Map Marketing

Posted: March 24, 2001

Even the most effective business plan can leave you high and dry without a targeted marketing campaign. Companies both large and small dedicate a great deal of resources to the production of high quality advertising collateral.

Colleges and vocational schools produce thousands of talented individuals who understand demographics, psychology, graphic design, and everything else needed to put together hard-hitting ads.

OEM and ODM companies are direct marketing experts-they know their customers, and they know where to find them. These behind-the-scenes, non-branded companies work hard to make sure they connect with the major businesses that will help them reach that next level of success.

But something’s missing here. How do the major companies get out of the minor leagues? What separates a fast-food chain like McDonald’s from the relatively less successful Wendy’s? And perhaps the most important question: Is there something small- and medium-sized business can learn from the big boys?

To answer the last question first: yes, small- and medium-sized companies can take away valuable lessons from the success of major companies. A lot goes into making a company a success-McDonald’s has famously introduced the concept of standardization. It costs them extra to use Idaho potatoes in their Chinese franchises’ French fries, but they consider this a worthwhile investment.

Their lesser-known secret to success is something called “map marketing”. Groundbreaking research techniques have produced data-maps that can analyze areas by labor specialization, income, age, traffic patterns, and a host of other criteria.

McDonald’s uses these maps to powerful effect, and in fact many other major companies simply follow McDonald’s franchises when opening a new branch. But the secret’s out, so how do ambitious small- and medium-sized business owners stay ahead of the curve?

The best strategy is to utilize the Internet to create a marketing campaign built around your business. Map marketing is a great way to stretch your advertising dollar-it makes sure your marketing budget is put to the most effective use possible.

You wouldn’t sell space heaters in west Texas, and you wouldn’t sell Dodgers memorabilia in San Francisco-so make sure to get the data and avoid being left in the dark. If you want a clear path to putting your business on the map, look into map marketing.

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