KML file

Also called: Keyhole Markup Language, KMZ file.

KML (Keyhole Markup Language) is an XML format for geographic data. It was developed for Google Earth and is now a standard of the Open Geospatial Consortium. A KMZ file is the same thing zipped.

A KML file can hold placemarks (points), paths and polygons, with coordinates as longitude, latitude pairs. For lead generation, the polygon is what matters: it lets you move an exact territory from one tool to another instead of redrawing it.

Common sources are Google Earth, Google My Maps, GIS software such as QGIS, and public datasets of boundaries like zip codes, counties or school districts. Franchise and field sales teams often already have their territories as KML.

Watch for very detailed shapes with tens of thousands of points, files with several polygons where you only want one, and coordinates in the wrong order. Simplify the shape if a tool struggles with it, and check it on a map after import so a stray point doesn't stretch your territory into the next county.

Example

A franchise exports each franchisee's territory from Google My Maps as KML, uploads them one by one, and builds a separate lead list of salons inside each territory.

In Leadraft

You can upload a KML file to define a search area, alongside drawn polygons, radius circles and named places.