There are many ways that machine learning and artificial intelligence can really improve business models. Companies are flocking to these new technologies to learn more about customers, refine business processes, plan better for the future and generally leverage this frontier of IT progress.
One key principle in this sea change is sometimes called the ‘locational principle’ It revolves around using locational information to actually improve your business outcomes – your revenue and your market share. These types of ideas are powering the next-generation marketing plans that are helping all sorts of companies to stand out in their markets!
The Locational Principle
The locational principle, in a nutshell, is that you can use locational or geospatial data to drive business intelligence.
In a research environment, this type of machine learning tends to be very technical. Researchers might map temperatures, barometric pressures, or the location of objects within a three-dimensional grid. All of that data gets funneled into the machine learning program to create models.
In enterprise, this tends to be a little different. Business leaders aren’t scientists – they’re not trying to drive really technical research. They’re driving market research – customer research – and insights that will enable them to grow and expand and capture more customers.
Locational Principles in Business
Here’s an excellent example of how the locational principle works in business.
A fast food business has 100 franchise locations. Customers flood in and out every day. They order burgers, shakes and fries. But how does the business track customer activity?
With locational machine learning, sensors take in detailed information about where customers are in the restaurant at any given time – in their cars, on foot entering or leaving the building, or sitting in chairs, or standing at the counter. You get the idea.
All of that data, again, gets funneled into machine learning programs. But instead of tracking the migratory habits of waterfowl or trying to understand the preservation of rainforest environments, enterprise leaders are trying to understand customers. They can take this data and get insights into how to set up drive-through lanes, how to move customers through a space, or how to attract them better with in-store advertising.
This same approach can be applied to online marketing. In fact, online marketing is made for this type of analytics, because things like bounce rate and user session tracking are built into the digital model. It’s by combining a great web footprint with good field intelligence that companies can really get to the next level and compete in the 21st century.
Talk to WebSubstance about building such new techniques in your marketing campaigns and stay ahead of your competition. Make use of cutting edge technology for business intelligence and vibrant growth.
