We are living in a new era where technology rules supreme. Everyday we depend on technology for almost every single task we perform either at work or at home. From social media to mobile apps it is easier now to reach audiences and attract them to our Downtowns and Main Streets. New generations like millennials are the biggest example of this new technological revolution. Millennials have a mindset of instant gratification: they want information, they want pictures, they want answers, and they want them now. Millennials make decisions based on information they gather from sources they trust, if there is nothing on the internet about a place that catches their attention, they might not even think twice about making an assumption that the place is not worth their business.
You, as a nonprofit, have the opportunity to chip in and create a narrative for your Downtown/Main Street, and become the trusted source of information for millennials. You can introduce your Downtown/Main St. to new generations.
A recent article on the website Business to Community suggests that: “the segment of consumers known as “millennials” are the most likely group to engage with brands through mobile devices and smartphones. This group is the most susceptible to mobile marketing and companies are trying to figure out the best ways to appeal to them.”
The main problem marketers are facing is how to connect with a mass audience through traditional marketing and advertising forums. They are finding that they are pressed to ‘get with the times’ and go the mobile marketing route, through apps, mobile optimized websites, and more.
According to Erich Joamchimsthaler, CEO of Vivaldi Partners Group, ‘marketers who are not prepared to make the necessary adjustments to meet [the needs of the millennials] will suffer.’
Joamchimsthaler advises that Facebook won’t be the main forum. Instead, it will be more about branded apps and other, more engaging mobile brands. It will be up to the business how they choose to engage their customers, what they are willing to offer, etc. He advises that businesses should target their audience carefully, realizing that no one consumer segment is like another.”
A customized mobile app like ProsperWalk™, can give you even greater reach. You will be able to push whatever content you wish, with no constraints, and have it branded specifically to your organization. You will be able to update, add, and remove information as needed; therefore granting your audience access to information to make decisions based on what YOU want them to read. A mobile application will allow you to feature the tiny hole-in-the-wall Pho restaurant on your Main Street., as well as the well established law firm. This same principle can also be applied to all the little shops, restaurants, services, etc. in your area. You can have all the information needed in the palm of your audience’s hands.
Technology is not waiting for us to catch up. It becomes necessary for Downtown’s and Main Streets to update the way we approach our audience by taking advantage of what technology offers us.