Step-by-step Guide to Building a Proximity Map

Quick answer

A proximity map is a powerful business tool that visualizes a radius around a central point to help businesses understand spatial relationships and optimize their operations.

Key takeaways on proximity maps:

Also known as a buffer or radius map, it uses circles to represent distances or drive times
It helps businesses understand spatial relationships between customers, partners, and competitors
It is used for market analysis, site selection, targeted marketing, and competitive analysis
Proximity maps help to identify customer hotspots, find coverage gaps, and model what-if scenarios to reduce risk
The real value of these maps lies in their ability to distill complex data into dynamic visualizations for better decision-making

Understanding geography is critical for businesses. Knowing where your customers, partners, and competitors are located allows you to optimize your operations, target the right markets, and gain a competitive edge. This is where proximity maps come in handy.

Proximity maps visualize the landscape around key locations, highlighting spatial relationships and opportunities. With detailed proximity data, businesses can identify customer hot spots, find gaps in coverage, scout potential sites, enhance logistics, benchmark competitors, and more.

Proximity map with separate 25 and 50 mile radiuses

In this guide, we’ll explore proximity maps and how to use them. You’ll learn what they are, what makes them so useful for business analysis, and how to easily create your own customized proximity map using mapping software. Let’s get started.

What is a Proximity Map?

A proximity map illustrates the area surrounding a central point or points. Known also as a buffer map or radius map, it shows concentric circles radiating outwards from target locations. The circles depict precise distances, with data and features contained within each incremental buffer zone.

Proximity maps harness the power of geography to unlock spatial insights. Instead of poring over spreadsheets or placing mental pins on static maps, users can now dynamically map locations in relation to other key map elements.

By overlaying circles of various sizes on a map, you can visually analyze the density, distribution, and proximity factor of key information as it relates to fixed sites or locations. Customizable parameters allow you to filter data, set specific distances, and only display relevant metrics within each circular boundary.

What sets proximity maps apart is this radial view showing the terrain and tangible elements contained within predefined areas. Whether it’s 5 miles, 50 miles, or 500 miles from a center point, proximity mapping lets you see what’s happening around venues, offices, distribution hubs, or any geospatial reference point.

What Are Proximity Maps Used For?

Proximity maps have use cases across virtually every industry for diverse purposes like market planning, site selection, territory management, supply chain management, and demographic segmentation.

Any process that deals with the "where" can benefit from proximity mapping. Pinpointing not just where target markets, materials, or assets currently reside but also the spatial relationship to planned locations spotlights optimization opportunities. Let’s look at some applications that provide actionable business insights.

1. Market analysis

Proximity maps offer expansive views of target buyer density, consumer behaviors, demographic trends, and gaps in coverage down to the neighborhood level. Brands can identify untapped pockets of demand and tailor outreach while also monitoring the impact of factors like new competitive openings. This level of market intelligence guides effective targeting amid shifting consumer patterns.

2. Site selection

Launching new locations requires balancing opportunity with competition. Evaluating the proximity between a new location and target customers, as well as competitors, is therefore crucial. Proximity mapping visually defines trade areas for existing sites while revealing where market demand exceeds supply.

Proximity maps enable scenario modeling of "what if" analyses to reduce risk. Site selectors can additionally model overlapping coverage from planned additions against current stores, projecting sales transferability and cannibalization risk. This insight steers opening decisions and territory modeling.

3. Targeted marketing

Understanding existing customers' proximity to locations also fuels sharper local marketing. A proximity map of loyalty members would spotlight highly engaged neighborhoods as well as nearby areas holding potential.

Marketers can hyper-target campaigns to acquire similar consumer segments within a defined radius. Tactics may range from direct mail and local events to enhanced deals for neighboring households.

4. Logistics and supply chain management

Streamlining logistics hinges on mapping relationships between operating facilities, transit routes, suppliers, and receivers. Proximity analysis determines the closest, least costly routing options for supply chain movements.

Transportation planners can run comparisons of estimated drive times, mileage, and associated costs across potential routes. The visual intelligence better optimizes freight, fleet operations, and yard management.

5. Competitive analysis

Keeping pace with rivals depends on accurately mapping their spheres of influence. Displaying competitor sites in relation to a brand's own web reveals prime locations for new units and areas at risk for share shift. Proximity maps help managers evaluate brand penetration across locales while informing local share-building strategies.

How to Make a Proximity Map

Creating proximity maps with eSpatial's powerful mapping software is a straightforward process. The following steps will guide you through defining your objective, using the radius tool to plot buffers, setting the appropriate parameters, and analyzing your results to gain spatial insights.

1. Define your objective

Like any effective business tool, proximity maps should serve specific intelligence needs. Start by framing the key questions or decisions the map aims to inform, whether exploring new market entry opportunities or projecting sales transfer from a pending store closure.

Defined objectives clarify the points requiring analysis like existing locations, competitor sites, demographic trends, natural features, and other spatial elements that influence your focus.

2. Choose a mapping software

Turning disparate location data into a dynamic visual map requires mapping and analytics software. Cloud-based mapping solutions often serve as a centralized proximity data management platform, enabling access from anywhere while providing a hub for importing, analyzing, and visualizing blended data.

The software's radius mapping functionality transforms raw latitude-longitude coordinates into understandable 360-degree views of proximity relationships. You can define precise drive time and distance parameters using proximity control (meaning the ability to set exact radii distances, drive times, and data filters).

This enables customized analysis of density, gaps, and competitive factors within user-defined map boundaries. At a glance, users gain perspective on concentrations, gaps, overlaps, and more within the established parameters.

3. Use the radius tool

Initiate analysis by selecting point locations pertinent to the objective, say existing store sites slated to close or proposed target sites for new store openings. The radius tool maps circular buffer zones of different distances around each site.

Most radius mapping tools allow users to:

Adjust radius size from 1 mile up to 150-mile+ regional buffers
Set unique radii of different mileages for distinct locations
Model variable overlaps in coverage through multi-location proximity to destination method analysis
Apply filters limiting displayed data

Besides distance, savvy proximity analysis also factors in drive time. Actual travel routes seldom resemble perfect circles. Drive time lassos account for road infrastructure and other impediments that alter access from theoretical proximity location mileage.

4. Set parameters

Proximity analysis delivers the most relevant insights when key parameters align with the intended use case. Retail site selectors, for example, care mostly about 5 and 10-mile radius pulls as those drive times typically define existing store trade areas. Parameters might include:

Buffer distances/drive times
Included datasets – Customer density counts, competitor sites by brand, household income levels
Basemap – Roads to show true drive time, imagery to display surrounding landscape
Visual settings like color-coded buffers, transparency, boundaries

Consider all variables influencing decisions or likely to shift over time — from products carried to traffic flows — to ensure mapping the right data inputs.

5. Analyze the results

Proximity mapping serves to distill and display complex data blended across enterprise sources and external public data sets into dynamic visual intelligence.

The real value comes from properly analyzing and interpreting the map. For instance, seemingly minor proximity place differences illustrated in overlaying 5-mile versus 20-mile buffers significantly alter surrounding demographic and competitive forces.

Common analytical tasks enabled through proximity mapping include:

Hot spot analysis – Identifying clusters, high-density areas, and spatial proximity networking between locations
Threshold analysis – Isolating areas meeting defined population, income, or competitor density criteria
Line densification – Tracking changes along routes over time
Boundary planning – Model territory alignment scenarios
What-if analysis – Projecting impact of new sites based on existing site patterns

An in-depth proximity map serves as both an analysis tool and a presentation mechanism. Transforming location intelligence into compelling data visualization supports clearer operational decision-making and stakeholder reporting.

Mapping Solutions For
Businesses From eSpatial

As a data-driven business, getting the most from your location information is critical to outmaneuvering rivals. Proximity mapping provides that competitive edge by revealing relationships, trends, and insights hidden within disparate data.

eSpatial's powerful mapping software makes it easy to collect, manage, and visualize geospatial data from across the enterprise, integrated with trusted public and proprietary data sets. Purpose-built mapping tools require no coding or special GIS skills to generate proximity and radial analysis at enterprise speed and scale.

Maximize the power of proximity mapping with eSpatial, an intuitive territory mapping software and territory management software for visualizing key data by location. Get started with a 14-day free trial today to experience the game-changing power of proximity maps!

Frequently Asked Questions

My Team Spends Hours Exporting CRM Data to Spreadsheets Just to Figure Out Which Customers Are Near a Specific Location for a Field Visit, and It's Always Out of Date. How Does a Proximity Map Solve This Without the Manual Exporting and Guesswork?

A proximity map instantly plots your live CRM data, allowing you to draw a radius around any point and immediately see every customer or lead within that specific area. Stop wasting time with static, error-prone spreadsheets. A proximity map gives you a dynamic, visual understanding of your data in seconds. You can instantly identify all the accounts within a 10-mile radius of a key customer, plan an efficient multi-stop trip for a field rep, or quickly notify customers in a specific geographic area about a local event, all using up-to-date information directly from your CRM.

We're Planning a Regional Marketing Event and I Need to Find the Best Location That's Easiest for Most of Our High-value Customers to Attend. Our CRM Address List is Just a Wall of Text. How Can I Use Proximity Analysis to Find the Optimal Event Location?

Proximity analysis allows you to map all your high-value customers and visually identify the center of their geographic cluster, ensuring you choose an event location that maximizes attendance. Instead of guessing based on an address list, you can instantly see where your most important customers are concentrated. By identifying the "center of gravity" for your key accounts, you can confidently book a venue that is convenient for the majority, boosting your registration numbers and ensuring your event budget is spent effectively.

My Top Sales Rep Just Left, and I Need to Reassign Their Accounts to the Rest of the Team Quickly and Fairly, but I Don't Have a Good Way to See Who is Physically Closest to Each Account. How Does a Proximity Map Prevent This From Turning Into a Logistical Mess?

A proximity map lets you visualize the locations of the vacant accounts and your existing reps simultaneously, so you can reassign territories based on who is closest, minimizing travel time and ensuring equitable distribution. This avoids the typical chaos of reassigning accounts based on gut feelings or incomplete data. You can make objective, data-driven decisions that balance the workload, reduce fuel costs, and maintain service continuity for your customers, turning a potentially disruptive situation into a smooth transition.

We’re Trying to Launch a Hyper-local Advertising Campaign, but We're Basically Guessing Which Neighborhoods to Target. How Can I Use Proximity Mapping to Ensure Our Ad Spend is Actually Reaching Our Ideal Customers?

Proximity mapping helps you identify where your most profitable customers live and work, allowing you to focus your ad spend on those specific locations for a much higher return on investment. Stop wasting money advertising in areas where your target audience isn't. By plotting your existing customer data, you can uncover "hotspots" of opportunity and use drive-time or radius analysis to define precise boundaries for your campaign, ensuring every dollar is spent reaching the people most likely to buy.

Our Franchise Operates in Dense Urban Areas, and We Need to Ensure Any New Location We Open Doesn't Cannibalize Sales From Our Existing Stores. How Can Proximity Analysis Help Us Identify Safe, High-potential Sites for Expansion?

Proximity analysis allows you to map your existing locations and their trade areas, instantly revealing geographic gaps in the market and preventing you from opening a new site that overlaps with a current one. This moves your site selection from guesswork to a data-driven strategy. By visualizing drive-time zones or simple distance buffers around each current store, you can clearly see underserved areas and confidently identify new locations that will capture fresh market share without negatively impacting your existing business.

I'm Worried This is Just Another Complex Mapping Tool That My Sales Team Won't Adopt. They Live in the CRM and Excel. How Do You Make Proximity Mapping Simple Enough for Even the Least Tech-savvy Rep to Use?

eSpatial is designed for simplicity and seamless CRM integration, allowing your team to create a proximity map and get answers in just three clicks without ever leaving their familiar workflow. We understand that if a tool isn't easy, it won't be used. That's why we focus on an intuitive interface that feels like a natural extension of your existing systems. Reps can get the location insights they need—like finding the nearest accounts to their current location—quickly, so they can spend more time selling and less time fighting with software.

I Need to Convince My VP of Sales That This is a Worthwhile Investment. How Can I Prove the ROI of Proximity Mapping Beyond Just Making Our Reports Look Prettier?

You can justify the ROI by demonstrating how proximity mapping directly leads to reduced fuel costs, increased sales activity, and more balanced territories that improve quota attainment. This isn't about aesthetics; it's about efficiency and revenue. With proximity analysis, you can build a clear business case showing how optimizing a sales rep's daily route can cut travel time by 20%, allowing for more customer meetings per week. You can also show how balanced territories prevent rep burnout and reduce costly turnover.

My Marketing Director is Skeptical of Any New Tech Investment Unless I Can Show How It Directly Impacts Lead Generation and Campaign Performance. How Do I Build the Business Case for Proximity Analysis From a Marketing Perspective?

You can build the business case by showing how proximity analysis improves marketing campaign ROI by lowering customer acquisition costs and increasing conversion rates through precise, geographically-focused targeting. The value is in eliminating wasted marketing spend. You can demonstrate how targeting a direct mail campaign to only the top 10% of relevant ZIP codes—identified through proximity analysis—can yield a higher response rate for a fraction of the cost. This allows you to prove that you're not just spending money, but investing it where it will generate the most leads and revenue.