Managing Projects in SimplyAnalytics

Good afternoon, readers! This week we’re going to talk about project management in SimplyAnalytics and how to best take advantage of it.

Why are projects needed?

Many users  have multiple unique projects going on at the same time. For example, you could be doing: personal research, patron/student assistance, research for a presentation, etc. Projects help keep these unique activities separate from one another to avoid confusion.

What is stored in each project?

All of the locations, variables, business searches, favorites, views, etc. that you use are saved with the project – so each time you login, you can pick up right where you left off.

Getting Started:

The first recommendation we have is to rename your project. You can do this by selecting the “New Project” default title towards the top left of your screen.

Editing the Map Legend

Welcome to this week’s SimplyAnalytics blog post. Today we’re going to take a closer look at the options available to you when editing the map legend. Let’s get started!

First, to start editing your map legend click the Edit button located on the legend itself. Below we’ll discuss what each option does in more detail:

 

Feature Spotlight: Custom Combination Location

This week we’ll talk about one of our favorite features in SimplyAnalytics – the custom combination location. This feature is a simple and effective means to create custom geographies where you’re able to specify the exact makeup for. Let’s jump in.

Why would I want to use this feature?

Sometimes you may want to study a neighborhood in your city, or area that you know of that isn’t necessarily a formal geography itself. One of the common questions we get asked is, “How do I get data for “my neighborhood” or “downtown”?” and that’s a fair question – the problem is, “my neighborhood” or “downtown” is not a formal Census geography, but it’s probably a combination of a few CTs or ZIP Codes. That’s where the Custom Combination Location feature comes into play.

Browsing & Searching for Businesses in SimplyAnalytics

Welcome to our first ever SimplyAnalytics blog! Every Friday we’ll post a write up on a specific feature or highlight some interesting data in SimplyAnalytics. The goal of these posts is to make you more comfortable with the program and teach some interesting tips & tricks along the way.

Today we’ll take a look at the 3 methods of browsing and searching for businesses, and how to take advantage of each. Let’s get started!

 

To overlay businesses onto a map or create a Business report, first ensure you have the Businesses tab selected as shown here.

 

As noted above, there are three ways of adding businesses.

 

1. A general keyword search

2. Advanced search / query

3. Browse by NAICS/SIC codes

 

 

 

 

Visualizing Brand Preference: Athletic Shoes

In previous blog entries, we highlighted the value of having a mapping application to complement premium data when analyzing America’s geographic preferences in credit cards, and mayonnaise brands. This week we’ll take a look at athletic shoe brand preference in the US for adults 18+.

Similar to the previous entries, we will use the SimmonsLOCAL data set to put these maps together. If your institution does not currently subscribe to the SimmonsLOCAL package, feel free to reach out to us about setting up a free 30-day trial. Let’s get started.

The maps below can each be generated in less than a minute! Open up the Variables panel, and find the variables in question at this path: SimmonsLOCAL » APPAREL » SHOES/ FOOTWEAR » SHOES/ FOOTWEAR – BRANDS.