Individually tailored maps - with content driven by your data

Unleash the power of 1-to-1 marketing with individually 'map personalised' direct mail and email communications. Along with your sales message, each communication can now include a colourful personalised map. Not just a generic map showing where you’re located, but a totally unique one-of-a-kind map showing how, for example, your customer or prospect gets from their home or office to your front door.

These attention-getting maps break through the clutter of generic mail and email and deliver information needed to find you, locate other locations, or see where the closest offers unique to each person can be found.

Recipients of communications containing customised maps have been shown to generate a 40% higher response than those who receive a static map or no map at all. Source: April 2006 article in Graphic Arts Monthly - The campaign used a control group that received only name and address personalisation. Recipients of the customised map generated 40% higher response rates and went on to spend twice as much on boating merchandise at the store. 

Tech4T can create individually personalised map images for inclusion in your loyalty, product launch, event or 'welcome' mail or email campaign, from just a few hundred to tens of millions, each generated from attributes in customer or prospect data - using any number of rules on what to display for each recipient.

When communicating with prospects or customers, if your business has some kind of geographic basis with regard to where your products or services can be obtained, or if you are running an event or inviting people to visit an attraction, there is no better way to deliver this information than by using individually personalised maps.

These would be included in direct mail and email communications, or could feature on 121 microsite web pages.

For instance, an information service provider may wish to show residents the nearest X places to eat or drink based on the distance between the consumer's home location and each restaurant.

Maps could also be linked to promotional activities and competitions - such as 'find the pot of gold' - where each map shows several locations close to the consumer's home where the gold is located, and asks the recipient to pick the location number from the map to try to win. This generates increased response.

Customer example

A large financial services company wanted to send a 'welcome pack' mailing to several million customers to launch a new incentive scheme for selected retailers.

Working with their digital printers, the challenge was to include an individually customised map in each mailing piece, with each map image being embedded within the personalised letter created using a digital printing process.

The map was to show each customer's location, and, based on varying drive-time rules, displaying a pre-defined number of individually selected retailers.

We developed the analysis and mapping application, and generated the maps in just a few weeks, whilst at the same time creating statistics for every individual in terms of the nearest outlets that were displayed.

Using each consumer's sales transactions following the mailing, the client could then determine which, if any, of the retailers shown on the map, benefitted from an increase in trade.

What's possible?

We can develop almost any kind of map and apply whatever rules you wish to vary the locations displayed. Maps can be generated for any country in the world.

Symbols can be varied based on categories in your data, such as industry type, and we can change the map backdrop, limit points based on customers, prospects, retail or trade outlets, etc., optionally constrained by territory or other perameters, and vary the output size and map zoom level so that your promotional campaign gets the best possible results.

We can also include pie and bar charts to show the trading preferences (or history) of each individual, as well as embedding any amount of variable text within or around the map image to help entice the recipient to take action.

'Nearest' locations can be selected based on straight line distance, drive time, or driving distance, and custom legends can be created as part of the map image to provide more details - i.e. the name, address, telephone, email and website of locations featured on the map, and even include special offers that may be offered by some of the outlets displayed.

A few individually personalised map applications - all helping increase loyalty

• Introducing a new service using welcome packs that include a personalised map. This could be to help increase market penetration, sales value and frequency or to improve loyalty for affiliates  

• Launching a new retail outlet or trade counter, and showing the prospect its location in relation to their home

• Introducing new stockists to your customer or prospects, or showing nearest branch, store, office. Ideal for franchise operations

• Showing the 'nearest' accommodation, entertainment, activity, places of interest to visit, car parks, drop-off/pick-up location, shop, trade centre... to each and every individual on your database. Ideal for travel brochures - printed and online - where places of interest are shown with respect to the proximity of the accommodation

• For membership directories, network services, etc., showing the location of members in relation to other members or to the consumer

• Inviting prospects to an event (conference, seminar, exhibition, show), with each map showing the event location in relation to that of the individual.

• 'Pick one' competitions where each individual map shows X locations where 'a prize' can be found

• Showing the location of nearest medical support to the consumer - doctor, hospital, dentist, clinic...

• 'Nearest schools to properties' - ideal for estate agents, or nearest new properties, show houses, etc.

Find out how we can help increase the response to your direct marketing using individually personalised maps and images.

Give Tech4T a call on +44 (0)1733 890790 or email map@tech4t.co.uk