What is Geotargeting?
Geotargeting (sometimes called geotargeted advertising or location-based targeting) refers to the strategy of using location data to deliver marketing messages to consumers based on where they are, have been, or exhibit certain behaviors relative to geography. This can include their city, neighborhood, proximity to a business, being inside a store, or even being in a particular type of venue. The core idea is relevancy: providing offers, ads, content, or prompts that make sense in view of where a person is or where they often go, rather than blanket messaging to all.
Geotargeting leverages multiple axes: physical location (GPS, cell towers, WiFi), historical or frequent location behavior (places a person tends to visit), and sometimes contextual location (weather, events etc.). It often works with opt-in permissions (especially on mobile devices), data from apps, or location services, plus various privacy safeguards.
It’s different from general location advertising in that it can be very precise and dynamic: you can adjust what someone sees not just by their city, but by whether they’re 2 blocks away, in a competitor’s store, or in their car stuck in traffic near your location.
In practice, geotargeting covers a spectrum: from showing ads to people in a zip code, to sending push-notifications or mobile ads to someone physically present near a store, to adjusting digital billboard content based on the local weather or the time of day.
One more distinction: geotargeting is not just about where, but when and who (behavior, context). The more finely you can combine those, the more relevant and effective your marketing becomes.
How Geotargeting Works
To understand the mechanics, you can think of geotargeting in stages:
Location Detection & Data Collection
The first piece is knowing where people are (or have been). That can come from GPS on mobile devices, WiFi and Bluetooth beacon data, cell-tower triangulation, IP addresses (for desktop or when GPS is unavailable), plus visits to apps or websites that have location permissions. There may also be data about frequent locations (work, home, favorite shopping spots) and movement patterns.Audience Profiling and Segmentation
With location data in hand, you segment audiences: perhaps by demographics + location + behaviors (e.g. people who often visit gyms, or who commute, or who pass by your place of business). You may define audiences like: “people who have visited a competitor’s location in the past month,” or “people who live within 5 miles but commute into the city,” etc.Location Targeting & On-Premise Targeting
This is where you decide which places, zones, or premises you want to target. Location targeting might mean targeting all people in a particular zip code, or neighborhood, or using geofences (virtual boundary around a physical place). On-premise targeting is more precise: people inside your store, parking lot, or immediately outside so you can deliver ads or offers that encourage immediate behavior (e.g. “stop by now,” “come in for a special”).Message / Creative Triggering
Once you know who to reach and where they are (or will be), you craft messages or creative tailored to that context. For example: time of day (“lunch special” near midday), weather (“hot cocoa deal” on cold days), competitive location (“switch to us!” ) proximity (“you’re 2 blocks away”), etc.Delivery & Channel Selection
Ads can be delivered through mobile display, social media, in-app ads, push notifications, SMS, digital billboards, desktop, etc. Channels will be chosen depending on where the audience is and how they interact with media. If someone is likely in transit, mobile is better. If audience is at home, desktop/tablet might work best. Our smart technology delivers the ads based on the best circumstance.Measurement & Optimization
Finally, we measure performance: how many people saw ads, clicked, visited a location, etc. Then optimize: shift budget to better-performing zones or audiences, change creatives, adjust geofence radius, tweak timing. Over time, this feedback loop improves efficiency and ROI.
How Geotargeting Helps You Achieve Growth Goals (in any Industry)
Geotargeting isn’t just for retail or restaurants, it works across virtually every industry. Growth goals can include increasing foot traffic, boosting online sales, generating leads, building awareness, driving repeat business, or entering new markets. Here’s how geotargeting helps, no matter what kind of business you run:
Local businesses & retail
If you run a store, restaurant, gym, or salon, geotargeting can bring people physically to your door. For example, by targeting people who are near by, or who recently visited shopping centers or competitor stores, you can deliver offers or ads that pull them in. On-premise targeting allows you to nudge someone who is already in your parking lot or just outside with timely push notifications or mobile ads.Service industries & B2B
Even if your customers aren’t making physical visits (e.g. plumbing, landscaping, professional services, B2B), geotargeting helps with awareness and lead generation. For instance, targeting local businesses or audiences in certain ZIP codes or industrial areas can get your name in front of the right decision-makers. You can also use it for event-based targeting- if there’s a trade show or conference in a city, you reach people there.E-commerce & online-only brands
These companies often think location doesn’t matter, but it does: shipping constraints, local preferences, weather, regional holidays, even local competition. Geotargeting can help you tailor messaging per region (“free shipping in your area,” “cold weather coats on sale in colder states,” promoting nearby pick-up locations). Also, knowing where audiences are physically helps in ad-spend budgeting (some regions are more responsive or cost-efficient).Healthcare, education, non-profits, entertainment
For hospitals or clinics, targeting neighborhoods for health outreach campaigns, or targeting health care providers for open positions. For schools or universities, reaching prospective students in certain cities or high schools via localized ads is more efficient. Entertainment venues (concerts, theaters, sports) can use geotargeting to reach people near event venues or those who attended similar events before.Scaling & expansion
If your goal is entering new markets (new cities, regions, countries), geotargeting lets you test campaigns locally before rolling out broadly. You can experiment with creative, offers, channels in a city or neighborhood to see what resonates, then replicate what works in similar contexts.
In all these cases, audience targeting + location targeting + on-premise targeting are tools in your toolbox to reach people in contexts where they are most receptive. Aligning messaging, timing, and place increases relevance, reduces waste, and improves growth metrics.
Audience Targeting, Location Targeting, and On-Premise Targeting Explained
Here we’ll break down those 3 targeting types more fully, how they differ, and when to use which.
Audience Targeting
Audience targeting is about who your marketing reaches, often based on behavior, demographics, and past location or visitation. This might mean targeting people who have visited certain types of stores, people who have shown interest in similar products, or people who have been in particular areas in the past. For example, a fitness brand might target people who frequent running events or gyms, or someone who regularly visits healthy-food stores.
Audience targeting helps you avoid wasting budget on people unlikely to convert. It also enables personalization: since you know something about their preferences or history, you can tailor your messaging or offer. For example: “You visited our store last week, enjoy 10% off your next visit” or “Saw you trying sneakers, here’s a deal on orthotic inserts.”
Location Targeting
Location targeting defines where to send your message. It might be broad (city, county, zip code, DMAs) or narrow (neighborhoods, streets, geofenced zones around points of interest). Types include:
Proximity targeting: showing ads to people near a point of interest (ex: near your store, near a mall, near a competitor).
Neighborhood targeting: selecting zip codes or smaller areas based on demographic data and visitation behavior.
Geofencing: creating a virtual boundary (e.g. a radius around your store or certain venue) so that when someone enters or exits that boundary, they see your ad.
Location targeting is often paired with audience targeting (i.e. only show to people in neighborhoods who also match audience behavior) to maximize relevance.
On-Premise Targeting
On-premise targeting is the most precise of the three. It means targeting people who are physically on or very near your premises (e.g. in your place of business, in your parking lot, or in the immediate vicinity). Here’s how this can be leveraged:
Push or mobile notifications when users enter your geofence (just outside your store) with messages like “Welcome! Come in today for ___.”
Special offers for people in-store (e.g. scanning a QR code, or seeing a digital sign that responds to presence).
Behavioral triggers: people who spent time in your store but left without buying may be retargeted later with messages or special offers.
On-premise targeting is great for conversion, impulse purchases, last-mile engagement, and for capturing customers who are already physically close but haven’t made a commitment yet.
Why Geotargeting Is Effective
To understand why geotargeting works so well, consider some of the hard numbers and principles of human behavior it leverages.
Smartphones + Location Ubiquity: A very large portion of people carry smartphones and enable (or can enable) location services. Because of that, you have potential to reach people almost anywhere, on their way to work, out shopping, commuting, etc. This gives marketers unprecedented ability to reach people in real time based on physical context.
Behavioral Influence: Location provides context. If someone is near your store, or in a shopping district, or it's raining outside, they are more primed to respond to certain offers (“shelter in,” “pop in for a coffee,” etc.). Geotargeting lets you capture those windows of opportunity.
Engagement & Efficiency Gains: According to recent studies, campaigns that use location data tend to be more successful: for many marketers, using geotargeting yields better engagement, higher ROI, more store visits, etc. (One survey found approximately 83% of marketers report that their campaigns perform better when location-based targeting is used. Another stat: location-data-enabled campaigns are reported to be ~80% more effective in achieving their goals than campaigns that don’t use such data. )
In-Store / Foot Traffic Conversion: When campaigns are well executed (correct targeting, good timing), geotargeting can measurably increase visits to physical locations. For example, brands that target audiences near competitor locations or in certain high-potential neighborhoods often see visit rates 30-50% higher compared to campaigns that do broader or non-geotargeted marketing.
Cost Efficiency: Because you’re being more precise, you waste less of your ad spend showing irrelevant ads. That means better cost per acquisition (CPA), cost per visit, and often lower cost per impression that matters. You can also test which zones or areas perform best and reallocate your budget accordingly.
Conclusion: Why Geotargeting is Smart Marketing
Geotargeting represents smart marketing because it aligns what you say with where your audience is, and even with when and how they are most likely to act. Rather than broadcasting to everyone, you deliver relevance. That translates into better conversion, higher ROI, lower waste, stronger customer experience, and ultimately accelerated growth.
Moreover, geotargeting is adaptive: as people’s behavior shifts (e.g. traffic flows, neighborhoods change, retail patterns evolve), we can adjust in real time. It’s not set-and-forget; it thrives on ongoing data, feedback, and optimization.
As for the future, a few trends look especially promising:
AI & Predictive Geotargeting: Artificial intelligence and machine learning models are increasingly able to anticipate where people are likely to go, how they’ll behave, and what offers will appeal to them in different contexts. For example, AI might predict when someone is about to leave home and serve an ad that fits their destination or mood, or adjust messaging automatically based on weather, traffic, local events etc.
Hyper-personalization in Space & Time: Combining geotargeting with behavioral data, past purchases, preferences, and device usage means ads will get more personalized and less intrusive. Imagine walking past a café at lunch hour and receiving a push notification for your favorite sandwich, because the AI knows you like it, you’re nearby, and its lunchtime.
Privacy & Ethical Location Usage: As location-based technology becomes more powerful, concerns about privacy, data protection, and opt-in consent will grow. That’s why you work with smart marketers like Boost 360- we are transparent, respect user privacy, and use anonymized or aggregated data responsibly. Those who do so well will earn trust and loyalty, which itself is a growth driver.
Integration with IoT, Smart Devices & Real-World Touchpoints: Think digital signage, connected cars, wearables, augmented reality. Geotargeted messaging won’t just live in the phone screen: it’ll show up in your car display, at a smart billboard you're near, even via AR overlays or in-store smart ambient messaging.
Overall, geotargeting is more than just a tactic, it’s becoming foundational to smart growth strategies. At Boost 360, our GEO-tag solution is designed to help businesses of all sizes turn location data into measurable growth. Whether you want to attract more foot traffic, capture competitor audiences, or personalize your marketing with AI-driven insights, our platform gives you the precision and power to connect with customers exactly where they are. Smart, scalable, and future-ready! Boost 360 GEO-tag ensures your business isn’t just keeping up with modern marketing, but leading it.