If you are interested in starting a proximity marketing campaign, then you will need to choose the right geofence provider. Your choice of geofence provider can make or break your marketing efforts. The last thing you want is to pick a provider with poor network infrastructure or one that drains mobile device batteries quickly. 

To help you out, we put together this quick list of important things to look for before choosing a geofence partner. 

• Data collection tools
• Not reliant on GPS
• Easy to use interface
• Local instead of push notifications
• Reverse geocoding capabilities

Data collection tools

Location-based marketing is more than just pushing ads to people in specific areas. More and more, location-based advertising relies on gathering and interpreting data about user movements. You want to pick a geofence provider that can collect info on foot traffic, dwell time, and visit history, among other data points. Without this crucial aspect of data collection, you have no way to really know if your marketing efforts are succeeding. 

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Not reliant on GPS

GPS drains battery extremely quickly so any geofence provider you use should NOT be solely reliant on GPS either when the app is in use or in background mode. Ideally, the geofence company you pick should make use of both GPS and RFID (radio frequency identification) location services. The latter kind of service is passive and will not eat through the battery like GPS will. 

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Easy to use interface

Your geofence platform should come with simple tools you can access right from the dashboard You should be able to manipulate multiple geofences at the same time, have an unlimited number of geofences, define times when you geofences should be active, and gain access to geofence analytics that give an overview of campaign performance. 

Local instead of push notifications

Local notifications are pre-stored on a mobile device and are triggered when the user enters a specific location. Push notifications require the server to constantly check where the device is and send a predefined message when the device enters predefined locations. 

The problem with push notifications is that they can take a long time to register, sometimes up to 15 minutes. Local notifications, on the other hand, are more or less instant. Push notifications require the user to have a good connection with the server and so cannot always work. 

Also, you need to get special certificates for push notifications. Local notifications do not have any such requirements. 

Reverse geocoding capabilities

Reverse geocoding means that your geofencing provider can take a list of physical addresses for your locations and convert them into latitude and longitude coordinates. This feature allows you to basically automate geofence creations so you don’t have to set them up one by one. 

Not all geofencing providers are equal. Before choosing providers, make sure that they have the features and infrastructure that you need for a successful marketing campaign.