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Once upon a time, when paper and static PDFs ruled the world, maps were simply a way to get from Point A to Point B. Today however, the new generation of custom interactive maps are experiences in and of themselves.
For location-based businesses like resorts, theme parks and entertainment venues, custom interactive maps serve as an opportunity to bring guests into your world and engage them with immersive elements. And brands who do so are seeing the payoff: 73% of respondents in a recent study reported a moderate to significant impact on customer engagement from using geospatial services to communicate information.
With the right map design software, it's possible to provide guests with perfectly on-brand maps that go far beyond navigation. Here’s how location-based businesses can best leverage custom interactive maps for an unforgettable guest experience.
According to cognitive psychologist Jerome Bruner, facts are 22 times more likely to be remembered when they’re presented as a story. Every touchpoint—from your website and ads to your mobile app and venue itself—is an opportunity to tell a story, communicate your brand values, and build trust and emotional connections with your guests.
Think of custom interactive maps as yet another tool in your storytelling arsenal. The key is building thematic maps that sync up with the image of your business. That means that software for map design should allow you to create maps that are branded, animated and engaging while integrating seamlessly with your mobile app.
We created MapLayr to do just that since we weren’t satisfied with the options available on the market. While major players like Google Maps and Apple Maps have powerful wayfinding functionality, options for branding are extremely limited, which means your maps could stick out like a sore thumb when combined with a white-labelled mobile app.
MapLayr, the wayfinding tool behind our mobile platform, was purpose-built for location-based businesses, and now the MapLayr SDK is available to integrate with any custom mobile app. With immersive, interactive features that are completely customisable, the magic of your park, resort or attraction is carried over to the mobile mapping experience. No longer will your map be just a transactional navigation tool; with MapLayr, it becomes core to your brand’s story and the guest experience.
MapLayr is quick and easy to integrate with your custom mobile app. Simply add a package dependency and plug in your API key. There’s minimal coding involved so that developers can focus on a user experience that tells your brand’s story.
With an SDK built for flexibility, here are some of the many ways that MapLayr lets you customise your maps:
In addition to the beautifully branded experience you get with MapLayr, we also put the guest in the driver’s seat with the ability to tilt, rotate and zoom as they navigate with dynamic wayfinding. Plus, there’s full offline availability so that all of these custom features are available even when there’s no internet connectivity.
While hundreds of venues worldwide rely on Attractions.io for their mobile app platform, others have begun using the MapLayr SDK with their own custom mobile apps. One of these is Cedar Fair, known for their record-breaking coasters and award-winning water parks.
As Cedar Fair set out to relaunch their mobile app across 13 theme park locations, they wanted to improve upon their maps, which weren’t adding much to the guest experience. The navigation was functional, but that was all, and they wanted to create new maps that would wow guests and tell their brand story with interactive features and superior functionality. Most importantly, they needed software for map design that would scale across their 13 properties, conveying the atmosphere and theme of each individual park.
As Cedar Fair researched various solutions, they found that many digital mapping platforms were built for roadways or for indoor spaces like malls. These solutions wouldn’t be able to capture the visual identity of Cedar Fair’s parks, so they turned to MapLayr to help infuse their maps with spot-on branding and storytelling capabilities.
By conducting an initial test at Carowinds, Cedar Fair saw that MapLayr was able to capture the park’s atmosphere. “It's been amazing to see how the illustrators work,” said Cedar Fair VP of Digital Jim Denny. “These people have never walked through our park, but when I'm onsite and looking at one of our buildings on the map, it's perfect–even down to the dormers and engravings. I'm scratching my head thinking about how your team saw that level of detail."
Since relaunching their app, Carowinds has had overwhelmingly positive feedback from guests, and exit surveys highlight the maps and wayfinding functionality as one of the app’s highest-scoring features. Thanks to this success, Cedar Fair will roll out MapLayr’s custom interactive maps across all 13 theme park locations in 2024.
With the proliferation of virtual reality and the growing popularity of the metaverse, consumer expectations are shifting towards ever-more immersive brand experiences. But, according to a recent McKinsey survey, these consumers are less interested in futuristic experiences than they are in immersive experiences grounded in reality with real-world applications. And what fits that description more perfectly than custom interactive maps?
MapLayr helps location-based businesses unlock the storytelling potential of maps with on-brand features that immerse guests in your world. When it comes to marketing and product development, these types of immersive maps can lead to greater guest satisfaction, deeper customer engagement and better brand loyalty. Maps, once built purely for navigation, are now a strategic part of creating memorable, magical guest experiences.
Ready to learn more about integrating MapLayr with your custom mobile app? Visit Attractions.io, or book a demo now.
