Simpli.fi geofencing (officially called Addressable Geo-Fencing) lets you target specific physical addresses with digital ads across multiple devices. You upload up to one million street addresses per campaign and the platform converts them into virtual fences using GPS data and property boundary lines. When someone’s device enters those boundaries, they see your ads on mobile, desktop, tablet, or streaming TV. This household-level precision beats traditional location targeting methods like ZIP codes or DMAs that waste your budget reaching the wrong people in broad geographic areas.
This guide covers everything you need to know about using this location-based targeting solution for your business. You’ll learn how to set up campaigns step by step, explore key features like cross-device targeting and foot traffic attribution, discover practical use cases that drive real results, and understand the pricing structure. Whether you run a single local retail store or manage multiple locations across different markets, this addressable advertising tool helps you reach qualified customers where they spend most of their time.
Why Simpli.fi geofencing matters for local advertising
Traditional location targeting methods force you to choose between broad geographic areas and precise audience reach. When you target by ZIP code or DMA, you pay to show ads to thousands of households that will never visit your store. Simpli.fi geofencing solves this problem by letting you target individual addresses based on property boundaries, not arbitrary zones that include your ideal customers and everyone else in a five-mile radius.
Precision targeting reduces wasted ad spend
Your advertising budget goes further when every impression reaches a qualified potential customer. Instead of blanketing an entire neighborhood with ads, you select specific households that match your customer profile using demographic data, income levels, and behavioral indicators. This address-level targeting means a flooring retailer can reach homeowners in specific subdivisions while skipping renters and businesses, or a car dealership can target households with vehicles approaching lease end dates in precise areas around their location.
"Addressable Geo-Fencing provides the perfect opportunity to leverage first party address data such as CRM lists and other offline databases."
Real attribution connects digital ads to store visits
You finally get answers about whether your digital advertising drives foot traffic to your physical location. The platform tracks which households saw your ads and later visited your store, showing you the actual conversion rate instead of guessing based on impressions or clicks alone.
How to set up Simpli.fi geofencing campaigns
Setting up your first simpli.fi geofencing campaign requires three core steps that you can complete through the platform interface. You start by preparing your address data, then upload it into the system, and finally configure your targeting parameters and creative assets. The entire process takes less than an hour once you understand the workflow, and you can launch campaigns immediately after approval.
Prepare your address list
You need to gather physical street addresses in a structured format before uploading them to the platform. The system accepts CSV files containing complete addresses with street numbers, street names, cities, states, and ZIP codes for each location you want to target. Your address data can come from several sources: customer relationship management (CRM) systems, direct mail lists, purchased data sets, or Simpli.fi’s own list curation service that builds custom audiences using over 1,500 demographic and behavioral variables.
Clean your address list before uploading by removing duplicates, correcting formatting errors, and verifying that each entry includes all required fields. This preparation step ensures the platform can match your addresses to the correct property boundaries and GPS coordinates.
Upload and configure your campaign
The platform converts your uploaded addresses into virtual fences that match actual property lines using plat line data and GPS coordinates. You select which ad formats you want to serve (mobile display, video, streaming TV, desktop), set your daily or total budget, and choose your campaign flight dates. Each campaign supports up to one million addresses, and you can run unlimited campaigns simultaneously to test different audiences or creative approaches.
"Addressable Geo-Fencing uses plat line and GPS data, rather than IP-based targeting, to deliver digital ads to consumers at the household-level."
Set your targeting parameters
Beyond geographic boundaries, you can layer additional targeting criteria to refine your audience. The platform lets you add demographic filters like household income ranges, age groups, homeownership status, or presence of children. You can also overlay behavioral data such as recent online searches, website visits in your industry, or purchase intent signals that indicate active shopping behavior. Cross-device matching automatically extends your reach to all devices within targeted households, so you hit the same person on their phone, tablet, computer, and connected TV without extra setup work.
Key features and capabilities to know
Simpli.fi geofencing includes several platform capabilities that separate it from basic location targeting tools. These features give you precise control over who sees your ads, help you track real-world results, and let you build sophisticated audiences without needing your own customer data. Understanding these capabilities before you launch campaigns helps you maximize your advertising investment and measure what actually matters for your business.
Cross-device targeting and household matching
The platform automatically identifies and targets all devices associated with each targeted address through its cross-device matching technology. When you set up a campaign, you reach the same household on smartphones, tablets, laptops, desktops, and connected TV devices without manually configuring separate campaigns for each screen type. This coverage ensures your message follows potential customers throughout their day as they switch between devices.
You control which device types receive your ads by selecting specific formats during campaign setup. A flooring retailer might prioritize mobile and streaming TV to catch homeowners during evening hours, while a B2B service provider could focus on desktop and tablet devices that professionals use during work hours.
Geo-conversion lift attribution
This measurement tool shows you the actual impact your ads have on store visits by comparing foot traffic from targeted households against natural visit patterns. You see which customers walked into your location after seeing your ads versus those who would have visited anyway, giving you a true conversion rate instead of assumptions based on impressions alone.
"Simpli.fi’s Geo-Conversion Lift lets marketers track an uplift in foot traffic to any of their storefronts from targeted locations by showing which foot traffic was naturally converted vs. influenced by an ad."
The system tracks metrics like days to convert, repeat visits, and visitation rates broken down by specific geographic zones. You can filter out employees and regular visitors to focus on new customer acquisition numbers that reflect genuine campaign performance.
List curation and data overlays
Simpli.fi builds custom address lists for you when you lack first-party customer data, using more than 1,500 demographic and behavioral variables to identify your ideal audience. You select criteria like household income ranges, property values, homeownership status, family composition, or lifestyle indicators, and the platform generates a targeted address list matching those specifications.
Common use cases and campaign ideas
You can deploy simpli.fi geofencing campaigns across multiple scenarios that solve specific marketing challenges for local businesses. Retail stores, service providers, franchises, and multi-location brands use this targeting method to reach customers at critical decision points. The platform works especially well when you need to connect digital advertising with physical locations, augment offline marketing efforts, or compete for customers in specific neighborhoods where your ideal buyers live.
Retail stores driving foot traffic
Physical retailers use addressable geo-fencing to target households within their trade area that match their customer profile. A furniture store targets homes valued above $300,000 within a 15-mile radius to promote seasonal sales, while an automotive dealer reaches households with vehicles approaching lease expiration dates in surrounding ZIP codes. You create conversion zones around your store locations to measure which targeted addresses actually visit, then reallocate budget toward the highest-performing audience segments.
Direct mail campaign enhancement
Combining direct mail with digital ads through simpli.fi geofencing increases response rates by hitting the same households across multiple channels. You upload your direct mail list as addresses, then serve digital ads to those households before, during, and after your mailers arrive. This multichannel approach keeps your brand visible when recipients research your offering online or discuss it with family members on different devices.
"Addressable Geo-Fencing can also drive existing promotions, customer loyalty campaigns, novelty offerings, etc."
Multi-location and franchise advertising
Franchises coordinate local market campaigns across dozens or hundreds of locations without creating separate campaigns for each store. You upload all store locations, then build audiences within defined radius boundaries around each address using demographic and behavioral filters. This lets corporate headquarters maintain brand consistency while individual franchisees reach their specific trade areas with localized messaging and offers.
Pricing, budgets, and measuring performance
Simpli.fi operates on a managed service model where you work with their team to set up and optimize campaigns rather than accessing a self-serve platform with transparent public pricing. Your costs depend on several factors including campaign scale, geographic market competitiveness, targeted audience size, and the specific ad formats you choose to run. Most advertisers start with test campaigns to establish baseline performance metrics before committing larger budgets, and the platform requires no long-term contracts so you can adjust spending based on actual results.
Campaign budgets and cost structure
You pay on a cost-per-thousand impressions (CPM) basis across all device types and formats within your simpli.fi geofencing campaigns. Minimum campaign budgets typically start around $2,000 to $3,000 per month depending on your market and targeting parameters, though specific pricing varies based on the competitiveness of your geographic area and how narrow your audience filters become. Adding cross-device targeting or premium placements like connected TV ads increases your effective CPM but extends your reach across multiple screens within each household.
"Simpli.fi’s Geo-Conversion Lift lets marketers track an uplift in foot traffic to any of their storefronts from targeted locations by showing which foot traffic was naturally converted vs. influenced by an ad."
Budget allocation works best when you dedicate at least 60-90 days to initial campaigns because location-based advertising requires time to build sufficient frequency and measure actual store visits. You can reallocate funds between different address lists or geographic zones during active campaigns to maximize performance in your highest-converting areas.
Performance metrics and reporting
The platform tracks impression delivery, click-through rates, and video completion rates as standard engagement metrics, but the real value comes from foot traffic attribution data that connects your ad spend to actual store visits. You see which targeted households visited your location, how many days elapsed between seeing an ad and visiting, whether they became repeat visitors, and your cost per store visit based on actual conversion data rather than estimated click values.
Campaign dashboards break down performance by individual address segments, device types, and geographic zones so you identify which audiences drive the best return on investment. This granular reporting lets you cut underperforming segments and double down on addresses that consistently convert into store traffic or other desired actions.
Final thoughts
Simpli.fi geofencing gives you address-level precision that eliminates the wasted impressions you get from broad geographic targeting methods. You reach specific households across multiple devices, track actual store visits through foot traffic attribution, and adjust your campaigns based on real conversion data instead of assumptions about who might see your ads. The platform handles complex tasks like cross-device matching and property boundary mapping automatically, so you focus on selecting the right audiences and creating compelling ad creative that drives results.
Your success with location-based advertising depends on understanding your customer geography and matching it to precise targeting criteria. When you combine address data with demographic and behavioral filters, you build audiences that convert at higher rates while spending less on unqualified impressions. If you operate in the retail flooring industry and want to identify active buyers planning, researching, and shopping for new floors in your specific market areas, check out our AI-driven targeting technology that pinpoints flooring consumers at each stage of their purchase journey.
