Help Chamber of Commerce Members Reach New Customers with a Mobile App

Help Chamber of Commerce Members Reach New Customers with a Mobile App

Increase the value of chamber membership with mobile marketing.

As chambers of commerce struggle to recruit new members and retain existing ones, it's becoming more important than ever before to differentiate your chamber and offer compelling benefits that make paying dues well worth it. One way to stand out and offer real value is with mobile apps.

Most consumers perceive chambers of commerce as trusted sources of information. As a result, they often search for information about local businesses on chamber of commerce websites. A growing number of people are doing this on their smartphones, tablets, and other mobile devices. According to Microsoft research, mobile Internet usage is projected to overtake desktop Internet usage by 2014. 

In the hustle and bustle of today's society, people are always on the go. Using mobile apps enables them to search for information about local businesses while they're out and about. Mobile devices have become so advanced that they now offer a similar experience to desktop computers.

If you strive to improve the financial health and well-being of your local community and want to help members generate new business leads, it only makes sense to build a mobile presence for your chamber and its members. So, in addition to ensuring that your chamber website is compatible with mobile platforms and viewable on the mobile web, you might want to make mobile apps that showcase member businesses. There are several ways you can incorporate mobile apps into your chamber marketing strategy.

Create a Free Mobile App/Directory

As the mobile web grows, it's becoming increasingly important for chambers of commerce to help members reach new customers. You could provide all of your members with a free listing in a searchable membership directory app complete with one-touch calling. You could also showcase events and news as well as deals being offered by your members.

Consider offering enhanced member listings in your chamber's mobile app. Business owners who pay to upgrade their listing could get additional features, such as a link to their website, links to their social media accounts, GPS driving directions, and a click-to-member app option.

Give Members the Option to Order Mobile Apps for Their Businesses

Partner with a mobile app developer, so your members can get their own custom mobile apps. By providing members with starter mobile apps, you can help them promote their businesses and reach more mobile users, ultimately enhancing the value of membership in your chamber.

Enhance Your Chamber of Commerce's Mobile Presence with efelle

In addition to offering a fully integrated chamber of commerce marketing and management platform called ChamberFusion, we also build mobile websites for chambers of commerce. Member data for your mobile website is pulled from the same online base as your standard website, enabling you to use ChamberFusion to manage both your standard site and your mobile site. Members receive their own mobile-friendly page, and customers can search for deals offered by member businesses and use the internal GPS in their mobile devices to locate member businesses and get driving directions. For more information about efelle's mobile website solutions for chambers of commerce, give us a call at 206.384.4909 or fill out our online contact form.

See Also:

8 Tips for Creating a Successful Membership Marketing Strategy 

5 Key Components of Website Design for Chambers of Commerce