As 2016 comes to a close, there is one thing you need to tackle in order to make your marketing efforts a monumental success: Geotargeting.
Geotargeting is the ability to target a specific audience/demographic based on their location either through their IP Address (where people log in from) or their physical address (provided by where they list their home of residence).
By simply knowing their location you can segment your ads based on country, state/province, city, or zip code. Imagine being able to target all the people in your local area with ads about your holiday sales?
If you use geotargeting through social media platforms such as Facebook, you can get even more specific. You can target your potential customers/clients via their age, gender, languages spoken, interests, and connections. How do you gain this level of insight? The information they provide upon signing up, page likes, other pages they’ve visited, etc. is a goldmine for geotargeting. Through twitter, you can generate targets based on keywords, interests, followers, etc. Each social media site has their own analytics. Take the time to get to know your platforms and you’ll be able to adjust as needed.
Geotargeting allows you to find the perfect customer base for your business while providing viable content they need. This can generate an incredible amount of leads for your targeted location, age group, etc.
Which methods work? That depends on your campaigns, but here are some tips to get you started:
- Start with what you know. You have data at your fingertips. You know where your clients and customers come from. You have that information already. Create market research based on your current clientele. Use reports from your website, Google AdWords, Amazon Affiliate or any other ad/tracking service you currently use. Find out the age groups, locations, language, browser, etc. to figure out where you can broaden your geotargeting perimeter.
- Create segmented campaigns. It begins with a general campaign overview. We’ll use an example of an online business that can ship to anywhere in the world. You start your campaign with an open world option, and find that the US and the UK are your biggest performers. Now, you create two new campaigns: one is US-based and the other is UK-based. You could stop there, but let’s say you keep going and realize that certain areas perform better than others. You can further segment your list as needed.
- Use IP and Keyword targeting. IP targeting is far more specific than simple city and state (or province, territory, etc.). It allows you to find a specific target area and then provide keywords that further enhances your campaign.
- Embrace other languages and cultures. You don’t want to alienate your clients and customers by creating cultural barriers. This is especially true if you target outside your country of origin. Remember that slang is regional and what may work for locals might alienate customers abroad.
- Create ads and landing pages based on your segmented campaigns. You went to all this effort in creating segmented campaigns, so make sure you send them to landing pages that shows your personal interest in their business. If you used keyword targeting, make sure those keywords are in the landing page and ad you create for that target. A note on ads: click bait is a type of ad that is being rejected all across social media. Make sure you offer a problem and solution in your ad, rather than just a sensational headline.
- One campaign per keyword. Don’t use multiple campaigns with the same keyword as it can actually work against you. For instance, if you create a US-based campaign and find that Texas performs better than all the other states, you should create a geotargeted ad specific to Texas. When you do that, you’ll want to remove Texas from your US-based (more general) campaign so that your geotargeted ad gets more traction in the area you need it the most. Basically, it’s the difference between a generic ad and a personalized message that speaks to the heart of your targeted location.
- Measure and track everything related to your geotargeting. Do your research beforehand and track your results. You don’t have to start with five hundred campaigns. Just start with one. Geotargeting will build over time. Keep your eyes focused on your targeted audience and react to trends as you see them happen.
Geotargeting is an important part of marketing and one you can’t afford to ignore. As the web becomes more saturated than ever with information, tailoring your ad campaigns with geotargeting provides a light in the dark for your potential clients and customers. It can guide them straight to you and your business. Get started today!