“People, businesses, and the users love [the app]. I like how you can make it your own and customize it how you want it.”

– Eric Hortness, Executive Director, Greater Madison Area Chamber of Commerce

The Customer: 

An Active Chamber of Commerce in Small-Town South Dakota

Madison, South Dakota, is a small town surrounded by natural beauty. Here, visitors can find shopping, lodging, dining, and outdoor recreation, while residents enjoy a bevy of community events organized by the Greater Madison Area Chamber of Commerce. The chamber works to provide fun activities and engaging opportunities for community members to come together, while also supporting local businesses. 

From planning networking events to organizing vibrant festivals promoting the arts and local culinary scene, the members of Madison’s Chamber of Commerce are constantly looking for new ways to give back to the community.

The Challenge: 

Skyrocketing Printing Costs Meant Visitor Guides Were Often Out of Date 

One of the chamber’s responsibilities was creating and printing a visitor guide for travelers. Assembling the guide was a lengthy process, and keeping it up to date was a never-ending challenge.

“Traditionally, we had been printing a visitor guide, and we found that the cost of printing was skyrocketing,” said Eric Hortness, Executive Director for the Greater Madison Area Chamber of Commerce. “Less and less of those visitor guides were getting picked up, dispersed, and requested. It took a lot of time for our office to put that together every year, and as soon as it was printed, it was out of date.”

Eric knew the chamber needed to find a better way to manage its time and money, so in 2021 he began searching for digital resources that could help streamline their process. That’s when he found App My Community.

“I figured that there’s got to be a better option,” he said. “So, we did some investigating and came up with a few different companies to look at. After seeing the demos, [App My Community] is the one that we settled on that met our needs.”

The Solution: 

An Easy-to-Update Digital Replacement with High Engagement Possibilities

The Madison Chamber quickly began discussions with Rose and Joe Duemig, owners of App My Community, about launching an app to replace the town’s printed visitor guide.

“We liked the flexibility, and the ability to make the app our own,” Eric said. “Talking with Rose and Joe was great. If we had suggestions, they were willing to take a look and see if it’s something they could incorporate into our app.”

The chamber placed a QR code to download the app where the visitor guide used to sit. Soon the app completely replaced the need for a printed guide as tourists began using the new technology to find the community map and other helpful information.

The chamber also encourages residents to download the app and engage with it in unique ways. App My Community created a voting feature for the app that the town uses for its annual Burger Brawl event, which pits local eateries against each other in a battle for the best hamburger.

“All the voting is done through the app,” said Eric. “So, people have to have the app downloaded to be able to vote. And we always see an increase in app downloads in the month of May because of that.”

The town also uses App My Community’s scavenger hunt feature for its six-week summer concert series. “We had about 20 different things that people could find each week, take a picture, and then upload it into the app,” Eric said. “There were different prizes for people who completed these activities. So, we really try to push everything that we do to the app.”

The Results: 

Ad Revenue Generated From the App Made It a Winning Proposition

Eric says the app has been a huge hit: “The people and businesses that use it love it.”

Because downloads for the app have been so strong, businesses in the area have embraced using it as a marketing tool. Many local establishments pay for enhanced listings, banner ads, and splash screens on the Madison app, allowing the chamber to benefit financially from their partnership with App My Community.

“Our printed guide was a revenue generator for us,” Eric stated. “But when you factored in the amount of time and other costs, it was a losing proposition… Now with the app, it’s a revenue generator. We make money on it; it’s profitable.”

The Future: 

Potential AI Enhancements Help Provide Even More Possibilities

Now, the chamber is looking into new ways the app can make money for the town of Madison, like digital coupon books and gift cards for local businesses. As the chamber considers the future, it knows it can count on the team at App My Community to serve as thought partners who are always there to help.

“It’s a quick turnaround time,” Eric said. “If we need something, then it’s done. It gets taken care of pretty quickly.”

Eric said that Rose and Joe from App My Community are also proactive in coming up with new ideas to help the app grow. Recently the team began using AI images to help promote events, such as the annual Burger Brawl, which has opened up even more possibilities for the years ahead.

“Joe created some AI pictures to put inside the app that we used,” said Eric. “It’s great because we always said we’ll try anything, and I feel like they’re really responsive to our needs.”