Page 8 - Phoenix Vol 10 No 9
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Ifyou’ve visited an emergency room recently, you might have noticed an advertising trend that is
upsetting some Internet users. Shortly after or even during the ER visit, you might get ads about personal injury lawyers while you’re sur ng the In-
ternet on your phone. This tactic, called geofencing, is being called out for being akin to “digital ambulance chasing.” And it’s the wrong way to go about getting leads for your law  rm. When it comes to location-based digital marketing, there’s a right way and wrong way to  nd clients.
WHAT IS GEOFENCING?
Geofencing uses location to target potential clients for advertisers. Ap- plied to personal injury law  rms, this means drawing a digital “fence” or perimeter around certain locations, such as ERs, and targeting ads to peo- ple who enter those fences with their phones on them.
 is tactic has been used by retail stores seeking to share deals or cou- pons with customers. For instance, af- ter you enter a sporting goods store— even if you don’t make a purchase there—you might start to see ads for that store or its products.
While geofencing has existed for some time, some privacy experts have begun to question the ethics of using this digital marketing tactic on in- jury victims in hospitals.  at’s not to mention the fact that many consum- ers  nd the tactic invasive and even a
little disturbing.
Although they may hire personal
injury lawyers at a later date, people in emergency rooms are generally thinking about the pain they’re in— not the lawyer they’re going to choose to handle their injury lawsuit. When they pull up Facebook or an Internet browser on their phones, the fact that they already have an attorney adver- tising to them may be a turno .
GEOTARGETING CAN HURT YOUR MARKETING EFFORTS
While geofencing may initially seem like a great way to gain expo- sure to potential clients, it can hurt your law  rm. Many injured people feel that geotargeted ads are invasive, and geofencing might make them less likely to visit your site or seek out your services.
While marketing  rms don’t yet have to conform to the federal health
privacy guidelines laid out in HIPAA, consumers on the receiving end of geofence ads might feel that their pri- vacy has been invaded.  is tactic tar- gets people who are injured or aiding an injured family member, and they might feel that someone is trying to take advantage of and capitalize on their unfortunate situation.
Put simply, you could pay a market- er handsomely for geofencing servic- es only to hurt your  rm’s image and be worse o  than when you started.
BACKLASH AGAINST GEOFENCING
Because geotargeting relies on what many see as a violation of privacy, some lawsuits have been  led against marketing companies using these tac- tics.
While geofencing doesn’t violate guidelines like HIPAA, some lawsuits have framed it as a violation of pa-
ATTORNEY AT LAW MAGAZINE · PHOENIX· VOL. 10 NO. 9 8
Don’t Be a Digital Ambulance Chaser: The Right Way to Do
Location-Based Digital Marketing
BY TOM DESMOND


































































































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