So you think you have the perfect product. Maybe it’s an all-in-one toaster, omelet fryer, and coffee maker. Or a telephone that auto-dials contacts at pre-programmed times, making that Saturday afternoon phone call to mom easier to remember. How about a toilet paper dispenser that automatically re-orders toilet paper from your local supermarket when the roll gets low? Regardless of your product is, one thing is certain: you will need to identify the consumer or consumers most likely to purchase it. When Mind Maps are a creative and effective way to design product-to-consumer flowcharts, and they can help facilitate the brainstorming process surrounding identifying your target buyer.

Using Mind Mapping to Put Together a Product-to-Consumer Flow Chart

Mind Mapping is a means of depicting information, or “mapping out” ideas using words, images, colors, and other visual representations. Information constructed in this manner is thought to stimulate the brain’s natural learning functionality, because it makes use of several learning pathways, rather than just one. With Mind Maps, the brain must process words, colors and images, not just words alone. This engages multiple areas of the brain, allowing thoughts to flow more easily and intuitively.¹ Mind Maps are, therefore, a natural choice for brainstorming to create marketing flowcharts that help identify buyers.

The first step in creating a product-to-consumer flow chart is to represent the product as the central topic of the Mind Map. This topic should be located in the center of the map. Next, the main uses or functions of the product should be attached to the central image, and listed on “branches” flowing from the image. Any product sub-uses that you feel are important to note should be listed next, and attached to the “branches” on “child-branches”. Lastly, decide what groups are most likely to benefit from the uses or functions your product offers, and attach them to the uses/functions using more “child branches”. The attached Mind Map depicts a flow-chart connecting the a product called the “Video Game Cell Phone” to its potential consumer(s) in the manner described above.

Identifying Consumer Target Groups From the Mind Mapped Flow-Chart

As the Mind Map shows, consumers 18-24 are most likely to benefit from all four of the listed uses/functions. Therefore, you might decide that 18-24 year olds are the most likely target base for your product. However, 25-34 year olds appear to likely benefit from three of the four uses your product offers, making those in this age group good targets of your product as well. A marketing campaign focused on consumers age 18-34 thus emerges as the strategy most profitable to pursue. Though simplistic in nature, the attached Mind Map shows how instrumental it can be in the initial brainstorming process for identifying the target consumer. By organizing initial brainstorming ideas in the manner described, marketers can save money and time when deciding where to put the emphasis for a marketing campaign.

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