How geofence marketing works, in plain English

“Geofence marketing” sounds like something a defense contractor invented to win a government bid. It’s actually one of the simplest ideas in local marketing: an invisible boundary around your business, and a deal that reaches people’s phones while they’re inside it.

That’s it. That’s the technology.

But if you run a local business, you’ve probably been burned by enough marketing tools that “trust me, it’s simple” doesn’t cut it. Fair. Here’s the whole thing, start to finish, in plain English.

The ten-second version

You pick a radius around your shop. When someone with the OneMarket app who chose your kind of deal is inside that radius while your deal is live, their phone shows them your deal. They claim it, walk in and show it at the counter. You just turned a passerby into a customer while a competitor’s social ad was being scrolled past by someone three states away.

Now the slightly longer version.

Step 1: You pick your radius

The boundary is called a geofence: a virtual line around a physical place. On OneMarket you choose how far it reaches, from 0.25 miles up to 5 miles. A coffee shop might stay tight, because nobody crosses town for a latte. A gym might go wider, because people travel for a place they visit four times a week. Either way, you’re only talking to people close enough to show up. Reach by plan: Free 0.25 miles, Plus 1 mile, Pro 3 miles and Max 5 miles.

Step 2: You create your deal

This is the part you already know how to do, because you know what makes your customers light up. Free pastry with any drink. A free first class. Happy hour that starts in twenty minutes. The only rule: it should answer “why would I stop in right now?” You write it once, set when it runs, and you’re done. Or let Goose, the AI assistant built into OneMarket, draft it for you to approve.

Step 3: Someone nearby gets an alert

A person with the OneMarket app walks into your radius. Their phone buzzes. Your deal is on their screen.

Here’s the part that matters: they asked for this. They downloaded a local deals app and picked the kinds of deals they want. This isn’t an interruption. It’s the alert they got the app for. And the timing does the heavy lifting. They’re not on their couch across town filing your ad under “someday.” They’re on your block, right now, deciding where to spend money.

Step 4: They claim it, walk in, and you see what happened

They claim the deal in the app, or right from their Lock Screen, and redeem it at your counter. Your dashboard shows how many people saw it, claimed it and redeemed it: actual people at your actual counter. If you use Square, you can connect it and see actual sales from OneMarket customers too.

What geofence marketing is not

Worth clearing up, because the word “geofence” makes some people picture a surveillance van:

• It’s not spam. Everyone on the shopper side opted in by downloading the app and choosing their interests.
• It’s not creepy tracking. Businesses never see a shopper’s precise location, and shoppers can turn location or notifications off any time.
• It’s not Groupon. Your deal, your terms, your margins. No commission on what people buy.
• It’s not complicated. If you can type a sentence and pick a distance, you’re qualified.

Why it works when other ads don’t

All marketing is chasing the same three things: right person, right place, right time. A billboard gets the place and misses the timing. A social ad might get the person and misses the place by miles. Geofencing is built to get all three at once: someone who asked for deals like yours, close enough to walk in, while your deal is running.

Not because it’s clever. Because it’s close.

Try it on your block

OneMarket is geofence marketing for local businesses, and you pay for time on the map, never per click. Every business starts with 40 free hours of live deals every week, no card needed. Read more about geofence marketing for small businesses, see pricing, or join OneMarket today.