketing budget, and the target audience you wish to reach. Here’s a guide to help you determine which strategy might be the best fit for your needs.
Geofencing: Ideal for Broad, Real-Time Engagement
If your primary goal is to engage with a wide audience within a specific area—like a popular tourist location or high-traffic venue—geofencing is a strong choice. Geofencing works well for businesses that want to:
- Drive real-time interactions with anyone nearby, regardless of their specific demographics or interests.
- Capture the attention of a larger, diverse group of potential customers in a set location.
- Build brand awareness and boost foot traffic by delivering timely promotions or alerts.
Because geofencing casts a broader net, it typically requires a lower marketing budget than geotargeting, making it a practical option for businesses aiming to reach all visitors in a geographic location without the need for extensive segmentation.
Geotargeting: Perfect for Targeted, High-Conversion Campaigns
For businesses that want to refine their audience further, geotargeting offers a more focused approach by layering in demographic and behavioral criteria. Geotargeting is ideal for businesses looking to:
- Reach target customers with specific interests, behaviors, or characteristics within a designated area.
- Personalize ads for an audience likely to convert, increasing the potential for engagement and conversions.
- Optimize marketing efforts by serving ads only to users who match the business’s ideal customer profile.
While geotargeting may come at a slightly higher pricing point, its precision can lead to higher conversion rates, making it a cost-effective choice for businesses with a defined target audience who are ready to invest in tailored campaigns.
Case Study: Targeting Event Planners with Precision in a Tight Timeline
When a DMO client came to us with a challenge to engage event planners attending a specific conference, we had to act fast. The goal was clear: make New York State top of mind for their next event planning destination. However, with limited time before the conference, setting up geofencing with our partner wasn’t an option. Instead, we implemented a geotargeting strategy to achieve impactful results.
Our Approach
- Geotargeting the Venue:
We focused on a one-mile radius around the conference venue, making sure our ads were reaching attendees in real time. To narrow the audience further, we layered in targeting parameters to specifically engage users with demonstrated interests in event planning, business travel, and corporate planning. - Real-Time Engagement:
During the three days of the conference, we ran ads designed to drive traffic to the client’s website. - Post-Conference Retargeting:
After the conference, we shifted gears to retarget past website visitors across Meta and LinkedIn for 30 days. This extended engagement helped maintain awareness and kept New York State top of mind as a premier destination for corporate events.
Results
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- Impressions: 238,000
- Clicks: 2,300
- Higher-Than-Average CTRs:
- On Meta and LinkedIn, the click-through rates (CTR) were significantly higher than the platform averages.
- Conversions Across Channels:
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- Display, Meta, and LinkedIn ads combined resulted in measurable conversions, keeping New York State top of mind for event planners.
This strategy allowed us to effectively engage the right audience within a tight timeframe, driving meaningful traffic and positioning New York State as a go-to location for future events.
Put Your Brand on the Map with Paperkite!
Both geofencing and geotargeting are effective tools for reaching potential customers in specific geographic locations, making them valuable strategies for destination and tourism brands.
At Paperkite, we specialize in helping destination and tourism businesses design marketing campaigns that use strategies like geofencing and geotargeting to meet their goals. Our experience in location-based marketing helps your brand connect with the right people, in the right place, at the right time.
If you’re ready to make an impact with your next campaign, we’re here to help! Contact us to discover how our tailored advertising strategies can reach your ideal customers and support your growth.
