An introduction to geofence advertising
If you’ve read our previous blog and some of our earlier stuff, you probably know all about geofence advertising. So why another blog on the topic? Hear me out. You'll have certainly heard about Burger King and how they hit a location-based marketing home run with their $.01 Whopper deal in an attempt to steer away customers from McDonald's. But, there are other great geofence advertising examples out there.
After a lot of research, soul searching, meditation, attending lectures, meeting Yoda, and a pilgrimage to Vatican City, I’ve found three of the best geofencing marketing practices worth sharing. Before getting into that, let's refresh on what geofence advertising is.
We'll start by grabbing a definition from one our previous articles on geofencing:
A geofence is a location based technology that uses GPS or other location tracking technologies to create a virtual boundary or "fence" around a specific geographic area. When a mobile device or other tracking device enters or exits this virtual boundary, it triggers a pre-defined action or event.
In short, a geofence is a virtual boundary allows mobile applications to update users through notifications once a device has entered a geofence zone. For advertisers, this is a handy way of reaching customers because of the location factor. For instance, if they are out shopping on a popular retail street, or on a hunt for a cup of coffee. Through geofences, advertisers are able to send these users relevant ads and promotions based on their activity, whether that is shopping or looking for a coffee. Location is a strong indicator of intent when compared to online browsing, and that is what geofence advertising leverages.
Now, it's all well and good to tell you that it works, but you need evidence. Henceforth, let's look at three successful examples of geofence advertising campaigns from well-known brands. Consider it a "best geofencing practices campaigns" list.
Geofence advertising campaign of Sephora
Yep, the French multinational retailer for beauty and personal care products has used geofencing to redefine their brick-and-mortar store experience for their customers. I guess the best way to describe it is that they’ve digitally personalized the in-store experience. That’s been made possible in a whole heap of ways which are very interesting, but not all of it’s relevant for this blog. so if you don’t mind we’re just going to stick to showing you how the Sephora app is one of the best geofencing marketing examples.
They’ve digitally personalized their customers' in-store experience through the Sephora mobile app. It's not much different from other loyalty apps of its kind, but for its in-store experience the Sephora app has something more. The “Store Companion”, as they’ve called it, is activated once the user enters a store. This in-app companion helps you find the nearest store to you, checks if items you want are in stock, can book reservations, inform you of promotions and limited edition offers, and show product reviews and product recommendations. “Store Companion” also sends a notification to a customer that a product they have on their online wish list is in stock at a nearby store. "Store Companion" isn't pushing you with advertisements, and has instead presented itself as an assistant. It's interactive and personalized advertising. That's why it's on the list of many geofencing best practices articles.
Geofence advertising campaign of Volvo
A Volvo dealership in New York executed a 30-day geofence advertising campaigns that saw them attract 500 new customers to their website and 132 of them to their showroom.
Geofences were built around areas that had a lot of car shoppers. As a luxury car manufacturer, they specifically targeted those looking for a luxury brand, and built geofences around those local competitors. So, those car shoppers/enthusiasts would receive targeted banner ads.
To measure whether that was working, Volvo created a conversion zone around their dealership. They got a lot of data from that. They could track customers who actually visited the showroom, those who entered the established-target geofences, and those who saw or clicked on the ads. Even more, they could track those who did see their ads and went through the geofences, and also those who didn’t see them but still went through those geofences. That way they could compare their natural foot traffic to their converted foot traffic to see how effective the campaign was. Not only did this help them build brand awareness but they were driving traffic (yes, that was intended) to their dealership, and actually reaching customers who were already out shopping with the interest to purchase a luxury car.
if there was a geofencing best practices book, Volvo would be in there.
Geofence advertising campaign of Dunkin’
Like many coffee chains, Dunkin’ also sends app notifications to users entering a geofence with targeted location-based ads. They started this in Providence, Rhode Island back in 2014 with banner ads that included coupons for users to claim and use at their nearest Dunkin’ store. It proved to be a success with their loyal Dunkin’ customers and the campaign was then optimized and introduced to other markets. They noticed that consumers were saving coupons instead of redeeming them immediately. It gave Dunkin’ the idea to offer coupons to customers that were not loyal to Dunkin’ (basically those who don’t have the app), luring them to collect and save coupons, and eventually redeeming them by downloading their app.
They’ve done other creative marketing campaigns that use geofencing too. On National Donut Day (Next one is on Friday 6th of June, 2025, you're welcome), Dunkin’ created a geofence ad campaign through Snapchat. Users had access to a giant pink frosted donut filter whenever they were in a geofence around a Dunkin’ store. It increased user engagement and reminded them of the national holiday and the added bonus fact that they could pick up a free donut. It was an effective way to drive customers to their stores and boost sales.
Want to start geofence advertising with Roam?
If you're considering to use geofence advertising campaigns with your mobile app, choose Roam.ai as your location software developer partner. Geofence advertising cost varies depending on the size of the targeted area and the duration of the campaign, but with Roam.ai's location SDK and APIs you'll be delivering a premium location experience for your users.
Missed some of our previous geofence content?
Maybe this was the first time you’ve read one of our blogs related to geofencing. If so, check out some of our previous work! Not all of it is about location-based marketing or advertising but here’s a list of recommendations:
- What is geofencing and how can it benefit your business
- Geofences: retail’s key to success in the post-pandemic era
- Curbside pickup: what’s the big deal?
- Improving your delivery service with Roam.ai
- How to get started with location-based marketing