Accuracy will depend on the type of geofencing employed. Radial geofencing, which is the most common form of geofencing, uses radial fences. This is when you drop a pin on a location and then create a circular radius around the center of that location.
The accuracy of this form of geofence is determined by two factors. The first is making sure that the center of the geofence is accurate. This is usually determined by the address of the location. However, there are limitations to this form of geofencing. For example, since addresses were built to provide directions to the location, many times the physical location is across a parking lot or on the street. If this is the case, then your accuracy is diminished and you will have wasted ad spend. The second factor that influences accuracy is the size of the radial fence. The bigger the radial fence the more people you will reach. However, if your goal is to reach a specific audience, this can lead to wasted ad spend as well.
An alternative to radial geofencing is polygon mapping, which is done by tracing the store or place boundary based on satellite images. This is a more accurate form of geofencing. By identifying the exact parameters of a business or point of interest, polygon mapping is able to provide more accurate store visitation and targeting solutions.
Blueprints mapping takes polygon mapping one step further by mapping the store, parking lot, and retail block of a business location, which enables marketers to reach consumers with various messages depending on their shopper journey.
Both polygon mapping and Blueprints are proven to be more accurate and effective than radial fence targeting. In fact, in a 3 month test comparing visits to store locations from Blueprints vs. radial fences, we found there was 84% more ad waste when using radial fences.
Interested in learning more about Blueprints and polygon mapping? GroundTruth is here to help you take your location-based advertising to the next level.