How to Approach Market Analysis Using Map Business Online Pro

When I think about writing about new MapBusinessOnline features, I often consider describing possible workflows. With Map Business Online Pro Market Analysis tools, a workflow can be a very subjective experience.

Many MapBusinessOnline Pro business mapping users may simply require a map-analysis operation to achieve a single goal, For example:

  • Create 30-minute drive time sales territories around twenty-four center points
  • Calculate the driving time distances to a Store from all Customers within a 10-mile radius of the Store
  • Determine the top 25 cities with the highest income living within a 20-minute drive time of the city center

Other users may have to conduct more a extensive analysis that involves applying multiple business mapping tools. At times, these more complex projects may require the export of results and further analysis or operations outside of MapBusinessOnline, perhaps requiring a reimport for more MapBusinessOnline work.

For this reason, I like to refer to MapBusinessOnline Pro as a toolkit. You may ask, “What sorts of projects in my business might warrant the use of MapBusinessOnline Pro?”

Market Analysis

I can’t claim that every marketing map analysis challenge will be suited to a MapBusinessOnline, location-based solution. But I can say that if the markets in which your business plays entail geographic and demographic components, you may find market map business analysis helpful.

Examples of geographic components would be addresses, ZIP codes, city limits, or Market Statistical Areas. Demographic components would be applied if your business considers population, household income, or some other demographic characteristic important to sales success.

Expansion Planning – Moving to a new area is a location-based challenge. How do new ZIP codes compare to old ZIP codes? What’s are the best demographic ZIP code areas to expand the business into?  Once the move occurs, what are the new territories and prospective customer lists for each rep?

  • Create an existing and viable demographic profile by ZIP code (MSA or county) as a baseline against which to compare future marketing efforts
  • Develop a total regional market analysis map that provides up to a dozen possible areas with optimum customer, resource, and labor characteristics
  • Analyze potential location area costs for doing business – buildings, taxes, labor, insurance
  • Search for Business Listings of competing businesses or potential prospects. Business listings can be critical to strategic plans.

Match Customers to Stores – Customers, patients, vendors – your business customers are unique to you. Analyzing the relationship between end-users and places of business can be complex. Use market analysis tools to understand customer placement concerning physical places of business.

  • Find the nearest group of customers to a specific store or set of store locations
  • Calculate the distances between end-users and facility locations, such as customers and dealers
  • Analyzing time and distances across a network of address points to address logistics issues like time on the road, fuel consumption, or general expense reporting

Field Sales Accountability – MapBusinessOnline market analysis tools provide a set of tools for managing people on the road or in call center environments.

  • Create territories based on driving time or driving distances to and from home locations.
  • Assess sales potential based on demographic category statistics for standardized urban areas
  • Monitor sales results across all territory areas and share the results via interactive web maps or business meetings

Market Share Analysis – Businesses that are responsible for selling products that compete with other manufacturers are very interested in their share of the market. Map-based analysis of market share should include actual sales figures by sales target areas. If the user has total product sales estimates for the industry/area, and the user’s company’s sales figures for the same product, market share calculations should be straight forward.

  • Visualize total market and company sales figures against a territory map
  • Create a share market ratio using calculated data columns
  • Demographic overlays that describe market makeup by location or region

Accessing Tools from a Tool Kit

MapBusinessOnline lets the user conduct market analysis by processing spatial analysis one process at a time. For instance, your project may require a map visualization of existing sales. MapBusinessOnline provides such visualizations for almost every one of our customers, daily. And that visualization may be all a user requires.

But you may also require a demographic breakdown showing Median HouseHold Income by ZIP code, for instance. This entails a second operation, easy to apply and expand upon your original map visualization.

Market Analysis offers an additional array of map-based analysis operations to further extend the scope of your business analysis.   In terms of workflow, think of it this way:

  1. Import your organization’s relevant location-based business data into Map Business Online
  2. Color-code the imported points as required for optimum map audience viewing
  3. Create an appropriate demographic background map using map layer shading
  4. Use market analysis to
    1. Add drive time or distance-based territories
    2. Calculate driving times or distances between locations
    3. Find all imported customer data within driving times or distances of multiple center locations

By keeping your use of MapBusinessOnline flexible, and taking advantage of all the simple and more complex operations available in the overall software, a map user will find answers to business questions that benefit your organization and that user’s value to the company overall.

We recommend users access MapBusinessOnline via the downloadable Map App.

The Map App install is fast and easy. The Map App is a cloud-based service, once you’ve logged in you’ll have access to all of your previously saved maps and data. The Map App is a better user experience and provides access to more features than the Web App. The Flash-based Web App link will remain available until December 15, 2020.

The Map App includes the new Map Viewer app for free non-subscriber map sharing.

Are you using the Map Business Online Desktop App for MAC or PC? It’s hipper than Instagram and it comes with your subscription. Escape Web-Browser Tyranny!

Value-Added Resellers – Offer the tool to your customers as a reseller. Make money on training and consulting. Contact us with further interest in reselling MapBusinessOnline.

Win a $20 Gift Card! Refer a business associate to Map Business Online in exchange for a $20 Amazon Gift Card!

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Find out why over 25,000 business users log into www.MapBusinessOnline.com for their business mapping software and advanced sales territory mapping solution. The best replacement for Microsoft MapPoint happens to be the most affordable.

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About Geoffrey Ives

Geoffrey Ives lives and works in southwestern Maine. He grew up in Rockport, MA and graduated from Colby College. Located in Maine since 1986, Geoff joined DeLorme Publishing in the late 1990's and has since logged twenty-five years in the geospatial software industry. In addition to business mapping, he enjoys playing classical & jazz piano, gardening, and taking walks in the Maine mountains with his Yorkshire Terrier named Skye.
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