In order for a business to be successful, they must understand the local area. You need to understand who is within driving distance, which consumers are nearby, and the specific location of your customers. This type of information is known as location intelligence. If adequately using this information, targeting customers will be more efficient. Users can also make better-informed decisions, offering a significant edge over the competition.
Here’s how to leverage location intelligence over the competition to gain the insights you need.
What is a Drivetime Polygon or Distance Radius?
The drivetime polygon and distance radii are valuable tools for virtually any business. While these two items are similar in appearance, they do accomplish slightly differing goals.
Distance Radius
This radius is created around a single, central location based on physical distance. For instance, if you’d like to know anything within a 15-mile area of your current location, you can draw a 30-mile radius around the office. As your central location is the center, anything within the radius is 10 miles away or less.
Drivetime Polygon
As a similar concept, the driving time radius uses time instead of physical location. If you’re trying to determine all accessible locations within 30 minutes, drawing a drivetime polygon around the building will give you that information. This application considers all speed limits, roads, and construction. As not all routes are direct, nor are the speed limits the same within an area, this radius displays as a polygon instead of a radius.
Both tools will effectively help businesses determine who and what is nearby, which is essential for all businesses.
Why the Driving Distance Matters for Businesses
As the internet continues to increase, more people are doing business online. Currently, eCommerce businesses are thriving, with video calls replacing in-person meetings. Even still, driving distance is still something all companies should consider.
– In-person meetings are still holding a number of advantages over online communication. Studies show that people connect and build trust with someone faster when speaking in person. The driving distance also makes assigning sales reps to customers easier. If an in-person meeting is necessary, your representatives are never too far from clients.
– In recent reports, approximately 46% of consumers prefer in-person shopping over online purchases.
– The driving distance also highlights the travel time for all employees, depending on the company location. This information is critical when creating work schedules.
Understanding the Value of Demographic Data
Location-based intelligence allows business owners to pinpoint the locations of the ideal customer. These demographics also tell you what types of consumers are nearby to tailor your marketing towards them. Knowing your local demographics gives you a massive competitive advantage.
There are many types of demographics a business can evaluate. Some of the most valuable metrics for a business include:
– Age
– Gender
– Income levels
– General population
– Education
– Employment rates
– Housing
The location and business intelligence tools allow this data to appear on an interactive map. Users can collect critical insights about their target market and audience using these data visualizations.
Determining Customer Data
A large portion of location intelligence is the ability to use and process customer data on a map. These details include the address, the approximate spending habits, and the customer’s lifetime value. These insights will showcase where your sales are coming from, where the business should invest more money, areas promising future growth, and areas that aren’t performing.
Assessing Future Locations
Using location mapping can help businesses in location planning. If a company wants to expand, planning locations that allow for success is crucial. Location intelligence data will offer distance radii, drivetime polygon, location-based consumer information, and general demographics to identify the best areas to establish your new location.
Users can use these analytics in the following ways:
– The distance radius can determine how many local competitors are already in the area
– Drivetime polygons will assess how many potential customers will remain in driving distance of the new location
– Consumer location data will determine how many current customers exist at the new location
– Demographic data offer insight into locations near ideal customers
– Establish locations near concentrations of existing customers to provide improved customer service.
Conclusion
Although these benefits aren’t exclusive to location intelligence, they help businesses make informed decisions. Location intelligence offers a competitive advantage, bringing new insight to a company that might otherwise remain overlooked.
