geo-fencing

Definition

Creating a virtual perimeter around a physical location to trigger targeted ads or notifications when people enter the area. Digital stalking made respectable through technology.

Example Usage

We're geo-fencing our competitor's stores to serve ads for our 'Why Pay More?' promotion to their customers.

Origin

Location-based mobile marketing technology, 2010s

Source: Mobile marketing and location-based advertising terminology

Related Terms

Beginner

shopping cart abandonment

When potential customers add items to their online cart but leave without completing the purchase. It's the digital equivalent of filling a physical cart, then abandoning it in the cereal aisle and leaving the store.

📣 Marketing / Advertising

Intermediate

dark post

An unpublished social media ad that appears in users' feeds without being posted to the brand's timeline. The marketing equivalent of a stealth bomber—you see it once, then it vanishes into the algorithm void.

📣 Marketing / Advertising

Advanced

ad exchange

A digital marketplace where publishers and advertisers buy and sell ad inventory in real-time through automated auctions. Imagine the New York Stock Exchange, but instead of trading equity in companies, you're trading the privilege of annoying someone with banner ads.

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competitive analysis

The systematic evaluation of competitors' strategies, strengths, and weaknesses to inform your own marketing approach. It's professional stalking with PowerPoint deliverables.

📣 Marketing / Advertising

Intermediate

contextual advertising

Placing ads based on the content of the page rather than user tracking, showing car ads on automotive sites instead of following users around. It's the old-fashioned targeting approach that's suddenly new again as privacy regulations tighten.

📣 Marketing / Advertising

Intermediate

sales qualified lead

A prospect who's been vetted by marketing, kicked over to sales, and deemed worthy of actual human attention rather than automated email sequences. Abbreviated as SQL, which confusingly has nothing to do with databases.

📣 Marketing / Advertising

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