~ Promotion ~

Businesses can now advertise themselves on Waitaki App for free and one business will win a year's free premium promotion just for taking up the offer.

Described by the team as a “digital business card”, the listing includes essential contact details and a short description — enough to be found, remembered, and contacted.

“While it’s not a full listing,” director Cara Tipping Smith says. “It puts you on the app with your essential details and three lines of text.”

“It’s like our business card wall at The Business Hive but online - a way to remind people you’re out there and help you get found.”

The feature is aimed at anyone doing business locally, from home-based makers and tradespeople, to service providers and side hustlers.

A handful of early adopters are already listed and the team have added a few local favourites while testing the new functionality.

Waitaki App has seen more than 50,000 users since launching in November 2022, with more than a million content views recorded last year.

Around 85 percent of users are based in New Zealand.

“Obviously 50,000 is more than the whole population of Waitaki,” fellow director Alex Regtien says. “So that tells us something about visitor numbers too.”

It's not just about visitors though.

Alex and Cara say about 40 percent of the app’s new users come via search engines, making digital visibility important — even in a word-of-mouth district.

“What do you do when you arrive somewhere new? Google it on your phone, right," Cara says.

“Since Covid, we've all learned to shop online. If your business isn’t online, you’re missing out.

“So, not only does being on the app help your online presence, it puts you in the hand of our thousands of active users."

Even people who live locally don’t always know what’s going on in the Waitaki, Alex says.

“How many businesses have come and gone before people even realised they existed?”

Recent updates to the app now allow this content to be added directly by users, reducing the amount of manual handling required by the team.

“Now, pretty much all we have to do is approve it, that’s why we can make it free,” Cara says.

To celebrate and encourage participation, Waitaki App will randomly select one listed business to receive a free 12-month EDGE PLUS membership - the app's premium tier for promotion and advertising valued at $975 per year.

A full business listing - including extended text, images and copy-editing, starts from $49 per month on a 12-month term.

“We’re a small business too,” Alex says. “We get cashflow. So, pay us upfront and save a bit or spread it over a year to help yours”.

"The more useful the app is, the more people will use it," Cara says, "and that's good for our community, businesses and our advertisers - more visibility, more views, more great info."

"It's what we call a win, win, win."

Alex says, "thanks to the upgrade making it easy, why wouldn't we do it? Why wouldn't you?".

Download Waitaki App and check out the business listings.

Add a free listing here or visit mywaitakiapp.nz – the self-service hub for locals to add events, notices and listings.

All added business-card listings between now and Monday 16th June will go into the draw to win a year's premium membership to Waitaki App.

Fun fact, Monday 16th June is the 7th anniversary since The Business Hive opened!