Turn Location Into Connection

Digital campaigns today must do more than just reach people. They need to meet them where they are, both physically and contextually. Geofencing is one of the most effective tools to do that.

At its simplest, geofencing uses GPS or mobile location data to serve ads to people when their devices are detected within a defined boundary (or “fence”). This could be as broad as a city block or as precise as a specific conference hall. The power lies in being able to connect with people not just online, but at the physical places where decisions are made and behaviors happen.

Whether you’re engaging the public around health education or reaching business decision-makers at trade shows, location-aware strategy has become a powerful advantage. At Alexander & Tom, we’ve built geofencing into a high-impact tool for outreach, education, and engagement.
But geofencing is not just about drawing a digital fence and hoping people walk through it. It is about showing up at the right moment, with relevant messaging and measurable results. And it is about drawing the right fence, tighter and more intentional perimeters that eliminate wasted impressions.

Beyond the Basics: Smarter Geofencing for a Smarter Audience

Many people think geofencing just means drawing a radius around a zip code or city. In practice, it is much more precise. In the hands of skilled strategists, geofencing becomes a creative and highly efficient targeting tool. 

Here’s how we evolve the concept:

• Custom Polygon Fences isolate exact locations, such as a particular exhibit hall or even just one floor of a convention center. This means we are not wasting impressions on people nearby who are not part of the intended audience.
• Behavioral Insights help us understand not just where people go, but how often and why. A person who visits a hospital daily may be a healthcare worker, while someone visiting once might be a patient or visitor.
• Retargeting Tools continue the conversation after someone leaves the fenced area. This ensures the message is not one-and-done. It follows up when the audience is most likely to act.

By drawing intentional boundaries and layering in behavioral insights, we ensure relevance, reduce waste, and maximize engagement.

B2B Outreach at Trade Shows: Smarter Targeting, Smarter Results

Geofencing is versatile enough to support both public awareness and business outreach. For B2B campaigns, it is particularly effective at conferences and trade shows. These are places where decision-makers gather, but traditional tactics like sponsorships or booth placement can be costly or limited.

At SUPERZOO 2025, the largest tradeshow for the pet industry, we supported a client by applying a tight 350-meter geofence around the event footprint. That meant digital ads only reached people actually inside the tradeshow’s space, including attendees, exhibitors, and decision-makers in the pet product industry.

The results showed the power of this precision. The campaign generated over 220,000 impressions and 684 clicks, during a 3 day show, and achieved a 0.72% click-through rate, more than triple typical ‘display ad’ benchmarks. Put simply, the smaller, smarter fence ensured valuable information reached the right people at the right time, without wasting impressions outside the venue. Because we paired geofencing with retargeting, attendees continued to see messaging after leaving the event. This extended the impact well beyond the show floor.

The takeaway: a tighter geofence can outperform broader tactics. It delivers meaningful engagement at a fraction of the cost of traditional sponsorships.

Public Good Meets Precision: Geofencing for Health & Safety

Geofencing is not just about business outcomes. It can be just as powerful for public awareness campaigns where reaching the right audience is critical.

In partnership with Maryland Public Television and the Maryland Department of Health, we developed a statewide awareness campaign to promote Naloxone, a life-saving medication that reverses opioid overdoses. But success required more than blanket awareness. By geofencing specific locations — hospitals, healthcare centers, health clinics, restaurants/bars/eateries, and specific workplaces — we reached people most likely to share resources, seek training, or take life-saving action.

This was not just about impressions. It was about precision, showing up in the community spaces where conversations about health, safety, and prevention actually happen.

Why It Matters Now

As digital attention becomes more fragmented, precision matters more than ever. Whether you are trying to change behavior, influence a decision-maker, or promote a resource, location-based targeting ensures you are showing up at the right time, in the right place, with the right message.

At Alexander & Tom, we bring together geofencing technology, behavioral insight, and creative strategy to design campaigns that are not just seen. They are remembered.