Web 2.0 Background
Before we tell you about Main Street 2.0, we’ve got to provide some background. Web 2.0 (also known as the Social Web) was a revolution which saw the rise of innovative new companies/services such as Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, and more. While there were certainly technological advances that facilitated the rise of Web 2.0, it was also about a shift in the way we think about and use the internet.
The 2 (+1) practical consequences of Web 2.0:
- The internet became highly social. Web 2.0 applications had a new level of interaction between users. Simply put, there were new ways for users to dynamically create and share information.
- Digital technologies became much cheaper. There was no longer a need for expensive on-premise hardware, since many applications moved to the cloud.
- This is the (+1)… To compound the effects of Web 2.0, the late 2000’s saw the rise of the smartphone. This meant we not only had inexpensive access to powerful internet technologies, but we could now access them *anytime* and *anywhere*.
In 2020, All Companies Are Tech Companies
In Dec. 2018, the Wall Street Journal published an article titled “Every Company Is Now a Tech Company”. That’s a fancy title… but what does that even mean?
It means that the businesses that best leverage new technologies to create a competitive advantage will win. The WSJ article went on to state that all established businesses need to hire a “technical co-founder” — which is where Prize comes in.
Prize is a technology platform that can be customized to meet the needs of your business. With the recent launch of our platform, you finally have access to features that enable you to put your marketing on auto-pilot. How?
- Once you become a Prize client, your business is discoverable along with other businesses in your area.
- Social media posts can be very powerful when used strategically, but it can be a huge hassle to post the same content every week. Besides, social media was never meant to be a one-stop shop for connecting with your customers, and Prize fills this void. Easily list deals, specials, and happy hours, and they’ll be easily discoverable by new and existing customers.
- Easily run a spend-based or visit-based loyalty program which rewards your best customers for their repeat business.
In addition to providing the Prize technology platform, we are happy to serve as our clients’ “technical co-founder” when called upon, at no extra charge. In fact, we encourage all Prize customers to engage us in conversations about how to best implement various technologies for their business!
Be sure to read part 2 of “What is Main Street 2.0?” here!