Here we hope to answer any questions that you may have about PlotProjects. If there are any other pressing, unanswered questions that remain, please let us know and we’ll help you further!
Topics overview
- Geofencing questions
- Beacon questions
- Privacy questions
- Notification questions
- PlotProjects Account questions
- Data questions
- Developer questions
- POI (Point of Interest) API Questions
Geofencing Questions
What is a Geofence?
A Geofence is a virtual perimeter for a real-world geographic areas. They can be used in a multitude of different ways (often for mobile marketing). For example, PlotProjects uses geofences to delimit zones for location based notifications.
What is Geofencing?
Geofencing is a marketing strategy that uses geographical locations to specifically target an audience. For example, advertising banners online use geofencing to fit the banner content to the location of the user. PlotProjects, on the other hand, uses geofencing to allow apps to send only relevant notifications by filtering users depending on their location.
What is the range of a Geofence?
The range of a Geofence is from 50 to 50’000 meters.
Can I define an altitude/elevation?
It is possible to limit the range to a defined altitude/elevation by using iBeacons.
What is the accuracy of Geofencing?
The accuracy of Geofencing is about 10m.
What is a Geofencing Notification?
Geofencing notifications are messages that are send to a person when they are in the vicinity of a specific location, for instance a store, a festival or a restaurant, delimited by a perimeter called geofence. PlotProjects offers a technology that allows apps to send notifications to people entering/exiting predefined geofences.
What is a Geofencing campaign?
A Geofencing campaign is setting a notification that your users will receive whenever they approach any (or a set) of your stores.
What shape can a Geofence have?
Geofences are a radius around a location, thus shaped round. Alternatively, it’s possible to set polygons for your POIs.
Do app users have to opt-in to Geofencing?
Your app users don’t have to opt-in to Geofencing but they have to agree to share their location and receive push notifications.
What is a Geotrigger?
Geotriggers are a term PlotProjects used to use to refer to Geofence events set up to collect data without sending notifications. The term has been replaced by ‘Listening Campaigns’.
What is a POI?
POI is a Point of Interest. A Point of Interest is a location on the map which is of interest to the end user of your app. A POI can be a restaurant, a shop, or a museum etc…
Beacon Questions
What is a Beacon?
A beacon is a bluetooth device that triggers close-by devices to perform actions. PlotProjects uses them to delimit zones for location based notification in smaller areas.
What is the range of a Beacon?
A Beacon usually emits in a 0 to 30 meters (0 to 100 feet) radius.
What is the battery life of a Beacon?
Anywhere from 12 to 24 months depending on the vendor.
What is the difference between an iBeacon and a Beacon?
The generic term for the physical hardware is “beacon”. iBeacon specifically refers to a configuration protocol created by Apple.
What is the accuracy of a Beacon?
The accuracy of a Beacon depends on the vendor, but is usually a few meters.
Can I use Beacons to measure foot traffic?
Yes, it is possible to use Beacons to measure foot traffic.
What is a Beacon Notification?
Beacon Notifications are messages that are sent automatically when someone approaches an Beacon. They can be placed in specific areas in a museum, a restaurant, an event venue, at certain aisles of a store, or any other location.
Does PlotProjects sell Beacons?
No. However, PlotProjects supports Beacons from any vendor.
What Beacons vendors do you support?
We support all existing vendors. However, we advise the use of Kontakt.io beacons.
Privacy Questions
Is PlotProjects GDPR and CCPA compliant?
Yes, we are GDPR and CCPA compliant! Check out our GDPR blog post for best practices and more info.
What Privacy Features does the Plot plugin have?
PlotProjects has always been a privacy-first company. Of course, our plugin complies with all privacy and data privacy regulations by default. We also offer an extra layer of industry leading, customizable privacy options, such as Privacy Mode and Event Filters.
What are Event Filters?
Event Filters allow you to decide which data leaves the device and which data stays. It also gives you full control over where the data is sent. For example, it can be sent to our backend for additional processing and reporting, or directly to your own backend. We even give you the option to drop the data at the device level so it will never leave.
Check out our documentation for more details.
What is Privacy Mode?
Private Mode enables full privacy on the device. This means that our plugin will not store collected data on our servers.
Learn more about this feature in our documentation.
What are the best practices for location permission prompts?
We’ve compiled a list of best practices for presenting the location permission prompt to your users:
- Transparency: Explain what data will be collected from the end user, how the data will be used, and include a link to your privacy policy.
- Value: Explain why the user should grant location permissions. Make sure to highlight benefits and incentives, such as: enhanced features, unlocking an offer, or added convenience.
- Timely: Show the prompt while the user is actively engaged, such as onboarding, after a transaction, or when exploring a location-based feature.
For more in-depth information, see our blog posts on iOS opt-ins and location permission priming.
Does the PlotProjects SDK collect IDFA by default?
No, the PlotProjects SDK does not collect IDFA by default.
Notification Questions
What is a notification?
Notification is a message you can display to an app user outside of your app’s normal user interface. You can use it to broadcast important information to your users such as new events, updates etc.
Who can receive my Geofencing Notification?
All users who have downloaded your app, accepted push notifications and switched on Bluetooth can receive geofencing notifications when they approach the geofence you have created.
Can I create rich notifications?
Yes, you can. You can check out this Plot documentation about creating rich notifications or read our blog about customizing notifications. However, we advise our clients to use a simple text and put a link instead, because people respond to it better.
When will my people receive the notifications?
Your users will receive notification at the specific times you have chosen, when they enter or exit your geofences. You can also set a minimum amount of time someone has to be in a Geofence before receiving a Notification (dwelling time) or a cooldown period.
Can I personalize the notifications?
Yes, you can adjust your notifications according to your users’ demographics, preferences etc. We offer several tools to help you hand this, including standard options in the Dashboard, or advanced features such as our Notification Filter.
Can I set a dwelling time?
Yes, you can set a minimum amount of time someone has to be in a Geofence before receiving a Notification.
Can I only send notifications near my store?
No, you can send notifications in all the geofences you created, even if they are really far away from your store.
What is a push notification?
Push notification is a message delivered to app users even if they are not actively using your app. It can include any sort of important information you wish to broadcast such as new events, updates etc. It is important that the users have to accept push notifications in order to receive your messages.
Who can receive my Beacon Notification?
All users who have downloaded your app, accepted push notifications can receive iBeacon notifications when they are nearby an iBeacon device.
Is there a character limit for the notifications?
It differs per platform. For iOS approximately 130 are shown. Android allows larger notifications, depending on the version and device. We always advise to keep messages as short as possible and to always include location awareness, e.g. ‘You are near…’ in messages for high click through rates.
Is an internet connection necessary to receive a notification?
No, your users do not necessarily have to be connected at the particular time you want them to receive the notifications. The notifications are stored beforehand on their mobile devices when they have internet connection. An internet connection improves the location detection of the device, so better results are achieved when an internet connection is available.
Can I add opening hours to a notification?
Of course! Your can send notifications to your users during opening hours to increase their relevance. You can do that directly from our dashboard.
Can I resend notifications?
An app user by default can only receive the same notification once. However, you can define periods during which you can resend the notification e.g every one week, month, year etc.
Is it possible not to show a notification?
Yes, this is possible with the use of the notification filter.
Can I send notifications from a mobile site?
No, but you have the option to turn a mobile site to an app with Appcelerator (for example) and then send notifications.
What is a Location Based Notification?
Location Based Notifications are messages that are send to app users when they approach a specific location, for instance a store, a festival or a restaurant.
Can I send multiple notifications in one Geofence?
Yes, you can send multiple notifications per Geofence but with different timespans. You can manage that through our dashboard.
Can I add images, videos, sounds, buttons or links to a notification?
Yes you can. You can check out this Plot documentation about creating this type of notifications or read our blog about customizing notifications. However, we advise our clients to use a simple text and put a link instead, because people respond to it better.
Can I define specific notifications for specific Geofences or iBeacons?
Yes, you can do this directly from our dashboard.
Can I limit the number of notifications per person per week?
Yes, you can set a cooldown period during which your user will not receive notifications. This way, you can avoid sending too many notifications in a short period of time.
Can app users turn the notifications off?
Yes, it is possible, although this is optional. Users will be automatically asked if your app could use their current location (if they weren’t asked this before). You can then ask them whether they want to receive notifications but this is not mandatory. Also it is possible to add an option to the settings in your app ‘enable/disable notifications’.
Can I see how many people received / opened my notifications?
Yes, PlotProjects gives you access to analytics so you can see how many people received or opened your notifications, in which times etc…
PlotProjects Account Questions
How do I try out PlotProjects?
You can schedule a demo with one of our specialists here and get a full overview of our product as well as a tailored advice on how to integrate proximity marketing in your mobile app strategy.
How many Geofences can I create?
You have the possibility to create as many Geofences as you want.
How many notifications can I create?
There is no limit to the number of notifications you can create.
How many notifications can I send?
There is no limit to the number of notifications you can send.
How many app users can receive my notifications?
All your app users can receive your notifications if they agree to share their location and to accept push notifications.
Can I import Geofences or notifications?
Yes, you have the possibility to import both geofences and notifications.
Can my users create their own geofences?
Yes, they have that possibility with the API. For more information read our documentation.
Do all my users need a Plot account?
No, your users don’t need to have a Plot account to receive location based notifications.
How many Beacons can I support?
You have the possibility to support as many iBeacons as you want.
Do I need different subscriptions for different apps?
Yes, if you have more than one app, then you need different subscription for each one.
How many logins can each account have?
Each account can have from one to unlimited logins, depending on the plan. Contact us to find out more.
Can PlotProjects build my app?
No, PlotProjects can offer location based notifications and if you already have an app.
How is PlotProjects different from a voucher app?
Voucher apps collect all the necessary information about the available deals and on-going sales, and display it in their apps. However, most consumers don’t think about these apps when they are actually shopping. This is where our service comes in – it allows voucher apps to send relevant messages to their customers when they walk by the interesting offers, such as invitations for local events, updates on new collections and personalized deals. Thereby, Plot can be an interesting marketing tool for voucher apps.
Do I need an app?
Yes, you do need an app in order to send location based notifications.
How much does PlotProjects cost?
We offer a few different subscription options so you can choose the one that fits your needs. Pricing is based on factors such as MTU (Monthly Tracked Users) and number of locations/geofences that you need. You can schedule a demo here with one of our specialist and get a full overview of our product and their prices as well as a tailored advice on how to integrate proximity marketing in your mobile app strategy.
What does MTU mean?
An MTU is a Monthly Tracked User. A Monthly Tracked User is a mobile app user who is active and has granted permission to access their location and for which the PlotProjects SDK/software registers location data points.
Do I need different subscriptions for different platforms?
No, one subscription covers all different platforms.
What payment methods do you support?
We support Visa, Mastercard and American Express credit cards.
Data Questions
Can I see the results of my campaign?
Yes you can see the results of your campaigns. PlotProjects gives you access to analytics so you can see how many people received or opened your notifications, in which times etc.
Can I see how many people received / opened my notifications?
Yes, PlotProjects gives you access to analytics so you can see how many people received or opened your notifications, in which times etc.
Can I measure how long people stay in my store?
You can measure how long your app users stay in your store by creating an enter & exit listening campaign on the same set of locations and asking for a dwell report.
Can I segment my app users into specific groups?
Yes you personalize the notifications you send by segmenting your users into specific groups e.g according to their age, preferences etc.
What is the average conversion rate / CTR?
Compared to the other forms of location based marketing we see very high conversions of 25-40%. Our customers experience app retention boosts up to 300%.
Developer Questions
Do I need an app?
Yes, you need an app. Then you can implement PlotProjects with a few easy steps.
Does PlotProjects conflict with other technologies?
No, PlotProjects is compatible with all other technologies.
Does PlotProjects work in my country?
Yes, PlotProjects is able to send notifications in every single country in the world.
Does PlotProjects support Cordova/Phonegap?
Yes, but support for these frameworks has been deprecated. It is still possible to integrate with Cordova/Phonegap using our legacy documentation. Please note that we no longer offer updates or continued support.
Does PlotProjects work when the app is closed or in the background?
Yes, PlotProjects still works even if the app is closed or in the background.
Can PlotProjects build my app?
No, PlotProjects only offers a plugin, which can be implemented in existing apps. However, our experts are here to guide you every step of the way.
Is PlotProjects available for Android & iOS devices?
Yes, PlotProjects is available for Android & iOS devices.
Can I integrate PlotProjects into an HTML5 app?
No, you can only get our technology for apps that you can download. But you can turn your HTML5 App into a Phonegap app (for example) and then install the PlotProjects SDK.
Is the notification filter for Appcelerator Titanium supported?
Yes, you can use the notification filter for your Appcelerator Titanium app.
Why does PlotProjects needs background location on iOS?
PlotProjects needs background location so it can update its notifications based on the location of the device. This allows PlotProjects to support more than the 20 geofences iOS allows by default. Read more about our iOS push notifications support.
Does PlotProjects use GPS?
No, PlotProjects works without GPS.
Is it difficult to implement the SDK?
You only need to take a few steps to implement the SDK. For an easy implementation guide please go to Partners & Integrations and choose the guide you want.
Does the SDK support Appcelerator Titanium?
Yes, but support for these frameworks has been deprecated. It is still possible to integrate with Appcelerator Titanium using our legacy documentation. Please note that we no longer offer updates or continued support.
Is the notification filter for Phonegap / Cordova supported?
Yes, you can use the notification filter for your Phonegap / Cordova app.
Does the SDK support Swift?
Yes, the SDK does support Swift. Please go to Partners & Integrations if you need help with the integration for Swift.
Does the SDK support Ionic?
Yes, but support for this framework has been deprecated. It is still possible to integrate with Ionic using our legacy documentation. Please note that we no longer offer updates or continued support.
Does the SDK support Xamarin?
Yes, but support for this framework has been deprecated. It is still possible to integrate with Xamarin using our legacy documentation. Please note that we no longer offer updates or continued support.
Do I need to link Apple’s AppTrackingTransparency (ATT) framework to the PlotProjects SDK?
Linking the AppTrackingTransparency framework to the PlotProjects SDK is only needed if you are actively collecting or monitoring IDFA through our SDK. The PlotProjects SDK does not collect IDFA by default, but it is possible. You can read more about this in our documentation.
POI (Point of Interest) API Questions
What POI (Point of Interest) API services does PlotProjects provide?
PlotProjects offers POI API services including Address Autocomplete, Forward and Reverse Geocoding, and Nearby Places Search.
Can I use the API features without technical knowledge?
Yes, you can use our POI features with very little technical knowledge. Integration is easy and seamless for most use cases. Some advanced technical knowledge may be required for complex use cases. Contact us for more information.
What data sources does PlotProjects use for the Point of Interest database?
We use data sources such as OpenStreetMap (OSM) to provide worldwide data coverage. OpenStreetMap data is continually updated, edited, and verified. We also aim to enrich the OSM data with our own data layers.
Is the PlotProjects API an alternative to OpenStreetMap?
Our API is built with the foundation of data sources such as OSM. The PlotProjects API offers a scalable and easily accessible solution for OpenStreetMap data.
How is the PlotProjects POI API billed?
Our pricing is based on the number of API requests per day. We offer a number of plans, including a free tier. You can view our plans here.
What happens if I go over my usage limit for the POI API?
Our pricing plans can be customized for your business. We do allow some flexibility as we understand that you may occasionally go over the usage limit while your business grows. If the limit is continually exceeded, it may be time to adjust the subscription to one that better suits your needs.
Address Autocomplete API Questions
What is Address Autocomplete?
Address Autocomplete instantly suggests the most relevant and valid addresses to a user while filling out an online form. When a user starts to type an address, the predictive functionality will automatically show a dynamic list of relevant addresses to choose from. The API will “autocomplete” the address with the correct and valid address data, including: street number, street name, city, state or region, zip code or postcode, and country.
This type of address verification provides a seamless, easy to use, and cost effective solution, particularly for your eCommerce checkout page or online registration forms.
How do I use the PlotProjects Address Autocomplete API on my online forms?
You will need to obtain API keys by registering on our system for free, integrate the API into your backend by following our easy integration guide and code examples, and then begin making API calls to our endpoint.
Why do I need Address Autocomplete?
– Increase conversion and submission rates: Dramatically reduce the number of keystrokes when filling out an online form. Our predictive type-ahead functionality autofills the address field based on the most relevant results.
– Better user experience: Automatic address completion significantly improves user experience providing a quicker way to enter address details for a hassle-free experience– even on small screens and mobile devices.
– Accurate Data: Address Autofill will only suggest addresses that are valid and real. You can avoid costly shipping and delivery mistakes caused by bad data or user input errors.
Find out more about Address Autocomplete and Autofill features here.
Geocoding API Questions
What is a Geocoding API?
A Geocoding API allows you to convert map coordinates (latitude and longitude) to a street address or place name (text) – this is called Forward Geocoding. It also does the opposite, called Reverse Geocoding which converts a street address or place to map coordinates.