Location-based marketing is more than just a ‘thing,’ it’s become an essential part of marketing, especially for small businesses that want a bigger piece of their local marketing pie.

In fact, SEO and content marketing expert Pratik Dholakiya said local marketing most benefits four types of businesses: plumbing and electric, legal services, repair shops, and bars and restaurants. The reason is that these are services that customers often need urgently, and so are willing to pull the trigger much quicker than with other businesses.

One of the tools that can help your local marketing is geo-conquesting, and the name itself should give you plenty of clues as to its goal.

Geo-conquesting has become an effective means of taking on your competitors in a way that lets you put your goods and services up against theirs, and convince your target audience that yours is better.

Let’s take a look at geo-conquesting and see how it could work wonders for your business.

What Is Geo-Conquesting?

Before diving into geo-conquesting, it’s important to first explain the concept of geo-fencing, since the two concepts are related.

Geo-fencing is a local marketing strategy in which you establish specific locations in a local area where you want to send ads that can reach your target audience.

The ‘fencing’ aspect of the word refers to the fact that you’re creating a virtual fence, which means that you are excluding local regions that you don’t want to spend money to woo customers.

Once customers are within your geo-fencing area, they receive push notifications from your business that can announce a sale, a package deal, or some other kind of offer.

Geo-conquesting takes this concept a step further, and lets you set up a geo-fence that includes your biggest local competitors.

When customers visit that competitor, they are sent notifications from your business so you can create a reason for them not to shop at your competitor’s store, but to engage with your company instead.

So instead of just sending ads to your target audience within a specified location with geo-fencing, geo-conquesting allows you to draw your audience away from another business that offers similar products and services.

Now do you see why the ‘conquest’ part of this word is so important?

Geo-conquesting lets you engage directly with a target audience that you know already is in the market for what you’re offering, but may not be aware why they should be doing business with your company instead of the person down the street.

How To Use Geo-Conquesting For Your Business

At first glance, it doesn’t seem like geo-conquesting is the best way to win your audience, right?

You’re thinking to yourself, ‘well, if they’re already going to a competitor’s business, why should I waste time trying to win them over to mine?”

The answer is that these customers are your audience too, and just because they’re visiting your competitor doesn’t mean that they can’t be persuaded to come to your business.

In fact, winning over this audience is a shortcut to actually having to go out and create the demand for your products and services, because people who visit your competition are already part of your target audience.

Just because they aren’t customers yet doesn’t mean they aren’t a part of your audience, so it’s your job to go out and get them.

How?

Well, one brand example is Dunkin’ Donuts, which isn’t exactly a small business, but is small relative to Starbucks, the giant of the coffee-and-breakfast snack industry.

Recently, Dunkin’ Donuts implemented a geo-conquesting campaign that directly targeted Starbucks’ stores in local areas.

Through behavioral research, Dunkin’ Donuts discovered that there were customers in local regions that split their allegiances between Starbucks, McDonald’s and Dunkin’ Donuts, and those customers chased the best deals available, even it meant commuting a little longer.

So Dunkin’ Donuts’ geo-conquesting campaign sent ads that included a mobile coupon that incentivized those waffling customers to come to Dunkin’ Donuts before heading to work.

The campaign was successful, because it gave customers a tangible reason to come to Dunkin’ Donuts (discounted coffee), and also made them feel valued.

When you’re considering a geo-conquesting campaign, send ads that give customers a reason to abandon your competitors and visit your business instead.

In some instances, that reason is as simple as a lower price, a coupon, or a package deal. But sometimes, your ads are all about the superiority of your product or service (backed by a survey or independent analysis).

Harness the Power of Marketing To Your Local Audience

Michael King, a digital marketing expert, put it best when he said, “location will be baked into everything,” when it comes to marketing in the future.

Geo-conquesting is an effective location marketing strategy that cherry picks the customer traffic of your local competitor, and then turns the tables by letting those customers know how your business can offer them something better, more affordable, and of higher quality.

It all goes back to why your business exists, and how you communicate this to your audience. Geo-conquesting won’t work if you haven’t already understood the idea that expressing your unique selling proposition is the key to persuading your target audience to buy your products and services.

If you’ve done your homework properly, which means identifying the appropriate audience, and your content is targeted, relevant and valuable, then geo-conquesting is a tool that can seal the deal by showing your audience why you’re different and worthy of being chosen. Make all the marketing pieces fit, and geo-conquesting can be a powerful new tool in your arsenal. If you need additional marketing insights, please contact us today.