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The Role of Location Data in Fueling Business Decisions

Anand Srivastava
Anand Srivastava
business.com Member
Aug 12, 2019

Learn how location data is the next step in marketing.

Based on recent surveys conducted by IHL Group and other independent forums, almost 58% of North American retailers are continuously relying on location-specific marketing to fuel their entrepreneurial decisions. While this statistic is quite interesting, it also showcases the insistence of bigger and midsize brands on location technology as their go-to marketing tool. 

That said, cost-cutting and financially motivated decisions have prompted smaller businesses to opt for minimalistic marketing approaches, location data being one of the many. However, the existing technology and how it shapes business decisions needs to be considered. 

For SMBs to procure functional insights regarding customer behavior and interests, location technology can certainly be considered. This is one exceedingly powerful solution that makes room for data-driven strategies to help organizations shape up their tactics for a selected audience. That said, it would be perfect if a majority of small and midsize businesses started amalgamating traditional marketing tactics with location technology to focus on diverse customer touchpoints. This can also resonate better with the concerned audience base. 

Location data's role in predictive analysis

As mentioned earlier, location data can certainly improve decision-making for businesses and fuel predictive analysis in a highly potent manner. In regard to sifting predictive intelligence for devising functional marketing strategies, location technology plays a pivotal role by ...

  • Gleaning insights from diverse caveats and helping companies leverage the same with ease.

  • Targeting area-specific customers and prospects pertaining to a specific demographic.

  • Helping marketers take proactive measures by pushing area-specific retail.

What needs to be understood is that location analytics is an essential marketing tool that precisely includes dynamic, live and interactive data maps. Location data makes sure that the maps can be shared across mobile platforms while the control of the insights vests upon the owners, categorized depending on their accessibility levels. 

Better in-store retail experiences

Needless to say, staying up to date regarding the demographic dividend of a specific area allows retailers to improve their in-store experiences, especially for the customers. The process involves these components:

  • Gauging customer behavior and persona for improving store layout

  • Understanding customer experience requirements by mapping journeys

Billboard revamps

Location technology can be precisely used for enhancing the marketing and targeting strategies of a specific organization. In regard to billboard and OOH marketing, location data can help businesses with the following:

  • Better advertisements as it becomes easier to understand the sentiments of the local crowd

  • Improved identification of the relevant audience base

  • Expansion of audience targeting across diverse devices

Business intelligence

Driving business intelligence is yet another important attribute of location data, as it allows businesses to understand the nature of the local audience base and help them predict strategic moves with certainty. Businesses can make use of location technology by ...

  • Identifying prospects who stay nearby but do not avail their services.

  • Focusing on additional audiences for generating higher revenues.

  • Concentrating on a user-first approach and customer experience more than anything else.

  • Identifying perfect CTAs and creative marketing ideas.

  • Lending an extremely granular approach to marketing.

  • Lending directionality to the store with increased accuracy and precision.

Mail campaigns

It is quite understandable that small businesses rely a lot on direct mail and event campaigns. This is where location data can come in handy, as it helps businesses tap into selective insights regarding individuals, behaviors and other creative aspects. Even research statistics offered by Merkle suggest that there is a 118% boost in business response rate if location technology is amalgamated with direct mail and similar campaigns. Having location data empower mail campaigns is a highly rewarding approach, as it does the following:

  • Helps businesses create multiple touchpoints synonymous to the user journey

  • Increases the conversion likelihood

  • Better positions small businesses in regard to impactful presence and high-quality lead generation

  • Converts leads into potential and loyal customers

Location-based marketing deciphered

Finally we come to the part where we talk about location-based marketing and how location data can play an important role in optimization. Firstly, it is necessary to consider location-specific marketing campaigns for businesses, especially when it comes to dealing with services and products. To maintain efficacy in the modern entrepreneurial hierarchy, it is necessary for businesses to target consumers, even on the basis of demographics.

In addition to that, only location-centric marketing can make room for highly targeted, personalized and immersive experiences, regardless of the channels involved. Most importantly, location technology alone wouldn't suffice, as one would require a conjunction of traditional tactics with the more innovative ones.

Practical scenarios

The concept of location technology can be best understood by a practical example of sorts. In the case of online brokers willing to indulge in businesses, it is always advisable to deploy location technology for getting the most out of the moneymaking business. Companies like Trusted Brokerz that deal in cryptocurrencies, forex, and other fiat currencies usually make use of location data to gauge the efficacy of an approach and even the most rewarding business prospects. 

Another scenario would be a basic retail store that's willing to go online and optimize its digital presence by using location data. In cases like these, companies focus more on the audience near the retail shop, modifying offers and services accordingly. 

Intuition, insights and more

Small businesses usually lack the financial backbone to invest in complicated and extensive marketing campaigns. However, location technology can do the trick by helping them measure tactics, in the best possible manner. In the case of SMBs, advertisements aren't trial-and-error jobs, as funds are limited and location data can ensure that only the best ones are selected for the job. What's even more important is that local retailers with smaller structures can readily move past obsolete approaches and stay on track with conversion-centric metrics in this highly digitized arena.

Moreover, location technology can also help businesses by ...

  • Giving them access to all the valuable insights pertaining to the industry.

  • Helping them with transparent reporting.

  • Making scalable solutions available while identifying areas of improvement.

  • Investing in power awareness.

  • Driving important and strategic decisions.

Inference

There is a definitely a lot more to location technology than meets the eye. While it's extremely effective in helping small and midsize businesses with demographic-centric targeting, the onus however lies on the marketers when it comes to skillful implementation. As mentioned throughout this discussion, having location data at one's disposal makes it easier to concentrate on other facets of business, including better comprehension of predictive analytics, seamless decision-making and better involvement with BI tools. 

At the end, it all comes to down to using location technology and the acquired data in a minimalistic and functional manner, especially when small business setups are considered. While bigger business houses have the entire global schema to look at, small businesses are better off when they concentrate more on the local audience and cater to their simple yet diverse requirements. 

Image Credit: Weedezign / Shutterstock
Anand Srivastava
Anand Srivastava
business.com Member
Anand Srivastava is an entrepreneur, internet marketing expert and a technocrat. After completing his Master’s in Business Administration, Anand took over the internet as one of the leading business leaders— across the country. He started off with many joint ventures— including news creation, digital marketing models, technical setups and even e-commerce. He is currently working on some of his individual projects and making giant strides when it comes to success and recognition.