Why Geo Targeting Ads? and Everything You Should Know About It

When you are online, you are everywhere. 

One thing that made the digital platform so attractive to businesses is its capacity to reach even the remotest island with the internet. 

As digital marketers, on the other hand, we want to ensure that we craft messages and content that transcends to all people globally – something that is easily understood and consumed regardless of where you are in the world. 

This is where geo targeting ads shines. It opens doors and breaks barriers for people to come across your website wherever they are. Geo targeting can expand your reach and narrow down your target market in one way or another. 

Let’s explore what geotargeting can do for your brand and see if it will fit your digital marketing strategy This article will also give you better vision before you decide to hire digital marketing agency.

What Is Geo Targeting?

Geo targeting provides localised or location-relevant content to website visitors based on their geographic location.

Digital marketers often use this to better their website’s user experience. Improving on and off site experience for visitors is one of the digital marketing goals one has to boost brand recognition of your brand.

You can use different geographic scales for geotargeting methods, from targeting visitors based on continents to more precise targeting at the level of countries, cities, or even zip codes and neighbourhoods.

What Is Geo-Targeted Marketing?

Geo targeting marketing means advertising to customers that meet your specific criteria.

This type of digital marketing centres on a defined location or geographic border allowing you to focus on customers based on the demographics you have set.

For example, you want to reach out to a segment of the market that uses online shopping apps for your virtual store’s advertisements. you no longer have to worry about other audiences as geotargeting gives you the leeway to exclude audiences and areas that you don’t wish to include in your campaign.

In return, you’ll have bespoke and significant messaging across the campaign that can give you a favourable engagement. 

How Does Geo Targeting Work?

Curious about how this works?

It starts with locating users – through GPS (Global Positioning System) or utilising cell towers. Next, the app or software uses this data to choose what information to display to those users.

Do you know that consumers can be geotargeted in two ways?

First is through a geo targeting app which includes all location-based marketing-based apps. You’ll see options that are nearby when you sign up for a transportation service, for example.

Second, to contact your target audience, you can use employ geo targeting tools. For instance, software that provides geo targeting advertising services that come with three crucial targeted resources – audience, location, and weather.

Why Does Geo Targeting Matter?

It makes sense to include geotargeting in your marketing plan for a number of reasons. The first is the enormous potential audience.

• Geotargeting technology can assist marketers in increasing sales and strengthening client connections. Because it is based on customer behaviour, marketers are better able to comprehend and satisfy the needs of their customers, which leads to more campaign engagement.

• Geotargeting is particularly useful for boosting both online and in-person visitors to a business.

• Using location data has been shown to increase the effectiveness of marketing campaigns by 80%. Knowing where potential clients congregate makes it simple to provide them with the appropriate promotions at the appropriate time.

Geo-Targeting vs Geofencing

Geofencing is the practice of enclosing an area virtually using users’ IP addresses. Any users inside this area will be able to view advertisements on a computer, tablet, or mobile device. 

Target audiences are frequently carefully selected in places like universities, stadiums, and communities that are likely to be interested in local specials, businesses, or services. 

For the purpose of placing advertising or filters, certain services, like Snapchat, let you geofence an area by creating an artificial fence on a map around the desired location.

Geotargeting is the practice of displaying advertisements to users that meet certain targeting requirements and are located inside a certain area. 

The primary distinction with geotargeting is that it zeroes in on a particular set of consumer characteristics, including demographics, habits, interests, and geography. 

Exclusionary geotargeting is another option. Because ads may be defined more precisely by demographics and keywords, this targeting typically performs better for audiences with a wider geographic reach. 

On all Catalyst social media and Google advertisements, this is the common targeting method used.

What Are The Three Major Types of Geo Targeting?

Location targeting, audience targeting, and weather targeting are the three main geo targeting advertising methods.

Location Targeting

You can choose specific areas where you want your advertisement to appear by using location targeting.  

Location targeting is Google’s best effort to serve ads to users who match your location settings and is based on a variety of signals, including users’ settings, devices, and platform behaviour.

By default, according to Google, your ads may show to people in, regularly in, or who have shown interest in, your targeted locations. In every circumstance, 100% accuracy cannot be guaranteed due to the variability of these signals.

Always examine your overall performance data to make sure your settings are in line with your advertising objectives and make the necessary adjustments.

Audience Targeting

The word suggests that this type of geotargeting targets ads to visitors who browse a brand, location or category in a designed time frame.

Since it’s centered on people, it works with data about behaviour; which includes demographics and website visitation.

When you craft your content marketing campaign it’ll be more specific because you know which angle to look at and what parameters to use. 

Weather Targeting

Many brands can significantly increase their engagement and boost their online presence by using the strategy of activating advertising, adjusting bidding, and changing material based on the viewer’s weather conditions.

Although Google Ads does not support weather targeting, you can easily and affordably add weather targeting to your current Google Ads campaigns. 

How To Set Up Geo Targeting Ads in Google Adwords

When you start creating an advertising campaign in Adwords, you are offered to specify the geography of future advertising.

First specify the location where you want to create your advertising campaign. Start from the following: Store’s physical address, office, or your desired region.

Next, pick the exact location address or city and the radius of the advertising campaign.

Five kilometres is the smallest radius. On the map, a circle will indicate the area. Borders cannot be manually changed.

Geo-Targeting Tips And Best Practices

Prioritise Certain Locations

Don’t stress yourself by dividing your ad budget equally for the location you are targeting. It’s not necessary.

We recommend you prioritise more on allocating your budget to the areas that typically benefit your campaign more. By picking places with a higher concentration of your target audience, you will unquestionably obtain better results.

As time goes on, your campaign can become more successful in some of the cities in your target area.

Target Local Keywords

Think like the locals. 

When preparing geo targeting ads, you must take into account both the search terms and the words that locals use. 

Your advertisements ought to resonate with them locally and help the audience relate to your message.

Consider how residents of the area actually look for services regularly. It matters that you know what excites them and how they respond to promos or advertisements you publish. 

However, if you want to cover both locals and foreigners, you may split your strategies into two: one for the locals and one for the tourists. You can achieve this by making a shortlist of the famous sites or vacation spots that both visitors will go to.

With keyword research, you can reach your customers where they are most in need.

Research Events and Venues

You may use geo targeting on a variety of platforms, like Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube and Google. 

You may optimise your content more effectively if you are aware of the reasons and times that people will be at a specific location.

Avoid Creating Competing Campaigns

There are multiple tools available for you to set up dozens, hundreds, or even thousands of campaigns using geo targeting.

Each one might further target particular locations, communities or cities. However, developing hyperlocal marketing has significant drawbacks.

If there are too many local ads in a limited area, their audiences may overlap. Your campaigns will so be directly affected by one another.

We know that it can be expensive to run several campaigns, and we recommend that you should consider the regions where your ads are displayed while choosing the geotargeted ad limits.

Final Thoughts

Geotargeting may sound overwhelming. Adding this strategy to your digital marketing mix can improve your brand’s recognition.

This process of audience targeting can help you increasing customer conversions as it opens your campaigns by location. If you speak your audience language, the messaging of your campaign will mean more to them or will resonate more as they can relate to it.

There are other digital marketing strategies that you may have right now to boost your brand’s advertising campaigns, but consider investing in geotargeted advertising today to naturally connect your brand to the community.

We have team to help you build up your campaigns from scratch. Check out our SEM Service at Roots Digital. 

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