[GTM glossary](/glossary.md) Market mapping

Market & Targeting

# Market mapping

In short

Market mapping is the practice of building a structured view of a market that lists the companies in it and groups them by traits such as industry, size, region, or use case. The map shows who your accounts are, who competes, and where you have no coverage.

Unlike market analysis, which ends in a conclusion, a market map is a working asset. Sales, marketing, and RevOps use it to plan territories, campaigns, and account lists.

## What goes on a market map

* **Companies:** Every company that could plausibly buy, identified in a consistent way.
* **Segments:** Groupings such as industry, size band, region, or tech stack.
* **Status:** Customer, open opportunity, prospect, competitor customer, or untouched.
* **Fit indicators:** An ICP fit score or tier for each company.

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## How to build a market map

### 1. Define the boundary

Decide which market you are mapping, for example mid-size fintech companies in Europe. A map without a boundary becomes a database dump.

### 2. Collect the universe

Gather companies from a data provider and your CRM, then deduplicate against existing records.

### 3. Segment and tag

Apply the segments that matter to your strategy and mark each company with its status.

### 4. Find the gaps

Look for segments with many good-fit accounts and little activity. That is where whitespace analysis begins.

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## Example use

Say a team maps 8,000 companies, 600 of them customers or open deals. Grouping by industry shows two sub-industries with many fit accounts and no coverage. The team assigns reps and builds a campaign for those two first. The numbers are illustrative.

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## Common mistakes

* **Static snapshot:** Companies change size, stack, and status. Refresh on a schedule.
* **Ignoring CRM data:** A map that does not show existing relationships misleads planning.
* **Too many segments:** If you cannot act on a segment, merge it.

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## Market mapping FAQs

**What is market mapping?**

Market mapping is building a structured view of a market that lists relevant companies and groups them by segment, fit, and status. Teams use it to see their coverage, competitors, and unserved areas before planning territories or campaigns.

**How do you create a market map?**

Define the market boundary, collect companies from data sources and your CRM, deduplicate them, tag them by segment and status, and add a fit score. Then look for segments with many good-fit accounts and little coverage.

**What is the difference between market mapping and market analysis?**

Market analysis studies a market to reach a conclusion or decision. Market mapping produces a working, account-level view of the market that teams keep using to plan coverage, build lists, and spot gaps.

**How often should you update a market map?**

Update it whenever your data, ICP, or strategy changes, and refresh it on a regular schedule such as quarterly. Company size, tech stack, and status shift over time, and an old map hides new opportunities.

Share term

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## More related phrases

* [Market research](/glossary/market-research.md)
* [Persona map](/glossary/persona-map.md)
* [TAM segmentation](/glossary/tam-segmentation.md)

## Similar phrases

* [TAM mapping](/glossary/tam-mapping.md)  
TAM mapping is the process of listing the actual companies inside your total addressable market, so you can see who they are, where they sit, and which to target first.
* [Whitespace analysis](/glossary/whitespace-analysis.md)  
Whitespace analysis identifies accounts, segments, products, or regions where you have little or no presence yet, but where fit and demand suggest revenue potential your team is not capturing.
* [Market segmentation](/glossary/market-segmentation.md)  
Market segmentation is dividing a market into groups of buyers with shared traits or needs so each group can be targeted with its own messaging, offer, and sales approach.
* [Sales territory](/glossary/sales-territory.md)  
A sales territory is a defined set of accounts, usually grouped by geography, industry, or size, assigned to a rep or team so coverage is clear and effort is balanced.
* [Coverage model](/glossary/coverage-model.md)  
A coverage model defines how a sales team divides accounts and markets among reps by territory, segment, industry, or named account, so every target account has a clear owner.