Follow your audience anywhere with precision advertising
May 15, 2025
Capture customer interest and follow your audience anywhere with precision advertising. Techniques such as retargeting, geofencing and addressable geofencing convert customer interest into action, increase brand visibility and build customer loyalty.
What is retargeting?
Retargeting focuses on customers who’ve already interacted with your website, app or social media. It uses their past actions, like viewing a product, clicking an ad or filling out a form, to deliver personalized ads and bring them back to convert.
How it works:
A small piece of code (called a pixel) is placed on your website.
When a customer leaves without taking action, the code triggers ads to “follow” them across other websites and platforms.
These ads serve as reminders, encouraging people to return to your site and complete a purchase.
Why it matters:
Retargeting keeps your brand top-of-mind.
It increases the chances of conversion for individuals who have already shown interest.
Best for:
Customers who are in the consideration and decision stages of the sales funnel.
Re-engagement of people who have shown interest or intent but have taken no action.
Reporting metrics to track:
Click-through rate (CTR)
Conversion rate
Return on ad spend (ROAS)
Cost per conversion
Multichannel recommendation:
Combine retargeting with multichannels such as display, social media, email and search to create a consistent and effective strategy.
Best practice:
Show personalized content based on previous interactions.
Optimize ad frequency to avoid ad fatigue.
Regularly test and refine for improved performance.
Example:
An online store implements retargeting to re-engage with customers who have abandoned their shopping carts with the following process:
A customer visits the website and adds items to their shopping cart, but leaves without completing the purchase.
Through retargeting, the store displays targeted ads featuring the items left in the cart to the customer as they browse other websites or social media.
These retargeted ads serve as a reminder about the products they were interested in, encouraging them to return to complete their purchase. To monitor success, purchases can be tracked.
What is geofencing?
Geofencing is location-based marketing that uses technology to create a virtual boundary around a location. It’s used to identify and connect with your customer’s devices based on that perimeter.
How it works:
When an individual enters the designated area (like your store, an event or competitor’s location) with their mobile device, it activates targeted ads or notifications.
These messages are often time-sensitive and encourage immediate action.
Why it matters:
Geofencing lets you engage your customers in real time.
It’s ideal for local promotions and heavy foot traffic areas.
Best for:
Customers who are in the action and conversion part of the sales funnel.
Advertising that focuses on very specific geographies.
Reporting metrics to track:
CTR
Offline visits
Multichannel recommendation:
Combine geofencing with multichannels such as display and social media to increase brand awareness, drive targeted traffic to your website or physical location and engage with potential customers through personalized and relevant messaging.
Best practice:
Add several fences and a larger radius to find new customers.
Think outside of the box. For example, if running jewelry sale ads, geofence boutiques that sell jewelry.
Use geo-recency to target devices after customers leave the geofence for up to 30 days.
Implement conquesting where you place ads for your products or services in your competitor’s same location or editorial space.
Example:
A bank or credit union sets up a geofence around its physical branch locations, which functions like this:
When someone enters the geofenced area, they get targeted ads promoting services like opening a new account, signing up for a credit card or learning about mortgage services.
This increases brand visibility and drives potential customers to visit the branch location.
Geofencing reaches potential customers at times when they might be more receptive to financial services offerings.
The bank or credit union can track customers who take action based on the ad content.
What is addressable geofencing?
Addressable geofencing takes geofencing a step further by allowing you to target specific households, neighborhoods or business districts using data like street addresses or physical property locations.
How it works:
You upload a list of customers’ physical addresses or a list of competitor addresses.
Geofences are drawn around these precise locations.
Ads are served to devices connected to those addresses, even after they’ve left the targeted area.
Why it matters:
It offers hyper-targeted advertising without needing cookies.
It’s great for direct mail, email and high-value sales.
Best for:
Customers anywhere in the sales funnel, from awareness to consideration to conversion.
Targeting customers who are near a specific location, like a home, event or store.
Reporting metrics to track:
CTR
Conversion rate
ROAS
Engagement rate
Multichannel recommendation:
Combine addressable geofencing with multichannels such as social media, search engine marketing, email and mobile ads using relevant personalized messaging for your customer.
Best practice:
Convert each street address into a geofence for accurate targeting.
Use personalization like the customer’s name or past purchase references to be engaging.
Include a clear call to action like visiting your store or making a purchase.
Offer exclusive promotions or discounts to entice customers and drive conversions.
Example:
A hair salon wants to increase appointments at its physical stores using addressable geofencing to target customers in the vicinity of its business.
The salon delivers personalized and location-specific advertising to people within addressable locations about their services, how to schedule appointments and where they are located. A discount promotion is also included to further drive traffic.
As a result, the hair salon can track conversions by comparing appointment scheduling before, during and after the promotion concludes.
How to get started
Precision advertising reconnects your business with people who have already shown interest in your brand. To get started, lay a strong foundation by setting clear goals, choosing the right channels and creating compelling creative.
Here are steps to help you start effective advertising:
Define your goals: Determine what you want to achieve with your advertising strategy.
Segment your audience: Use data to create audience segments based on their interactions with your business, website or app.
Personalize your message: Tailor your ads to specific interests, needs or location to create personalized messages for each audience segment.
Choose the right channels: Determine which advertising platforms or networks will best reach your target audience.
Monitor your metrics: Analyze key metrics such as CTR, conversions and cost-per-conversion to optimize and make adjustments to maximize your ROI.
Determine what to invest
The budget for implementing these strategies depends on several factors, including targeting options and the desired reach of your audience. Here are some key points to consider:
Retargeting budget: The budget for retargeting typically depends on factors such as the size of your audience and the duration. Generally, retargeting is cost-effective as it focuses on a smaller, more engaged audience segment.
Geofencing budget: The budget for geofencing is based on the reach and size of the target region. Larger geographical areas or dense urban locations might require a higher budget to reach a significant number of potential customers. Additionally, the frequency and duration of your ad placements will also impact the overall budget.
Addressable geofencing budget: Addressable geofencing further refines the targeting by incorporating specific demographic or behavioral data. This often requires additional data integration and analysis, which could increase your budget. The cost of addressable geofencing may vary depending on the quality and availability of the data sets used for targeting.
Be aware of pros and cons
Like any advertising strategy, precision advertising comes with advantages and challenges. Here’s a quick look at the key pros and cons:
Pros:
Strategy: Allows your business to set virtual boundaries and target specific geographic areas to reach interested customers. By defining these boundaries, you tailor your advertising messages to resonate with a specific audience, increasing the relevance and effectiveness of your advertising campaigns.
Conversions: By using physical locations for targeting, your advertising leads to higher click-through rates and conversions. When ads are shown to customers who are physically close to your business or a competitor’s location, there is a higher likelihood they will take immediate action, visit your store or make a purchase.
Competitive advantage: It provides your business with a competitive edge, allowing you to target your competitors locations. This strategy diverts traffic and drives customers towards your business versus your competition.
Cost-efficiency: You’ll save money focusing on areas where you get more conversions. By targeting specific geographic regions with a higher concentration of potential customers or where your business has a physical presence. Resources are allocated efficiently, reducing wasted ad spend and improving your return on investment (ROI).
Cons:
Oversaturation: One potential risk is ad fatigue. If customers repeatedly see the same ads within a specific location, they may become disinterested or overwhelmed, leading to a decline in engagement or negative brand perception. To mitigate this risk, you should carefully manage ad frequency and use multiple ad variations to maintain customer interest.
Privacy concerns: Tracking customer locations may raise privacy concerns. Collecting and utilizing location data to deliver targeted ads may lead to some apprehension about their privacy being violated. To address these concerns, you should communicate your data usage policies and ensure compliance with relevant privacy regulations.
Cost consideration: Advertising costs add up, especially if you target a wide geographical area or employ a high frequency of ad placements. Depending on the desired reach and level of precision, costs associated with setting up and maintaining geofencing campaigns may need to be balanced against the potential ROI.
Practical tips to remember
To make the most of your advertising, it’s important to approach retargeting with strategy, creativity and a focus on the customer journey. Here are tips to help you succeed:
Focus on competitors: Target customers at competitor locations to influence purchase decisions and drive foot traffic to your physical store. Offer exclusive deals or promotions to potential customers, enticing them to choose your business instead of the competition.
Embrace technology: Use technology to send real-time notifications or personalized offers to people entering or exiting specific locations. Capture customers’ attention with immediate incentives, encouraging them to take action and visit your store.
Use personalization: Craft your messaging to address the unique needs, interests and motivations of your target audience. Use data insights to understand customer preferences and behavior, enabling you to create personalized and compelling content.
Track and analyze: Track key performance metrics such as CTR, conversions and engagement levels to assess the effectiveness of your advertising. Continuously analyze data to refine targeting strategies and improve campaign outcomes. Optimize ad placements, messaging and offers based on real-time insights to maximize ROI and drive higher engagement.
Implement dynamic retargeting: Create dynamic retargeting ads that display products or services that specific visitors viewed on your website to increase CTR and conversions. Define the desired action you want customers to take in your ads to prompt users to click through to your website, make a purchase or sign up for a service.
Watch ad frequency: Avoid overwhelming potential customers with too many retargeting ads by setting frequency caps to limit how often your ads are shown. Use compelling CTAs to prompt users to take action.
Want to create meaningful connections with your customers? Each of these precision advertising approaches serves a unique purpose, but together they form a robust multichannel advertising strategy to reach your most relevant audience, maximize impact and increase conversion potential when you:
Utilize retargeting to re-engage your online visitors.
Use geofencing to connect with your customers in real time based on location.
Leverage addressable geofencing for exact ad targeting at the household level.
By adopting these precision advertising strategies, you’ll develop lasting relationships, build loyalty and ultimately increase business sales.
Glossary
Click-through rate (CTR): The percentage of people who clicked on your ad after seeing it.
Conquesting: Deploying an ad for your products and/or services in the same space as editorial content by a competitor.
Conversion rate: The percentage of visitors who complete a specific action after clicking on your ad.
Cost per conversion: The cost incurred for each click on an ad.
Engagement rate: Measures how much customers interact with a specific ad.
Geo-recency: Engage audiences reached through geofencing immediately after visiting a location or event for up to 30 days after.
Offline visits: Tracking the number of devices that made it to your business location in the last 30 days.
Return on ad spend (ROAS): Measures the revenue generated for every dollar spent on advertising.
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