You love your hometown.
Whether you’ve lived there all your life or are new to the neighborhood, you’ve chosen the town for its vibes and what it offers.
As someone on the municipal committee, part of the Downtown Alliance or a member of the Business Improvement District (BID) or the Special Improvement District (SID), you want to do all you can to keep the town thriving. Providing easily accessible local info to residents keeps everybody involved and increases local business activity – key to making your town vibrant.
After all, how can residents keep track of all the events, so they don’t miss the annual Thanksgiving Day parade? Is your favorite ice cream shop selling waffle cones for a buy one, get one free special this Tuesday? Has leaf collection changed due to a severe storm warning? Do the people living in your town have all the information at their fingertips, or are they calling you to ask if there is a town-wide garage sale this year?
Building awareness about your town, providing information, promoting small businesses and getting the community active are some reasons why towns throughout New Jersey are turning to MyDowntown Mobile®.
Here are three examples of towns reaping the benefits from their app:
1. Hainesport, New Jersey
One of our clients, Hainesport, doesn’t have a centralized business district like most of our clients do. The Township’s goal is to get residents together for events and build awareness of municipal announcements. They could put posters on their lampposts, but with residents spread across town, it would not only be costly but probably not very effective. By using the push notification feature, community messages can be sent directly to the residents through their app, built by MyDowntown Mobile.
Residents are updated with all the latest information by receiving details directly on their phones, so they won’t miss any town-wide events or announcements.
With a single button on the screen, even the elderly residents of Hainesport have adapted to the digital age. The senior population just needs to click so Mom or Dad doesn’t miss “An Evening in Paris” (the over 55 senior prom).
Hainesport has become a more vibrant and engaged community with MyDowntown Mobile.
2. Springfield, New Jersey
Engaging the community, like in Hainesport, was important, but the BID in Springfield was more focused on redeveloping their downtown through revitalizing its buildings and using marketing to encourage business. They were struggling with building awareness for local shops, and a printed directory that lists all the companies is an outdated method, not to mention that it wouldn’t have the flexibility to add new businesses as they were established. Here's a quick read about another way we helped Springfield communicate the new redevelopment while waiting for construction to get started.
Not seeing your specific needs?
Using MyDowntown Mobile, all the businesses are listed with details including operating hours, type of merchandise, addresses and phone numbers, and a link to their websites. Residents of Springfield can get notifications when a business is promoting an exclusive deal, so they don’t miss out on any bargains.
Businesses are getting more exposure, and their customers can find them more easily now that Springfield is promoting the app.
3. Glassboro, New Jersey
Like Springfield, successful businesses were essential to our client, the Borough of Glassboro. But they had another issue. Town Hall was constantly flooded with calls like, “When is garbage pickup?” and “What time are the fireworks?” This took a toll on the Borough staff who had to repeat the same information continuously. And residents who would call after hours or on the weekends when the offices were closed would have to wait until Monday morning to get answers.
By putting the information into the mobile app, residents could find their answers more quickly and easily without taking the time of municipal workers.
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Digital representation of your New Jersey town with MyDowntown Mobile®
MyDowntown Mobile isn’t the only business offering these types of services, but it does focus on creating a high quality, individualized app that meets your specific town’s needs and goals.
The information your town puts inside the app is based on what your town feels is most important. Springfield focused on developing local businesses, while Hainesport's primary goal was promoting community events to their broad range of residents.
By creating a unique user experience for residents, your town will have the digital representation it needs to make it more successful. Let’s continue to love the small towns we live in, promote business and community activities, and take pride in supporting your community in every way possible.
If you are interested in more details about how MyDowntown Mobile can make your town more vibrant, schedule a Free 30-minute Consultation.
