Geo-coding survey responses

What is geo-coding

When respondents take surveys, we collect and store the IP Address of the respondents, along with the responses. By default, for all anonymous surveys, this is the only piece of identifying data that is collected and stored along with the survey response.

Geo-coding enables you with address matching, i.e., to find out the respondent’s physical location like the city, region (state), etc. from their IP addresses. This process of mapping IP addresses with the help of latitude and longitude to physical locations is called geo-coding. Governments use geo-coding data to capture and house this information according to the census tract and block.

Uses of geo-coding surveys

Geo-coding surveys are a great marketing tool when it comes to performing data analysis on a specific region or market. It assists businesses in identifying sales territories, both local and international markets. It helps them target particular demographics based on geographic information and customize their products and services as demanded by different markets. Businesses also use geo-tagging to identify the best delivery routes when it comes to international trade and markets.

Example of geo-coding survey responses

Businesses use geo-coding for market expansion. Consider an international fast-food chain or a coffee company looking to expand its business by setting up shop in a new country. The firm runs a survey among the general population of that country and collects geolocation data based on the responses. Geo-coding helps the company analyze responses from different locations and across various demographics. It helps them with better customer intelligence to target the right population.

Advantages of geo-coding in surveys

Here are the business benefits of geo-tagging in surveys:

• Locate active customers: Businesses need to understand and locate active customers to push their products more aggressively and maintain their market share without losing out to competitors in the location.
• Increase sales: Identifying where your customers are based helps you to target them and push your products to the market shelves in these identified areas.
• Provide tailored services: Based on the demographics of the location, businesses can offer customized products to best suit the customers of that area.
• Identify new business opportunities: Business needs always to expand, and geo-tagging helps businesses identify new markets to enter.
• Survey quota control: Market researchers always need to control location quotas while researching to keep the responses reflective of the entire population. Geo-tagging helps in quota management.

How to use geo-coding

Look at our help file on geo-coding to learn how to use this survey feature.