Chapter Six: CRM - Geocoding

The idea of geocoding is a really cool opportunity for companies and for individuals.  Consumers benefit from geocoding because ads are customized to their geographical location.  This type of targeting has been used for a long time through print and radio ads.  However, the use of geocoding on the internet is very simple and can use both geocoding and other types of demographics to target very specific, and usual, ads to consumers.

 I was on a recipe blog to find something to cook for dinner and it's advertisements were using geocoding to tell me about opportunities available in Spokane.  The service it was offering is call Groupon, it is a discount offer emailed to you each day.  The way it works is that a certain number of people must agree to buy the service/product at a discount and then everyone who agreed to buy it gets the discount.  If the requisite number of people do not buy it, you are refunded your money.  For the company featured on Groupon, it is essentially a bulk discount, but for the individuals get a discount without having to buy in bulk.

This advertisement benefits the Groupon company as well as the consumers who are on the recipe blog because it is a service that might actually interest them and be useful.