As I’ve said at the start of many of our articles, it’s no surprise that we’re biased on the importance of interactive maps. With that caveat out of the way, I would like to explain why we believe that an interactive map is an absolutely critical requirement for any digital marketer who has a campus to promote. Specifically, we believe there are three elements that really make the interactive map vital, so we’ll start broadly and work our way up to what we consider the most important.

Use of Technology

Since we are specifying digital marketing here, technology is going to play a huge role in any marketing assets created. Technology has really changed the lineup for all roles at a company and not just marketers. Think about how critical computers and smartphones are to just about everything everyone does on a daily basis!

Because of this, being able to leverage extremely cool (once again biased) technology like a virtual tour and interactive map to market your institution is just simply awesome! It’s fun for the visitors to use, it’s fun to create and update, and even if you are actually on location it’s fun to walk around and see where you are on campus and visit interesting places on the map. All around it’s just a huge win for marketing and administration folks as a whole and leads us into our next point.

Amazing Visual & Graphical Representation

Most of the interactive maps we build for institutions start with a map illustration of campus. This is usually an artistic rendering that includes proportional sizes of buildings and distances of locations but makes everything look polished. There are no unsightly air conditioning units on top of buildings, uncompleted disruptive construction zones, or locations next to campus that might not be manicured to your standards. In addition, your beautiful architecture isn’t hidden by trees the way it might be on satellite imagery. All of these blemishes can be drawn out of the illustrated map. You really can draw your campus to show it’s best features while removing the imperfections that you might not want to show or would only see from an aerial angle. Ultimately, you end up with a stunning marketing piece that can be used for so much more than just the interactive map.

Also, the amazing visuals don’t stop with the map illustration. The points of interest on the interactive map can be embellished with pictures, videos, 360 panoramas, and many other types of stunning media. In fact, the map illustration is just the starting point that drives visitors to discover all the other amazing visuals around campus.

Storytelling

Finally, we believe the most important element of marketing is storytelling. Your campus’s interactive map is the digital canvas for you to tell the story about your institution. In many ways it’s led by visuals and supported by the words used to describe each stop on your map. How many times have we heard that a picture is worth a thousand words?

We believe that an interactive map allows visitors to quickly and efficiently explore your campus. They can read about the different locations and buildings on campus and learn why those locations are important. The ability to see videos and pictures of what goes on in those locations will help them visualize themselves spending time at those locations. These connections help make actually visiting the locations more meaningful and productive because visitors will already have additional context when they visit in person.

Final Takeaway

Do you need any more convincing about why every campus marketer needs an interactive map? Even though we’ve focused on just the marketing side of things, the benefits and uses of an interactive map can add value to so many areas of your campus. An interactive map is such a great and powerful way for visitors to engage and explore your institution, and we believe it should be a cornerstone of your website.

Looking to get started? Drop us a line and we can talk you through the process of adding this game-changing feature to your website.