Know your market and make better decisions
9 ways Market Maps improve your business decisions (Infographic)
Market Maps are an efficient method to gather and organize market information for better decision-making. Their purpose is to support your business goals. That’s why you should tailor them to your specific needs according to the goals you set for your business.
In this article, I will show you the different strategic directions market-mapping methods can support. The overview will help you decide if and how a Market Map can back the next strategic decisions you will make.
Is this article relevant for you?
If you want to shift from gut feeling to more-educated decision-making, I recommend reading this article. You will find out if information-based decision-making is the right approach for your business.
The different strategic market mapping directions
Let me show you how a Market Map can support your goals. The graphic will give you an overview.
Let’s dive into the details
As you can see, you can support very different strategic directions with a Market Map. Let’s dig a little deeper and find out how. You should know where you want to go before you start to gather market information. You can then tailor your research and data aggregation to your needs. Yes, that will save you a lot of time. But more importantly, it will improve your Market Map’s support for your decision-making. And that is what counts.
Now, let’s zoom in on the strategic directions.
Gain broader market insights
As soon as you start working on your Market Map, you will certainly get a better understanding of your market. It doesn’t even matter if you’re already an expert or just working your way into a new field. Researching, collecting, and organizing market-related information will uncover new sources of information and fresh insight.
This is the broadest of all categories. You can combine it with all others as it covers a fundamental assumption of market mapping: It will increase your market knowledge.
Improve your products or services
Product and service development needs various sources of information. Customer support, account management, and research and development teams can deliver valuable input.
Market mapping can access external sources of information. When you start collecting information systematically, you will gain insights into competitor offerings, pricing structures, and customers’ thoughts. Gathering this information will help you to get a broader view instead of only relying on internal perspectives. If you know what other market players do and want, you can position your products and services for a better market-fit.
Develop a new product or service
If you understand your market better, you can also identify new opportunities. Can you find gaps in the market you can fill with new products or services? Watch trends that can shape future demand. That will significantly help you to act rather than react and become an early mover in your industry.
Differentiate from competition
How well do you know your competition? Are your offerings similar or different? What makes you unique compared to them?
These questions are essential to set yourself apart from your competition. You can use this information in your promotional messages as well as in pitches and sales conversations. That’s why it’s vital to make your Market Map accessible for partners and staff supporting you with your customer-focused processes. Market mapping will help you distinguish yourself from your competition.
Shape your market position
The better you understand your surrounding market, the better you can influence how the market perceives you, your products, and your services. Positioning is not only about the details of your offerings but about how you communicate them to your prospects, customers, and the rest of the market. Market mapping will help you define your selling proposition.
Acquire a new major account
If you’re selling commodity products, you will not know each of your customers personally. In this case, you will describe your customers with statistics rather than individual profiles. However, the more critical individual customers are for your business, the more time and effort you will invest in gaining new customers. Especially for major accounts, market mapping can deliver crucial insights to define your acquisition tactics. Market mapping will help you improve your closing rate by understanding your prospects and customers better.
Enter a new market
No matter how good you know your current market, if you set sail to conquer new markets, uncertainty will be on your crew. It’s smart to gather market information early in the process to reduce risk. Every bit of information you gain can also support the following decisions on the way to your new market strategy. Or even change your mind before hitting a wall. Market mapping will help you develop and fine-tune the tactics for your market entry.
Attract investors
Are you looking for investors to enter your business? You might find investors specialized in your market segment. But if you hope for more offers, you will have to approach investors from other sectors as well. They need to learn about your business and your market to develop an overall assessment of your investment opportunity. That’s an excellent chance for you to provide them with detailed information that shows your market expertise. It proves that you back your strategy by market intelligence. And you will save the time you would otherwise have to invest during your due diligence. Market mapping will help you attract investors and increase your business’s value.
Look for strategic investments
If you are looking for a strategic investment opportunity, you will need detailed information about your target market. In this case, you’re sitting on the other side of the table and need independent information that can help you assess your investment goal’s value. I recommend you don’t rely only on the information the seller provides. The better you prepare, the easier it will be to identify the weak points of your investment. Market mapping can help you avoid blind spots and negotiate the best price for your investment.
Do you want to learn more?
Connecting your Market Map to your business goals is the first important step on your way to a market mapping pro. If you want to discover the other steps, check out my other articles on this topic.
Step 1: This step :-)
Step 2: Get to know the market players
Step 3: Products and services on the market
Step 4: Watch those who influence the market
Step 5: What are they talking about?
Do you want to apply your knowledge right away?
After going through the list, you should understand the value of a Market Map for your business. It may not be relevant to map all players on your market. But in most cases, there are aspects of your market you could understand better. It depends on your strategy, though.
I know not all of these strategic directions will apply to you. That’s good. Because each of them demands it’s specific information. You should focus on those that are most relevant and tailor your Market Map accordingly. That will save you time and increase your efficiency.
Let me know how it works for you in the comments.
