Featured Map Store Publisher - Benchmark Maps

Tara Cotter

Mar 1, 2019

Opening Up Digital Space for Benchmark Maps

Benchmark Maps could use its own maps to help navigate between offices in Santa Barbara, California; Medford, Oregon; Denver, Colorado and Seattle, Washington. Despite the geographic range, this award-winning team of cartographers works tirelessly to create useful and visually appealing maps complete with details and data that travelers need in order to maximize their experience.

The team drives tens of thousands of miles in each state to field-check the accuracy of its road and recreation data, making them unique among recreation map publishers. Over the years they have built a loyal customer base of discriminating map users from all over the world. Benchmarks Maps is also our latest Featured Publisher.

With printed maps and atlases being the mainstay of Benchmark's business since its inception in 1995, they realized that even with extensive placement in retail outlets and e-commerce websites, consumers were increasingly looking for other ways to consume maps - most notably on mobile devices.

“Digital versions of our maps have become a must for many of our customers."

"After going down the rough road of native app development, we quickly realized we just needed to find a better digital map marketplace, one in which our customers could shop and consume our maps along with other maps, reliably." says Bridger DeVille, Sales & Marketing Director, from Benchmark Maps.

In response Benchmark began offering georeferenced digital versions its maps in the Avenza Maps Store, available for purchase by app users.

"We definitely saw sales grow on the Avenza Map Store as we released more maps and marketed them on our website. It has created a great new sales channel for us, and one that is very easy to maintain since product management is so easy."

Benchmark puts its digital maps up front on its website home page, alongside the other product categories, for maximum visibility. Customers looking to buy digital maps are directed to the Map Store to complete the purchase. "There are close to a million maps in the Map Store, so you have to make it easy for your audience to find yours. Direct links to great looking product pages in the Map Store take care of that. Our customers now find it easy to shop, buy, and use our digital maps."

Benchmark currently offers in the Map Store close to 60 of its 'Landscape Maps' (the most detailed and largest scales) from their popular Road & Recreation atlases of the Western US and Alaska (the one map they always wanted to make!) New maps of Texas are on the slate for 2018.