Maps, mashups and marketing

Mashups are Web 2.0 generation sites that very smartly incorporate and blend content and functionality from other, often large sites.

The term 'Web 2.0' first appeared in 2004, to describe a new direction being taken in website content. Driven by developments in technology, Web 2.0 takes advantage of the sheer size of web audiences by steering a shift towards user generated content of many kinds, and more interactive and engaging content.

The aim is that Web 2.0 content should make visiting a website a more interesting and fulfilling experience for a user, rather than just the delivery of information to them like pages from a book.

In the mix
The term 'mash-up' originated in the music business to describe remixing songs. Later, computer programmers borrowed the phrase to describe the mix of content from different online sources in one website.

A staple Web 2.0 feature, Mashup sites can offer added value content and an enhanced visitor experience, simply by taking advantage of content sharing opportunities.

The road to Google maps

One of the most popular applications of this content sharing approach is the use of interactive maps, like Google maps. Google maps are notsimply an embedded map on your contact page for example. They offer anopportunity to use more than one data source (hence the term 'mashup') so you can for example plot the points of your branch offices on a map.

This content sharing opportunity has been made use of extensively by property finder websites, for example.

But you don't need to be a property sales website to make use of Google maps. With some sound ideas of your target market and some brightideas, Maps can be used by any organisation to:

• Add value to a website
• Improve the customer experience
• Generate cross-sell and up-sell opportunities

The award winning WaterAid site uses Google maps to stunning effect:
www.wateraid.org/uk/what_we_do/where_we_work/uganda

Here, Fair Trade use maps ingeniously, to encourage visitor interaction:

www.fairtrade.org.uk/get_involved/campaigns/map_of_local_campaigns.aspx