Data makes the world go round, and nowhere is that more true than in running a business. Having accurate data is essential for acquiring customers, improving your product or service, optimizing logistics, and planning for expansion. And if you want to get the most out of that data? Thatβs when you use location intelligence tools.
Letβs cover seven ways location intelligence can help you find new opportunities for growth.
7 opportunities you can act on with location intelligence
Location intelligence is a great way to uncover hidden opportunities in strategy and logistics, but having this data is a powerful tool for marketers, too.
Opportunity #1: Finding complementary businesses (and other partners)
βComplementary businessβ refers to any business offering a product or service that matches these two criteria:
- It doesnβt compete with what you offer.
- It enhances your own product or service.
Building partnerships with complementary businesses is a great way to increase revenue for both parties, and theyβre some of the best partners youβll have. You probably already have an idea of which businesses fit this description, but with location intelligence, you can find and display them all on a map, which is especially useful when researching new locations or planning local marketing campaigns.
Opportunity #2: Optimizing logistics (and reducing costs)
Optimizing logistics is all about reducing the time and money it takes to get your product or service to your customer, and location intelligence is an essential part of this.
Location intelligence tools like Smappen typically provide a ton of data you can use to know your ideal customerβs behavior. By combining that data with radius maps and other visualization methods only offered by location intelligence tools, you can more effectively invest resources in distribution channels that work while figuring out why others arenβt as effective.
Opportunity #3: Fine-tuning your advertising campaigns
Advertising can get expensive, so every dollar in your budget should be spent as efficiently as possible. Unless your business serves all of its customers through an online platform, using location intelligence is crucial.
With a location intelligence tool, you can preface every advertising campaign with in-depth research about your target audience, where they live, and how they shop. And if you use a tool that provides point-of-interest data, you can compare this research with other businesses around yours β whether theyβre complementary or the competition.
Opportunity #4: Spotting ideal locations for expansion
Finding the perfect place for a new location is a problem every business hopes to have. But just because expansion is a good thing doesnβt mean itβs a cakewalk. Whether youβre leasing or buying a new location, youβre looking at a huge investment, and you need to make sure it pans out.
Location intelligence can answer just about any question youβll have about a potential new location β except maybe if there are ants in the walls. You can research local markets and even create catchment areas to see how accessible a building is.
Opportunity #5: Use demographics to find underserved customers
There are a ton of industries where finding underserved customers in a specific location is one of the best ways to grow a new business. In an industry like tech, that may mean being at the cutting edge of the latest developments and building a platform that perfectly nails a specific use case. But even industries like food delivery can find customers who are hungry for a certain service and arenβt getting it.
A location intelligence tool like Smappen gives you access to demographic data you can use to create new customer profiles and reveal these opportunities.
Opportunity #6: Outpacing the competition
Operating in a highly-competitive industry can often feel like something of an arms race. Just as youβre figuring out a new strategy, you realize some competitor is already copying it. Or maybe youβre putting the finishing touches on a new product, only to find out someoneβs beaten you to the punch.
Location intelligence can be an essential part of staying ahead of the competition. Not only will it give you data you can use to improve your own business strategy, but itβs also a shortcut to analyzing a competitorβs performance. For example, you could use catchment areas and demographic data to estimate the delivery radius of a competitor β and see if you should be changing yours.
Opportunity #7: Upgrading your ideal customer profile
An ideal customer profile represents customers who bring in the most revenue β while not costing too much to acquire or keep. To build this profile, you need a ton of demographic data, which pairs nicely with location intelligence.
If your business deals primarily with local markets, you can use a location intelligence tool to research these markets and bulk up your ideal customer profile with some geographical information. For example, if you know that your ideal customer is in a certain income bracket, location intelligence can tell you which neighborhoods they frequent in your city.
Start off on the right foot: Use Smappen
Like many things, using location intelligence is a whole lot easier if youβre using the right tools. But while there are a lot of options out there, most of them are either too difficult to set up or prohibitively expensive for all but the largest businesses.
Thatβs where Smappen comes in.
Smappen is as easy to use as Google Maps but as powerful as the most advanced location intelligence tools on the market. You can use Smappen to pull point-of-interest data for market research, draw trade areas, and research new markets, and more.
You can get set up in minutes and start adding location intelligence to your marketing efforts, your logistics processes, and your business strategy.
Intelligent locations
With location intelligence, you can create stronger marketing campaigns, properly plan your expansion, and get to know your customers more thoroughly. When youβre using a tool like Smappen, you can give any team access to location intelligence without worrying about giving them an extensive training session. So get started for free here, and see what location intelligence can do for your business!