5 minute read
Every geospatial company wants to grow.
But “growth” isn’t a strategy—it’s an outcome. Specifically, an outcome of your “growth marketing” efforts.
And to get the most bang for your growth marketing buck, you need to decide how you want to grow before throwing dollars at strategies and tactics.
There are four main ways in which you can grow:
1️⃣ Expand into new markets – Reach entirely new industries or geographies.
2️⃣ Increase market share – Capture more customers within your existing space.
3️⃣ Optimize efficiency – Improve conversion rates and lower acquisition costs.
4️⃣ Grow revenue per customer – Increase the lifetime value of existing clients.
The mistake many geospatial companies make? Trying to do all of these at once, or a mish-mash without a clear priority. That’s how marketing efforts become scattered, and results stay flat.
Instead, you need to focus your marketing strategy based on your growth objective. Here’s how to align your efforts to get real traction.
1. Expanding Into New Markets? You Need Demand Generation.
Breaking into a new industry or geography is one of the hardest forms of growth, because you’re starting from scratch.
For example, say your geospatial platform has been widely used in forestry for years, and now you want to enter commercial real estate. You can’t assume the same messaging, channels, or content will work. This new audience may not even realize how geospatial data can help them.
That means your marketing focus needs to be awareness first. Before they consider your product, they need to understand why they should care.
How do you do that?
- Industry-Specific Storytelling – Don’t just repurpose existing content. Translate your value into their world. For real estate developers, this might mean case studies on site selection and risk assessment—not just “GIS solutions for real estate.”
- SEO & Inbound Marketing – Find the questions your new audience is already asking. Optimize for their search terms, not just generic GIS-related keywords.
- Partnerships & Co-Marketing – Breaking into an industry is easier if you align with established players. Team up with trusted firms in that space to accelerate credibility.
If nobody in your new market knows you exist, your biggest marketing challenge isn’t selling—it’s education.
2. Increasing Market Share? You Need More Visibility.
Maybe you’re not trying to break into a new space—you just want a bigger share of the one you’re already in. But if your competitors have stronger brand recognition, you’ll keep getting overlooked.
This is where differentiation becomes critical. If your messaging sounds like every other geospatial company, customers have no reason to choose you.
To increase market share, you need to own a clear, defensible position.
- Clarify Your Competitive Edge – If a potential buyer lands on your site, can they tell in five seconds why you’re different? If not, your positioning needs work.
- Refine Your Messaging – Speak to specific pain points instead of using vague, feel-good language like “geospatial insights for better decisions.”
- Go Beyond Your Owned Channels – You can’t increase market share by just posting on your own blog. Be where your customers already spend time—whether that’s LinkedIn, industry forums, or conferences.
At this stage, your goal isn’t just visibility—it’s making sure when people think about your category, they think about you.
3. Capturing Market Share More Efficiently? Focus on Conversion & Acquisition Costs.
What if you’re getting traffic, but it’s not converting? What if leads are dropping off before they become customers?
This isn’t a market awareness problem—it’s an efficiency problem. And the solution isn’t more leads, but better conversion.
Say you provide geospatial analytics for insurance companies, and your sales team keeps hearing the same objection: “We already have GIS capabilities in-house.” That’s a sign your messaging isn’t addressing a key barrier to conversion.
Fixing that requires:
- Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO) – Test different landing page copy, CTAs, and pricing pages to see what removes friction. Small tweaks (like adding ROI case studies) can make a big impact.
- Paid Acquisition & Retargeting – If you’re running ads but seeing high costs per lead, refine targeting. Are you reaching decision-makers, or just GIS specialists who don’t control the budget?
- Marketing Ops & Analytics – Audit your funnel. Where are prospects dropping off? What objections stop them from converting? Data should drive your fixes, not guesswork.
In short: If leads are slipping through the cracks, your first step isn’t more marketing—it’s better marketing.
4. Growing Revenue Per Customer? Focus on Retention & Expansion.
Acquiring new customers is expensive. But increasing revenue from existing customers? That’s efficient.
If you’re already bringing in clients, the fastest way to grow is by maximizing customer lifetime value.
For example, if your geospatial SaaS company sells a base mapping product, but higher-tier customers benefit from predictive analytics, you have an upsell opportunity. But if your customers don’t understand how much value they’re leaving on the table, they won’t buy more.
So, how do you increase customer revenue?
- Improve Onboarding & Education – If customers don’t fully adopt your platform, they won’t upgrade. Provide clear training, webinars, and support to get them to full usage.
- Expand the Account – Cross-sell complementary services. If a company uses your software for flood risk assessment, can they also use it for wildfire modeling?
- Strengthen Customer Relationships – Your best customers are your biggest advocates. Stronger engagement leads to referrals, testimonials, and expansion opportunities.
If you’re not maximizing revenue per customer, you’re missing one of the lowest-hanging-fruit opportunities for growth.
The Bottom Line
If you’re an enterprise with a large marketing team, you can tackle multiple strategies at once. But for most geospatial brands—often operating with lean marketing teams—you have to prioritize.
Pick the strategy that aligns with your biggest opportunity. Focus your efforts. Get traction. Then expand.
Trying to do everything at once? That’s how you end up looking good but going nowhere.
So, which growth strategy makes the most sense for your business right now?
Not sure where to focus your $$ and attention? 👉 Contact us to have a chat about where you’re at and we’ll offer you our best advice (no obligation, so sales pitch)