GIS Solutions
Introduction
What is a GIS system?
Geographic Information System is founded in the science of geography which gathers data, manages and analyses. It also analyses spatial location and organization of information. GIS has unique capabilities that can be utilized to draw patterns, relationships, and situation relating to data thus helping an organization to make smarter decisions. Organizations and businesses activities primarily utilize the many advantages that come from GIS software. This paper seeks to highlight how Estre bank has adequately used one GIS software in its industry.
Technology used
In the banking and financial industry, higher and specific focus is put on the needs of the client. While conducting marketing activities, banks ought to ensure the target market is reached. The technology Estre bank has adopted geo-marketing. Geo-marketing is GIS software that uses location knowledge to facilitate marketing efforts. The software utilizes digital mapping to organize and show data that is being used for review and decision making efforts. Using this software, data is analyzed by geographic location which facilitates decision making. With today’s digital age, location data is made available through handsets as well as social networking platforms (Freire & Santos 2012). Availability of location data is essential for such things as designing sales and creating a target market.
Business Unit utilizing the Data
The marketing unit of Estre Bank uses the data presented by the technology. Estre bank has over 130 branches throughout Germany. Marketing strategies applied were based on geo marketing to grow and maintain its position in the market. These marketing strategies ensured that clients are met and reached out whenever within their locations. The importance of marketing in a financial institution cannot be overemphasized (Cliquet 2013). Just like any other business a bank needs to create a broader market to which it shall render its financial services. In the world of banking, competition has always been at a higher level.
The growth of a business is thus majorly based on the marketing approaches that the business utilizes. The banking sector is marred with competition from well-established banks while small financial institutions pose an even greater threat. While there are many other marketing options, data analysis from geo-marketing is a game changer. This data details not only the location of prospective customers but also their preferences. Such information helps the marketing department to tailor their products to the desires of the customers. The growth in many branches of Estre bank is due to appropriate utilization of data provided by geo-marketing software.
Benefits of geo-marketing to the business
Geographic information is an essential factor in the marketing aspects of an entity. Successful companies have realized growth while applying geo-marketing techniques. Geo-marketing becomes a beneficial tool to a business not only by providing data but also when there is know-how on how to add value to the information which in turn enables decision-making process. Other business decisions give life to spatial questions; broad market and data analysis are carried out. Relationships are also recognized which links customers to the appropriate product. Geo-marketing has its strength build upon spatial analysis of diverse data. , therefore, benefits Estre Bank in developing rational and objective decision-making process (Murowaniecki 2015). It is well understood that the decisions made in a firm can break or build. With this understanding, business entities have utilized geo-marketing for rationalization and objectification of the decision process.
Furthermore, geo-marketing benefits the bank by generating added value for available data. Location and more information on the target market are made by geo-marketing. This leads to increased potential uses of data. Importantly it is possible to visualize clients and expected revenues using geo-marketing. Analyses of data dictate how a company can distribute customers and sales. Estre bank can determine its market share in all regions; it has its branches, this is enabled by geo marketing (Cliquet 2013). Opportunities for growth are also identified using geo marketing. With competition in the banking and financial sector, geo marketing comes in handy to provide a competition analysis. Competition analysis assesses own sales potential which results in the business managing its own sales activities in its various branches.
Present and future impacts of geo-marketing technology
Despite technological advancements, marketers are still grappling with marketing on a personalized front. Before this era, they used IP address with the hope of customized ads for the given location only to realize that most IP addresses did not match locations. Social media has created a new opportunity making marketers closer to the client than in billboards and radio advertising. Geo-marketing is opening up new avenues to marketers. This new marketing tool based on one’s location promises to the future of advertising and marketing strategies. With all the advantages that come with personalization of marketing messages as offered by geo-marketing, the banking sector is yet to realize its benefits fully.
The present impacts of geo-marketing have been revolutionized marketing strategies while creating significant benefits to the running of the businesses. Majorly, the effect has been on predictive analytics which is used in diverse ways within the business. The future of geo-marketing lies in the expansion beyond predictive analysis to the adoption of the mobile wallet in the financial sector. With advances that have seen Apple pay taking shape, plastic money will be a burden in the coming future. Therefore, geographical position technology in the name of GIS, payments can be made seamlessly like it has been done in countries like Kenya (Baray & Pelé 2017). Privacy is a major concern going into the future. Geo-marketing raises a worry among consumers who receive marketing messages without their consent. Businesses, therefore, need to address such queries in a timely fashion to maintain trust among members. Consumers need to be assured that none of the marketing messages will be of threat to their privacy.
Areas in which the business might expand or improve by utilizing geo-marketing technology.
Estre Bank is likely to improve in diverse areas as a result of using geo-marketing. One of the critical areas of expansion is in client numbers. This means that the bank will grow its market share by a considerably more significant margin beating its competition. Increased customer translates to higher profits thus enabling the bank to position itself on an advantage gaining path. Using geo marketing technology, the bank is likely to have better outcomes in its analytics which then determine decisions made on critical issues in the businesses (Freire & Santos 2012). In the recent past, uninformed choices have been the reason for failure and blunders made by many financial institutions. This technological tool thus enables decision making in an informed environment based on accurate data.
Conclusion
In conclusion, GIS technology is a new game changer in the business world. This paper has focused on geo marketing, one of the GIS technology software utilized in a business environment. Geo-marketing is new software that is changing how business is carried out today. Its advantages are based on its diverse analytics thus causing informed decisions in firms. While the business world takes on geo-marketing to expand their wings, other sectors like financial and banking are yet to embrace the beauty of this technology fully. Despite its growing dominance in sending marketing messages, the question of privacy ought to be addressed.
References
Baray, J., & Pelé, M. (2017). Geomarketing mix optimization with big data & artificial intelligence (No. hal-01648482).
Cliquet, G. (Ed.). (2013). Geomarketing: Methods and strategies in spatial marketing. John Wiley & Sons.
Freire, S., & Santos, T. (2012, September). Advancing geo-marketing analyses with an improved Spatio-temporal distribution of population at high resolution. In Proceedings of the European Conference on Information Management (pp. 100-108).
Murowaniecki, Ł. (2015). Banking Services and Distribution Channels–Evolution and Prospects. Journal of Applied Computer Science Methods, 7(2), 105-115.
