6 Self-Service Location Intelligence Solutions

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When CraveLabs opened up its platform to media planners and analysts looking for self-service location intelligence solutions last year, the company joined a select group of hyperlocal vendors. Thanks in part to the maturing location intelligence market, a small but growing number of firms are providing self-service capabilities to sophisticated clients.

The demand for these types of solutions is certainly there. In a 2017 report published by Dresner Advisory Services, 63% of respondents ranked location intelligence as a topic that’s “critically important” or “very important” to ongoing business operations, and location intelligence was cited as being more critical than big data, social media analytics, and the internet of things (IoT).

By opening their platforms up as self-service solutions, location intelligence firms are hoping to provide clients with more open access and to inspire creativity in using existing tools in new and innovative ways. Here are six examples of vendors providing location intelligence capabilities to clients through a self-service model.

1. DropIn Vantage
Released by CraveLabs in December, DropIn Vantage is an expansion of the company’s existing DropIn mobile DSP/DMP solution, with self-service tools that customers can use to leverage audience segments from more than 800,000 available consumer personas. DropIn Vantage includes tools designed to help customers analyze locations, including both brick-and-mortar and digital properties, with an index of consumer personas inside specific geographic boundaries. Because it’s designed to be used by media planners and location analysts, who may or may not have data science backgrounds, DropIn Vantage’s tools are available through a simplified map-based interface. The solution can be used on its own or together with CraveLabs’ hybrid mobile DSP/DMP platform.

2. NinthDecimal
With its marketing platform powered by location data, NinthDecimal provides clients with one-on-one targeting and the ability to understand whether or not specific media campaigns are driving foot traffic or sales at physical store locations. The company’s Location Conversion Index (LCI) is available to brands and agencies through a self-service dashboard, with insights like which types of media drove the most visits, which types of people visited, and the cost per incremental visit. NinthDecimal’s reporting dashboard also shows weekly results filtered by tactic, creative, and device.

3. CARTO
The company formerly known as CartoDB rebranded itself as CARTO and launched a self-service location intelligence solution in 2016. Using CARTO, data analysts can build location intelligence applications without the need for coding. CARTO integrates a new visual language for spatial analysis with ready-to-use widgets for exploring location data. Native SDKs can be used to obtain maps and services on native applications. Companies can also augment their own data with CARTO’s Data Observatory, which provides demographic, economic, and real estate datasets.

4. Galigeo
Galigeo designs location intelligence software for analytics and CRM solutions. Through a partnership with the software giant SAP, Galigeo created an extension for visualizing and discovering insights while taking advantage of the location dimension already contained within business data. With Galigeo for SAP BusinessObjects, IT departments and other Galigeo users can create location analytics by dragging and dropping dimensions into place on a map. After customizing those maps with heat maps, sector diagrams and flows, users can drill down to calculate local indicators like market potential or any other business KPI.

5. Qlik
Qlik’s data analytics platform aims to go beyond what most BI vendors can provide by letting its users combine any number of data sources, regardless of how large or imperfect they may be, and supplement location data with necessary geo-information to add rich geo-visualizations. With self-service data visualization, individuals and groups can answer their own questions without relying on IT. Data visualization is delivered by interactive dashboards that users can filter, associate, and search. Qlik also gives users the option to start from scratch and associate data sources on their own to hopefully make smarter location-related decisions.

6. Spectrum
Leveraging the Pitney Bowes Spectrum Technology Platform, brands can visualize insights in real time to more easily understand customer patterns. Spectrum Visual Insights combines Spectrum’s data management capabilities with Yellowfin’s dashboard and collaboration tools, with the result being a self-service analytics and reporting solution that embeds business intelligence into key applications. The Spectrum platform includes location intelligence and customer analytics insights that can accommodate a range of needs, as well.

Stephanie Miles is a senior editor at Street Fight.

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Stephanie Miles is a journalist who covers personal finance, technology, and real estate. As Street Fight’s senior editor, she is particularly interested in how local merchants and national brands are utilizing hyperlocal technology to reach consumers. She has written for FHM, the Daily News, Working World, Gawker, Cityfile, and Recessionwire.