When we started this year we had no idea where 2020 would take us
When we started this year we had planned to work on some important updates that were needed after our relaunch end of last year. Changing a large part of our tech infrastructure to enable our customers to completely self service the trial and purchase process and accommodate the highest flexibility in purchase options proved a heavy burden for our existing infrastructure.
In our business things change faster than a blink of an eye, and some of the foundations that our platform were build on turned legacy quicker than we anticipated. This year the plan was to get a part of that updated.
That in itself was a pretty ambitious project to take on. The other plan was to push our marketing to new heights focussing on our travel niche. Little did we know that as from March 2020 the whole world got to a standstill and the travel space especially was hit hard.
So - assessing the situation would not improve soon - we quickly decided to focus full speed on moving planned items for 2021 forward to this year. And while giving full focus on updating our "tech stack" and further improving security, we also stayed true to focussing on you.
Most of the details are not very comprehensible to share in this post, but allow me to share some highlights:
Product innovations
We delivered some key innovations that made your life easier. We created a completely new Dashboard. It now includes an overview of all that is important to our storyteller communities with simple tables and graphs. We pushed improvements to our Map builder - so it is even easier to create custom web maps and customize the mobile app.
We added even more choice of features to our subscriptions. Supporting even greater flexibility and a fair pricing policy. We improved exploring in the mobile app. We added latest communities to follow and trending locations - all accessible from your Explore Button.
Investment in learning of our community
We invested in new guides, marketing resources for pros and an extensive knowledge base. During your whole experience on MapYourCity all these resources are just one click away. And if you are still stuck our support team has your back.
Our community is bigger than just us
Time's been difficult, but our storyteller communities - however tough it was for them too - have been a creative spark of light through this. We provided initial support for those businesses hit hardest, by dropping all fees on our subscriptions. Altogether we were able to continue this offer for 7 months - until September 2020.
We still have a provision for businesses impacted - all you need to do is let us know. We also made sure we are there for agencies working with multiple customers with a reseller program. Helping to make their job easier.
Map Your City for Good is another commitment we made a few years back and enables the use of our technology for those who do good things. And certainly in a time of crisis like this, our program is a valuable asset.
Looking ahead
This wasn’t the year we anticipated, but I am grateful and extremely proud of what our team has been able to accomplish in this unusual and unprecedented year. I am excited for the change that is coming in our foreseeable future.
Vaccination and other technical breakthroughs will enable us to move more freely and get back to some kind of normal. It will take a while before businesses in our travel niche will be back on their feet. But we certainly hope we can be a part of that resurrection, give the support to those businesses that need it most and keep bringing you closer to the places you love.
Our best to you as we close 2020 and looking forward to a brighter 2021.
Caroline Vrauwdeunt
Founder and CEO at Map Your City