Geofence Technology and How it Works for Breweries

What is a geofence? 

A geofence is a virtual boundary around a location in the real world. Sometimes a geofence can be a radius around a particular point on a map. Other times, with more sophisticated technology, a geofence can be drawn around very specific locations (e.g. a property line). 

How do geofences work?

When a mobile device passes through the geofence, it triggers some sort of event. The type of event depends on the objective of the geofence and the marketing technology being used. Geofences can trigger app notifications and SMS messages. They can be used to build audiences that can be advertised to later. Advertising campaigns can even be optimized based on conversions triggered by mobile devices passing through a geofence.

The limitations of geofences

Geofences aren’t perfect, and there are ways the data can get skewed. Depending on the accuracy of the boundary and density of the geographic location, nearby foot traffic and even vehicle traffic can muddy the data. In 2022, there are more strict data privacy regulations which make it harder for data networks to pick up information from mobile devices. However, even with these limitations, the benefits of using geofence marketing are still pretty great, and the supporting technology is getting better every day. 

How can you access geofence marketing? 

In some ways, you may already be using a limited form of geofence tech. For example, If you’re narrowing your target audiences by geography inside of Facebook ads, that’s a form of geofencing. However, many small and medium-sized businesses have never really tapped into the best capabilities (e.g. super accurate geofence barriers or foot traffic conversions). That’s mostly because the minimum advertising budgets to get started have always been pretty steep… but that’s changing. 

Geofence technology is becoming more available to SMBs

Over the last eight-to-twelve months or so, there are more media platforms offering lower barriers to entry. Companies with smaller advertising budgets can run smaller advertising runs while still accessing the powerful technology previously unavailable to them. Companies like StackAdapt, Choozle, and Simpli.fi are examples. Even Hulu has opened up its advertising platform to a much wider audience of smaller businesses. 

How we’re using geofence technology to support taproom advertising

We create a geofence that is accurate right down to the property line of a taproom. Then, we track foot traffic that passes within the geofence. We’re creating foot traffic conversions and remarketing audiences based on actual visits to the taproom. This allows us to optimize advertising campaigns in a much more sophisticated way and scale marketing intelligently. 

Learn more about our Taproom Advertising strategy here.