If you’re a business owner, you’re probably very familiar with the benefits of SMS marketing. Not only do SMS marketing messages have one of the highest open rates of any kind of marketing platform (a 98% open rate to be precise), but they’re also great for customer engagement and retention. You might be feeling like there are ways to take your SMS marketing strategies to the next level. Enter SMS geofencing, a location-based service that can hold immense power for your company. If you’re curious to learn more about what SMS geofencing is and how it can benefit your business, we’ve got the answers in this handy guide.
What Is Geofencing?
Geofencing – sometimes known as geo-targeting – refers to a location-based service that allows a company to use the location data of a subscriber, typically for marketing purposes. The process of geofencing is essentially creating a virtual boundary of sorts around a given region.
SMS geofencing is slightly different. First, a brand must receive consent from a customer to send marketing messages to their mobile phone number. This opt-in process typically entails the customer texting an SMS keyword to an SMS short code. Then, the customer must give permission to share their location. The company will then be notified when the customer is in one of their geofences, which might be a retail store, a stadium, or even an entire neighborhood. A geofencing text message is one that is sent to a customer on the basis of location, usually to promote an upcoming event or deal in the region that they have just entered.
How Can SMS Geofencing Help Your Business?
There are a number of benefits to SMS geofencing, particularly for businesses. Some of them include:
- Boosting local sales – By targeting customers when they are within your geofence (such as within a certain radius of your storefront, for example), you are more likely to engage them and convert them to buy while they’re there.
- Gaining a competitive advantage – Who doesn’t want to get a leg up over their competitors and attract more customers? With SMS geofencing, you can. Set up a geofence near one of your competitors’ store locations and prompt a message to send to your customers when they enter it, offering them a great deal at your store instead. An eye-catching deal may be enough to get them heading away from your competitor and straight to you.
- Promote brand awareness – Your SMS marketing messages will undoubtedly carry some key components of your brand identity. The more your customers receive communications from you, the more familiar they will become with your brand and the more enticed they will feel to come visit you in person.
Geofencing, particularly SMS geofencing, is an extremely powerful tool that can hold several rewards for your business when used correctly. Now that you’re familiar with how it can improve your business’ standing, it’s time to take the next step: developing strategies on the geofences you need to better reach your customers and to grow your business even more.
