The Green Sheet Online Edition

June 25, 2018 • Issue 18:06:02

New Products

New Product: Customizable, community-based mobile marketing platform

Product: Village Vesl mobile app
Company: Village Vesl

Atlanta-based Village Vesl created a Village Vesl subscription service to help business owners drive consumer engagement within their communities. Designed to leverage mobile technology and social media, the solution enables ISOs and merchant level salespeople to brand and market localized services to merchants within their exclusive territories. The service is free to consumers; participating merchants pay a monthly fee set by Village Vesl partners, the company stated. "The mobile platform connects members of a community and builds recurring revenue streams for our sales channel partners," stated Bryon Evje, founder and CEO of Village Vesl. "Licensees can use the platform to promote commerce, loyalty and unity at a local level."

Partner benefits

Village Vesl licensees select an exclusive territory, which they name and brand, Evje said. They receive comprehensive training while their territories are being developed, which typically takes about 90 days. Evje said Village Vesl partners have the option of selling single services or creating value-added bundles. Service offerings include the following:

• Mobile application compatible with iOS and Android
• Customized mobile app development
• Short message service capability
• Business management console
• Responsive, promotional website

Village Vesl licensees can also use optional value-added services, including branded promotional videos, logo design, marketing recommendations and 40 hours of appointment setting, he noted.

Merchant benefits

Village Vesl uses mobile technology and social media to help merchants engage with customers and drive traffic to their stores and ecommerce websites. Following are some examples:

• Groups: This alternative to traditional newsletters enables businesses to invite customers to public and private groups where they can provide information and messaging on the group's bulletin board, facilitate live chat between members and flag capability for all members.
• Bulletin board: Interactive bulletin boards provide a real-time overview of community happenings. As the hub of Village Vesl's service, they are available to the larger public and can be used as a springboard to live chat among residents and for recommendations and announcements.
• Flags: Flags are virtual messages that can be left anywhere. When opt-in recipients approach these invisible flags, their devices receive the message. Business owners can plant these flags anywhere in the physical world to reach consumers.
• Loyalty programs: Customizable and cross-promotional loyalty solutions enable merchants to reward repeat visitors and participate in co-branded loyalty programs. Merchants can establish their own program parameters and enable customers to earn points across the community.
• Community aid: Licensees can direct a percentage of their proceeds to local nonprofits on a recurring basis. Campaigns can run between one to three months. Examples include local schools, youth sports organizations and religious organizations.
• Safety: This alert feature raises incident awareness of first-responder activity in the community, creating peace and helping people avoid dangerous situations. Participating businesses can use this feature to help keep their communities safer. Their names are displayed on the bulletin board under a tagline that recognizes each business's support.

Hyper-local solution

Evje said Village Vesl's mission is to provide large and small communities with a mobile service that enables residents, small businesses and local organizations to stay connected in safe and exciting ways. He cited the following benefits that local merchants can derive from the service:

• Location messaging: Merchants can plant invisible "flags" to become discoverable to customers.
• Traffic building: Merchants can communicate with consumers outside of their stores.
• Expanded reach: Merchants can broadcast mobile messages within a five-mile radius of a flag.
• Consistent exposure: Businesses can post daily offers and messages on their dedicated partner screen and bulletin board.

"We take a different approach to local, because we are local, with representatives who live in the towns where they operate a Village Vesl service," he said. "These are our neighbors. They live in our communities, and they have a genuine interest in what goes on in the community."

Website: www.villagevesl.com Contact: bryon.evje@villagevesl.com

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