When you think of consumer location data, you probably think of proximity ads, like coupons and special offers that get pushed to people nearby. While location data does enable a variety of advertising and marketing initiatives, what’s often overlooked is its broader, strategic business power.

Location informed insights — generated from opt-in data that is thoroughly cleansed and, most importantly, aggregated and anonymized — can provide restaurants with a rich source of information about their current and prospective customers, telling the stories of where they go and what they do there. Armed with these insights, restaurants can better understand the markets in which they operate, the behaviors and motivations of their patrons (and future patrons), the foot traffic patterns in the neighborhoods they serve, and gain the ability to understand the same information about their competition.

From real estate to menu development — here are four ways that you can get started with consumer location data.