Geofencing – Off-Campus Housing

Posted on by John Flynn - CEO - Copley Advertising

Mobile Marketing is a perfect fit for companies that own off-campus housing properties. College students are a great demographic for geofencing. The expansion of mobile capabilities and tracking have allowed mobile marketing companies to be creative in their approach to client’s needs.

Off-Campus Housing properties need to fill beds. The competition is fierce. There seems to an insatiable appetite for newer and better. But if there was an ability to meet the short term goals of filling units and create a consist pool of would-be renters that would be an interesting model.

Mobile Marketing can deliver that model. Here are some key aspects that mobile marketing uses to create a campaign for off campus housing properties.

Video Ads – The rise of video ads continues. The price has dropped and video ads are more effective than banner ads.  Another important aspect is that they tell a story. Marketing is all about telling a story.  By delivering your commercial to the tagged smartphones you can bring your property to them before they visit you.

The first week can be an introduction video commercial the second week could be commercial inviting device users to an event at your property and so on. After the device owner clicks on the video they are brought to your landing page to see the conclusion of the presentation. Copley Advertising is offering a video commercial in each tagged smartphone on campus. All user data (engaged IDs) is stored for future retargeting.

Geo-Conquesting – Your best demographic is students living in other off-campus housing. Even if the property is not in the targeted demographic the results we have seen is that the click rate is still between 2x to 6x higher than the average campaign.  Plus delivering those impressions that engaged to the retargeting pool is key.

Data – Many mobile platforms ignore the data. Copley Advertising helps clients see that each target location has subtle differences. Drilling down to operation systems (Android or iOS), app placement (which apps are overperforming and which apps are underperforming) and creative A/B testing. This information changes from college to college.  It’s extremely important that the information from the data guide the campaign.  This will increase effectiveness and efficiency.

Mobile marketing is not about just geofencing. Copley Advertising has the tools and experience to put together a complete marketing program that will reach off-campus housing’s short term and long term needs.

Questions? info@copleyadvertising or (617) 651-2249.

Geofencing – College Students

Posted on by John Flynn - CEO - Copley Advertising

How to Target College Students on Campus

As students thoughts turn to the new academic year, Higher Education Marketers naturally look for ways they can target college students and entice them to consider their campus for their courses. With smartphone usage becoming almost synonymous with students at nearly all levels of education, geofencing to target specific demographics such as student populations or specific student personas is a tactic that should be considered, especially by those with limited budgets.

The Numbers Stack Up

Considering that many college student’s lives revolve around their smartphones with over 6 out of 10 students claiming to regularly use apps for games (73%), music (67%), entertainment (64%) and social networking (64%), it is easy to see that college students are spending more of their time on mobile devices than ever before, and this is at the expense of computer access, TV’s, e-readers and handheld gaming devices.

Kristin Kollbaum director of marketing and communications at Northwest Iowa Community College saw these figures and decided to give geofencing a try to fill the newly created Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) classes at the nearby Sioux Centre Hospital (SCH).

She began by setting up a geofence which targeted people within a 60-mile radius of SCH, ensuring that when people within this boundary went online they would be presented with ads about the CNA course and job placement.

With a small budget of just $1,200, Kollbaum achieved a 0.73% click through rate which resulted in 35 people attending an informal meeting about the course and two classes being run that year. A phenomenal effort for a small campaign and budget that was run in an area of low unemployment which typically made filling these positions a difficult task.

How to Leverage Mobile Targeting Capabilities to Reach Student Audiences

Geofencing is most definitely a game changer for Higher Education Marketers. By drawing virtual boundaries around physical areas and combining this technology with the layering of specific lists of websites relevant to apps which your target demographic are likely to use, marketers are able to build custom audience profiles and provide specific, targeted messages that are much more likely to be acted upon than more traditional forms of advertising and communication.

Serving ads or messages to students while they are at a specific location keeps your institution’s offerings well within reach and at the forefront of their mind when it comes to course applications. Just as we outlined in a previous post, secondary action – meaning people who take some sort of action after seeing an ad are more than twice as likely with geofencing, and students are no different.

Pinpoint the Students You Want

As colleges grow and almost resemble small cities with sports stadiums, shopping malls, and restaurants, it also becomes easier to target students with specific interests. The ability to geofence all or just part of a college campus such as the sports stadium or restaurant frequented by a particular set and couple that information with a list of websites, along with times that people are using that facility and a number of other variables, allows marketers to become very specific about who will be presented with their offer. It also allows you to reach out to your specific student personas with a ‘personal touch’ and gives you the ability to tap into what that individual may already be considering in terms of further education and present your institution as an option that should be considered.

By providing your college’s options to relevant students at the right time you’re increasing the prospective student’s trust in your organization and developing trust in your institution is certainly one of the first steps towards recruiting graduates. Furthermore, as Generation Z and Millennials have grown up as digital natives, many now have come to expect, even welcome, personalized and targeted campaigns, seeing these as an expression of a college’s willingness to put their individual needs and motivations as a priority.

With well over 86% of all students owning a smartphone and almost half owning a tablet, and these figures rising year on year, geofencing and specific, targeted campaigns that make the most of your student personas and dollars are certainly worth thinking about.

Copley Advertising has a team of geofencing experts who are able to help you create an effective campaign that targets the student personas identified by your institution. They can do all of the technical work for you and make the magic happen.  Have questions? [email protected]

Top 5 features of Facebook’s mobile advertising platform

Posted on by John Flynn - CEO - Copley Advertising

Gary Vee is in front of a crowd and again says.  “Facebook is one of the best B to B tools out there. If you are not doing Facebook dark posts then you are losing out.”

He’s right.

Right now Facebook is an incredible value.  $6 CPM is a steal based on the platform’s capabilities.  Every month Facebook rolls out new features and updates.  It’s an embarrassment of riches.  Here are the top five features that make Facebook’s Mobile DSP Platform a great fit for B to B mobile advertising.

Self-Optimizing – I am a big fan of granular reporting.  Most of the time I like to get my hands dirty and pick which apps are performing, tracking operating system click rate, creative A/B testing and many other benchmarks.  Facebook’s self-optimization will choose which demographic features (age, sex, placement) is working and move your impressions to ensure a lower cost per click.  And Facebook does a very good job.  They will even notify you if they think a change in targeting is needed to further optimize your program.

Video Ads – You can upload your video ads to the Facebook platform in seconds and begin your video campaign.  I use my YouTube videos and never had an issue.  When the campaign starts Facebook will log in views, how long the views are and the price per view which is usually pennies.  Why is Facebook doing this?  YouTube.  Facebook wants YouTube out and is replacing it with its own video platform.  The engagement rate using video ads is huge.   Video ads are taking over mobile.  It’s another differentiator from other advertising.  The fact that Facebook recognizes this and makes life easy is huge.

Dark Posts – One of my favorite phrases in media…Facebook Dark Posts.  In reality, it’s easy to do.  The point of dark posts is that the ad is not posted to your “page” when published. An example is my business page is Copley Advertising.  I use my platform to post ads for clients all the time.  I don’t want every client’s ad on my newsfeed.  Dark Posts helps solves the problem.  Plus it seems the click rate is very good on average.

Targeting – Facebook has great targeting.  You can target by street address, hobbies, last time you traveled, what newspaper your demo likes,  job title, company employed by, Facebook groups, pages you follow, income and on and on.  Pretty impressive.  Plus setting up different Ad Sets for each test is easy.  With Split Testing you can increase your optimization and Facebook will reward you with a cheaper CPM.

Ease of Use – Facebook has made the platform very easy to set up with little or no knowledge of code.  The ad manager is great for the majority and the Power Editor allows the user to take a deeper look at the campaign and offers more tools to play with. There is no reason why you can’t have your first Facebook ad up in minutes.

So why is Facebook doing this?  Easy.  Money.  They are proving that they are a serious B to B DSP mobile platform.  They are looking to attract big companies and agencies to hop on the program.  Facebook is a great mobile platform for B to B advertising.  Use it now because late 2017 it is going to cost you a lot more.

Geofencing: Sporting Events And Concerts

Posted on by John Flynn - CEO - Copley Advertising

Advertising at an event is expensive and has a very short lifespan.  Geofencing provides an opportunity to target fans at the event and when they leave.

Copley Advertising can tag all the smartphones at any event or concert.  Let’s say that the New York Knicks are playing at Madison Square Garden.  We would tag all the smartphones at the game.  An ad can be placed on each phone.  If the users clicks on the ad their ID is placed in a retargeting folder for future marketing.  We can also download all the device ID (owners that received an impression) and use the information for future campaigns.

Geofencing is highly targeted, and due to the lower CPC, the ROI of each marketing dollar spent is 2x to 5x greater than traditional marketing.  The key to location marketing is that you are reaching your demographic in a set area.  Copley Advertising can break down the demographic for any event.  If the event fits your buyer persona we can geofence the event.  You have now captured your customer and have the ability to continue to serve ads to them after the event is over and they returned home.  Copley Advertising can follow a sports team or music act across the country.  We are able to reach your demographic in each location.

Mobile marketing campaigns can be automated. The only variables that need to be entered are the location and date/time of the targeted event-goers.  Copley Advertising optimizes the campaign in real time.  We drill down to app placement, creative click thru, OS, and SSP networks.  As the campaign continues it becomes effective and efficient.

By mobile geofencing an event you can place offers that will drive ticket holders to your store or restaurant.  “Come after the game and get $5 off!”.   If the client geofences a team during every home game they will train the fans that their destination is a must after each game.  They become an important part of the event’s marketing without paying the huge event markup.  This is great news for national restaurant and bar chains that are near a stadium.

If you look at the crowd during a sporting event or concert you will see a sea of people on their smartphones.  Now imagine for a small marketing budget they are seeing your ad. You didn’t have to pay for the overpriced in-stadium signage.  And you can follow your demographic home and continue to deliver ads to them after the game.

Questions?  Copley Advertising, [email protected].  (617) 651-2249.

Geofencing: Building Contractors

Posted on by John Flynn - CEO - Copley Advertising

Geofencing can be used in numerous ways and its use for marketing campaigns and increasing interaction between businesses and the right prospects is increasing almost daily. Helping customers find you are one of the most common ways that geofencing has been used – alerting a customer who has stepped into a shopping mall of your great offer is becoming common practice, but what if you could target areas by weather patterns? It’s now possible to do just that by setting up impressions that are switched on or off by the weather forecast.

Timing is everything

Creating customer engagement based on someone’s exact location and current situation leads to a meaningful advert or communication. Imagine being able to send a message about your house repair services or DIY products to families in areas that have just been hit by severe storms.

A well-timed advert or message about your services to someone likely to need exactly what you are offering – construction services or DIY products for repairs for example – will put you at the fore of a customer’s mind right when they are thinking about work they need to have done. The figures back it up too – Secondary Action Rates, meaning people who visit a store or take some other action after seeing an ad are more than twice as likely with geofencing. What’s more, home and trade services rank amongst the industries receiving the highest secondary action rates.

Meet your customer’s needs right where they are

Going a step further than simply attracting customers to you with timely notifications, geofencing linked to weather forecasting allows for timely and relevant information that potential customers can use in emergency or severe weather situations. Because geofencing is flexible you are able to adapt the area that impressions are being sent to relatively easily making sure you are able to reach the most likely candidates for your services, be they upscale areas experiencing high winds and storm damage, or areas where DIY renovations are on the increase.

Build Trust Quickly

Businesses that are quick to respond with a tailored offer and can specifically target an area that needs the service they provide have a foot in the door when building trust with the consumer and are more successful at turning that prospective sale into a valued customer.

Given that 60% of consumers look for local information on their phones and around 75% of Americans own a smartphone, this is especially relevant for large national contractors, or big box stores who want to find business outside of their base area, and still, have a local feel.

Simply giving potential customers all the information they need to find you when it comes time to repair the damage caused by a storm, flood, fire or other weather related event begins building the foundation of trust needed for customers to contract expensive work or purchase big ticket items from big box stores such as Home Depot.

Copley Advertising has a team of geofencing experts who are able to help you create an effective campaign that follows the weather forecasts around the country. They can do all of the technical work for you and make the magic happen.  Have questions?  [email protected]

Geofencing: Car Dealerships

Posted on by John Flynn - CEO - Copley Advertising

The implementation of geofencing in car dealership’s marketing programs has been talked about for some time now, but it’s only in recently that the technology has allowed programs geared to the car and truck industry.  Geofencing uses GPS/RFID technology to create geographic boundaries. When a mobile phone enters the target area the desired the phone is tagged and Copley Advertising has the ability to place ads on the smartphone.

The mobile phones of users would be targeted when they enter the auto dealerships.  The customers will be informed of the top deals that they might have missed and special mobile offers. The sales team may not have enough manpower to attend to every single customer that walks in, but mobile geofencing ensures no customer is left without a pitch being made.

The most powerful program for auto dealers is geo-conquesting.  Copley Advertising can geofence all competing car dealerships and tag smartphones in the dealership.  As customers are on the smartphones they will see your ad.  Call to Action creative can include weekend only rebates and call before you buy.  Plus if the tagged user engages with the ad we can capture their ID and place it in our retargeting folder.

Marketing campaigns can also be launched to targeted neighborhoods that are within close proximity of the auto dealerships. A seven-mile geofence around each dealership is recomeneded as over 80% of the dealership customers live within seven miles of the dealership.

Geotargeting also allows a car dealership to target customers based on demographics. For example, used cars might be targeted to students living on a college campus, whereas family based neighborhood advertising an SUV might make more sense.

The targeted nature of geofencing allows car dealerships to place themselves on the map without putting a big dent in their spending budget.   Email us at [email protected] to learn more about Copley Advertising geofencing programs for car dealerships.

Geofencing: Trade Shows

Posted on by John Flynn - CEO - Copley Advertising

Excitement bubbles through your veins. You’ve spent months perfecting your product. Now, it’s time to present it to some of the leading retailers and angel investors at a trade show. Reality hits. Thousands of other startups are also trying to grab the attention of these instrumental people.  You have to find a way to lure them in…a way to stand out and get them to pay attention. Geofencing is your answer. The following tips can help you leverage the power of geofencing at your next trade show.

Have a Clear Call to Action

Location based advertising feeds impulsive decisions.  Your geofencing ads should, therefore, have a clear call to action. Someone who enters your chosen geofence and sees your ad should, for instance, be prompted to utilize a discount coupon at your booth. It’s about getting the user to make a clear decision related to your brand in the moment.

Don’t Bombard Users

Geofencing is location based. However, avoiding the temptation to bombard potential customers with redundant messages is crucial. For instance, someone who has already entered the geofenced area shouldn’t constantly receive the same message every time he or she reenters the area.  Using routing algorithms to help people who have seen your ad find the fastest route to your booth is your safest bet.

Use the Data

A myriad of consumer behaviors is captured by geofencing. Some of this data includes: where consumers spend the most time at the trade show, the aspects of your booth that generate the most interest, and the amount of foot traffic you’re actually getting.  Using this data wisely helps you make informed decisions.

Trade shows are often expensive investments. Geofencing is one strategy that you can use to maximize your ROI at trade shows. Having a clear call to action, avoiding redundancy, and using the data you receive wisely can help you make the best use of your geofencing campaign. Copley Advertising has a team of geofencing experts who can help you create the best geofencing campaign for your next trade show appearance. Email us at [email protected]

Geofencing: Recruiters

Posted on by John Flynn - CEO - Copley Advertising

Geofencing is being used effectively by small and large retail businesses to attract customers and promote their products to specific groups in a personal and timely way that provides great results. With over 65% of consumers opening the push notifications they receive, and geofencing campaigns experiencing a 70% higher click through rate compared to standard ads as discussed in a previous article, it is no surprise that corporate organisations and health care providers are finding ways to use geofencing to target and recruit the best talent available for their businesses.

Target Talent

According to Glassdoor HR statistics, job location is one of the top 5 considerations of prospective employees when considering new employment. Corporate organizations – from accounting firms to transportation and logistical firms, even hospitals are using geofencing to find and reach out to the right candidates with some great results.

By reaching out to a target audience – one that is exhibiting signs they are ready to change roles through their web search history, purchasing activity and other internet use behaviors – with geofencing these companies have been able to increase the expertise within their business relatively easily.

For example, Holland Trucking needed more drivers for their workforce. With a limited recruitment budget they chose to send targeted ads with geofencing – their adverts had a quick link to the company’s job application webpage and was sent to prospective candidates within a five-mile radius of specific truck stops along one of the company’s major routes. The campaign resulted in increased traffic to their employment pages and better recruitment results for the business.

Reduce Costs

Bersin by Deloitte states the average cost to fill an open position is $4,000 and that takes around 52 days to find the right person.

High-Value Employee Targeting with geofencing can drastically reduce the cost of finding the right people for your business. A case study of an Atlanta-based health care provider looking for nurses is a great example of this. The healthcare provider and their marketing team decided to geofence other top rated medical facilities and send messages to relevant staff about the job openings reaching a targeted area with over 21,000 impressions.

Comparing the average cost of a geofencing marketing campaign and the time it takes to find the right people for a vacant position with traditional recruitment methods, it’s no wonder that larger corporations and health care providers are turning to geofencing, making it an innovation that is set to stay and become common practice within the recruitment sector.

Attract Top Talent to You

Rather than trawling through the thousands of resumes on recruitment websites, geofencing allows employers to target the talent they want and have them get in touch with them. Quite obviously, this saves a lot of time and hassle for the business. It is becoming commonplace for corporate and healthcare organizations to use technology to target the talent they need to keep their companies ahead of the competition – and geofencing is at the fore of this.

Recruiters can use geofencing to place ads around workplaces, universities, banks, hospitals – the list is virtually endless. Getting targeted messages to the right audiences has shown to give noticeable impact to recruitment campaigns when other approaches simply aren’t providing the results needed.

Copley Advertising has a team of geofencing experts who are willing to help you create an effective recruitment campaign. They can do all of the technical work for you and make the magic happen.  Have questions?  [email protected]

5 Sure-Fire Ways to Earn More with Geofencing

Posted on by John Flynn - CEO - Copley Advertising

Reaching customers where they are with what they need is the fundamental principle of geofencing.  Earn more. Win big. Geo-fencing strategies provide a targeted approach to digital marketing that helps businesses win new customers. The biggest earners in the geofencing space, however, practice these sure-fire ways to boost their ROI.

Be Strategic

Geofencing can be likened to a game of chess. Make the right moves and you’ll be able to defeat your opponent.  Think carefully about geofencing placement. Some businesses have used the diversion approach where a geofence is placed in the broad region surrounding a competitor. A customer who enters this region would receive notifications with deals and coupons from your store. Enticed by these deals, the customer will choose to purchase from your store instead of the competition.

Using the right size for your geofence is another way to be strategic.  For instance, if your product is sold in a large department store you may want to place a geofence around the product’s shelf space. Also, if you are building a campaign to sell a specific product line, it would be wise to create a geofence around that specific product’s location instead of around the entire store.

Population Density is Important

Your aim is to reach a large number of people who are more likely to make buying decisions.  It is fair to assume that the larger the geofence, the larger the audience. However, you want that audience to include people who are more likely to make the impulsive decision to visit your store. Shops in busy urban areas, therefore, benefit more from a smaller geo-fence. Conversely, stores in rural areas, where people are willing to drive miles to get what they want, benefit more from a larger geo-fence.

Use Wi-Fi instead of GPS

GPS drains battery life. Apps that are programmed to use geofencing with Wi-Fi and cell tower information fare better with users.  Although GPS provides a more accurate picture, Wi-Fi preserves battery life. The latter is more important to a consumer.

Don’t Bombard the User

Let’s set the record straight. Customers in your geofence mailing list should be those who’ve opted into receiving location-based notifications from your company. It’s the ethical thing to do. Be considerate. These people don’t want to be bombarded by messages overselling your company. If they are, they’ll have no problem instantly deleting your app.  Provide each customer with relevant and timely messages.  Too many messages paint your brand in a negative light.

Use Geo-Fencing with Other Location-based Targeting Strategies

Geofencing is a useful tool.  However, it has its limitations.  One of its greatest limitations is its need for user participation. If the feature isn’t activated on the user’s device, no results will be produced. You could follow all the aforementioned tips and get abysmal results. Therefore, geo-fencing shouldn’t be used in isolation. Instead, it should be used with other location-based marketing strategies, such as beacons.

The team at Copley Advertising consists of geofencing experts.  We know how to effectively use these sure-fire tips to help you get the highest ROI. Trust us to help you create a strategic, relevant, timely and user-friendly geofencing campaign. Questions? Email [email protected] to receive our presentation (What is Geofencing?).

5 Tips for Effectively Using Geofencing

Posted on by John Flynn - CEO - Copley Advertising

5 Tips for Effectively Using Geofencing

Statistics show that 65% of consumers open the push notifications they receive.  Geo-fencing provides consumers with location-based push notifications that are relevant. The pop-ups and push notifications that appear as a result of geofencing are linked to a customer’s interests.  So, the customer can find exactly what he or she needs from your company that much faster. This increases foot traffic to your store and widens your customer base. Geo-fencing, when used effectively, gives companies a competitive edge.  Instant.ly reports that “many businesses have experienced click-through rates on geofencing campaigns that are as much as 70% higher than standard ads.”  Numbers don’t lie. Jumping on the geofencing bandwagon can only mean immeasurable success for your business.

Reaping the benefits of geofencing, however, requires understanding how it works and how to use it effectively. These tips will help you get the most out of your geofencing campaign. Discuss them with your digital marketing campaign manager. If you’re doing your own digital marketing, feel free to contact us at Copley Advertising to get expert advice.

Know what is Required

Geofencing is an expanded form of beacon technology. Beacons work within a narrow parameter, such as a particular aisle in your store. Geofencing, on the other hand, encompasses a wider boundary.  With geofencing, you use mapping software to physical identify the broad region you want to target.  Whenever someone enters that region, the tagged smartphone or app sends a targeted message to the person’s phone. Geofencing is about being at the right place at the right time.  In order to work effectively, a link must be made to GPS, cellular data and/ or Wi-Fi connection.

Carefully Consider your Message

Your aim is to get people to come into your store. Most geofencing campaigns provide special discounts or offers through the pop-ups and push notifications of an app. You have to give a little to get a little. So, it’s more than telling people that your store is in that location. There must be a clear call to action that gives people the impetus to step into the store and make a purchase. Customers who enjoy the experience will keep coming back.

Personalize

Geo-fencing works better when users opt-in. Your app should give the user the option to turn on location services. It should also give the user the option to turn these services off if necessary. Users should also be able to create their own profiles. This provides a more targeted marketing approach since you’ll be able to accurately determine each user’s interests.  Giving users control over their profiles allows them to control the data they provide. Respecting potential customers’ privacy is crucial.

Use the Data

Each geofencing campaign generates data that can be used to measure the campaign’s success. Neglecting the data is a recipe for failure. Track the data in real-time to determine its strengths and pitfalls. Using this knowledge to inform present and future decisions differentiate effective marketers from ineffective marketers.

Strategically Define Geofences

Each geofence should encompass areas where people are most likely to be. It is highly likely that this will not be where your business is. Setting location parameters around a competitor’s store has proven effective for numerous brands.

Copley Advertising has a team of geofencing experts who are willing to help you create an effective geofencing campaign. We will do all of the technical work for you.  Let us help you make the magic happen.  Have questions?  [email protected]