Visual Marketing: 99 Proven Ways for Small Businesses to Market with Images and Design

29. Traversing from Print to Mobile: Creating a Mobile App Version of Print for Customers with a Foot in the Mobile World

Meal Tickets & Unusual Ideas has been designing and marketing its “little card displays” in more than 70 hotels and wineries in Northwestern Michigan for nearly 10 years, but it recognized that it needed to have a mobile presence. The result: the Traverse Traveler iPhone app, which is a handy mobile guide to Traverse City, Michigan, and the surrounding area. Advertisers get both print and mobile media exposure for the same rate, and Meal Tickets & Unusual Ideas has been able to expand its clientele by including lodging properties, entertainment, services, and local events on the app.

“We are a small business promoting other small businesses. And we believe it's important to keep up with technology to meet our customers needs,” says Brandy Wheeler of Meal Tickets & Unusual Ideas.

Why It Works

Like most travel apps, the core audience was initially visitors to Northwestern Michigan. But the app has a surprising secondary audience. Wheeler says, “We've found that locals love it because it's such a handy resource for contacting the businesses they visit regularly and discovering new ones.”

By tying the app in to advertising opportunities for clients, Meal Tickets & Unusual Ideas has created increased value for customers, as well as a free, useful application for anyone ...