Market Map Method

By Rob Tyrie · Method guide · October 25, 2026

A market map is not a company list. It is a working model of how a market can actually be entered. The Ironstone Market Map Method connects market structure, evidence of demand and a practical approach to priority accounts.

Five connected areas of work

Market Mapping: identify the participants and their relationships. Include manufacturers, parent companies, brands, direct sellers, distributors, dealers, installers, retailers and adjacent categories where they matter to the market.

Owned-Media Mining: examine what organisations say in their own websites, product material and public communications. A company's claim is evidence of its positioning, not automatic proof of the claim.

External Enrichment: add relevant independent and public evidence. Record the source, date, confidence and unresolved conflicts rather than filling every blank with a plausible answer.

Demand Mapping: identify the buyer's problem, buying triggers, influential people and publications, channels and alternatives. Ask what creates a reason to act.

Account Penetration Planning: turn the map into an approach. Identify who matters, where the Economic Control Point sits, how long a decision takes, whether local capacity can convert demand and which Campaign Motion can work. Optimise for account penetrability, not merely an email address.

Marketing Mapper: a worked illustration

This is a hypothetical example, not a client result. A manufacturer sells through a dealer network and wants to introduce one new offer in one region. A company list might identify dealers. The method asks a harder question: can a particular dealer reach the right buyer, explain the offer and fulfil the resulting demand?

The map connects the manufacturer, dealers, installers, customer segments and influential channels. Research separates verified product and coverage information from assumptions about local demand. A seasonal buying trigger may suggest a campaign, but only after checking dealer capacity and the person who controls the spending decision.

The resulting brief proposes priority accounts, buyer questions, positioning options, evidence required for claims and one bounded channel test. Sales checks whether the enquiries are relevant and actionable. Weak results return us to the map: the segment, message, channel or capacity assumption may be wrong.

Marketing Mapper is the developed idea for applying this work through agentic systems. Agents can assemble evidence and propose the map. People approve claims, outreach, publishing and spending. It is not a finished commercial product.

A starting prompt

Map the market for [offer] in [geography] for [buyer segment]. Work through Market Mapping, Owned-Media Mining, External Enrichment, Demand Mapping and Account Penetration Planning. Identify the participants, relationships, Economic Control Points, Trigger Events, decision timing, conversion capacity and possible Campaign Motions. For each material claim, give its source and date. Separate facts, inferences and unanswered questions. Do not invent contacts, demand or customer results. Produce a prioritised map, research gaps and one proposed test. Do not contact anyone, publish or spend money without approval.

Use and limitations

The map is a decision aid, not a prediction that an account will buy. Revisit it when evidence changes. Its value depends on the quality and relevance of its sources and on testing assumptions with the people who understand the market.

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