Every business today has a similar problem: how to deal with the vast amounts of available information it is now so easy to get. Demographic reporting, geospatial analysis, and location intelligence in general all allow for a business to know far more about their customer base than could ever have been dreamed of just a few short years ago.
Why is So Much Information Available?
Not only are governments, surveys, and traditional demographic reporting methods continuing to contribute information about the people of America, but brand new demographic reporting methods have been invented an intentionally employed. Some of this development was even unintentional. The GPS satellite was conceived as a way to pinpoint a location on Earth, but not as a way to track people. The prevalence of smartphones and social media, however, means that many people are actively and voluntarily telling GPS satellites where they are at any moment.
How Much Data is There for Geospatial Intelligence Companies
At any given time the Earth is being orbited by 24 active satellites that provide GPS services. Often there are more than 24 satellites. Every one of them goes around the whole planet once every 12 hours, moving at a speed of about 7,000 miles per hour. The modern GPS receiver is time accurate to within 100 billionths of a second.
What Do These Satellites Communicate With?
Satellites are now communicating with computers, tablets, and mobile phones across the world. They are also in touch with cars, planes, trains, and ships of all sorts, as well as a myriad of private devices. The Internet of Things is full of connected devices, other than computers, that send and receive data. And in 2011 alone 12 million RFID tags were sold. These tags track the movement of any object to which they are attached.
What is the Market for Demographic Reporting and Similar Data Analysis? How is This Important to Business?
Demographic reporting and location intelligence software are some of the key components for modern marketing analytics. Dresner Advisory Services found in their 2014 survey that half of the respondents across all industries said that location intelligence would be important to their business planning strategy.
Big data of all kinds is crucial to the development of the modern business world. This data allows a company to better understand their target customers and current customers, plan future campaigns, raise brand awareness, and engage with consumers. The demand for demographic reporting seems like it will only grow going forward.