4 Ways to Improve Competitive Intelligence Using a Mapping Software

NAPERVILLE, Ill. - Nov. 20, 2014 - PRLog -- Dictionaries gave meaning to “competitive intelligence” as “understanding and learning what's happening in the world outside your business so one can be as competitive as possible.” Ergo, it is not just spying the competitors. It is a strategy adopted by thousands of companies from all over the world to increase sale, target market research, increase competitiveness, and many others. Fortune Magazine recently published an article that 55% of Fortune 500 companies utilize data information about competitors when creating business strategy. There are tools used to improve competitive intelligence and the one that has been frequently used is a mapping software called Mapline.

Through mapping solutions, companies can answer significant questions like are they on the right track? Do they target the right market? Do their services, products and business plans really matter? How does it affect the whole enterprise? How does it affect the industry? Companies that understand their geographic location data through mapping increase their awareness and effectivity in gaining and understanding competitive intelligence.

Here are some mapping tools to increase competitive intelligence:

Mapping Excel Spreadsheet Data

Knowing what the competitors are planning will give a company a good head start to launch new products and design marketing campaigns way better than the competitors. Mapping can provide an insight on how this can be easily achieved. Mapline offers easy mapping services like pasting Excel spreadsheet data of geographical locations. Because it is designed to have a faster geocoding service, users can view their maps in a couple of minutes so that they can have more time to study the powerful data visualization and understand the competition better.

Marker Features

This mapping tool is widely used by companies across all industries because the users are able to visualize different factors on the same map without being confused. To make sure that the map reflects different data sets of competitors and target the right market better, the users can use marker features. By default, Mapline assigns unique map markers to represent each data layer. More than that, the users can customize their markers by uploading their preferred images to use as markers. On the map, they can also display labels.

Heat Mapping

Heat maps help in developing strategies when faced with market threats or opportunities. Map by percentile using a set of territory layers help ignite new ideas for competitive intelligence. Heat maps of pre-set territory layers can help identify growth opportunities or focus marketing campaigns. It is also a great way to identify areas which pose a high risk to the business and create disaster recovery plans to mitigate those business risks.

Adding Multiple Layers

Unnecessary distractions are a threat.What can a company do to do away with these? Mapping different data sets. By adding multiple layers of geographic location data, they get to scrap all unnecessary information that are irrelevant to creating strategy and learning about their competitors. What it can do is to help the users to stay focused on information that only matters. Viewing the map with different data sets reveals connections that will help ignite ideas to be used against the competitors and target the right market.

Since competitive intelligence has fast become a prerequisite for survival, companies should be using a mapping software for management decisions, business strategies and others. Contact Mapline to know more about competitive analysis. Visit the website now at https://mapline.com.