A dynamic community web portal is leveraging social media and easy website builder software to promote local business in the San
Fraincisco Peninsula. The brainchild of Jason
Sutherland, PeninsulaShops.com demonstrates how simple it is to create and operate
an interactive website that can drive both web traffic and in-person sales.
The 67 businesses with bricks-and-mortar establishments in the two-dozen
towns just south of San Francisco comprise what Sutherland describes as a "chamber of commerce" on steroids. "We engage and educate
shoppers about the great mix of retailers available to them from Daily City to
Mountain View, from the inlet of the San Francisco Bay to the coast side," he
says.
Sutherland is using Wild Apricot as a key part of an innovative web
marketing and social media strategy. For example, using a combination of
social networking sites along with website and email updates, Peninsula Shops
ran a "Twitter Treasure Hunt" in November of 2009 with gift certificates and
products from the retail members as prizes.
"The Wild Apricot platform enabled me to push content not only on
our web site and email, but also through
social media channels," said Sutherland. "We embedded our home page with
widgets so that once we tweeted a clue on Twitter or posted news on Facebook it
was dynamically published on PeninsulaShops.com."
To learn more, check out the full Peninsula Shops Case Study.
Wild Apricot is dedicated to
providing member management software that helps small associations and
nonprofits maximize their valuable resources and time. If you're
interested in sharing your story with the Wild Apricot community,
please send an email to Jay Moonah at jay@wildapricot.com.