A Digital Solution
I moved to Oakdale CA a little over a year ago. As a newcomer, I decided the social media pages would be a good source of referrals to hair salons, car repair shops, physicians, dentists, home cleaners, and much more. The Facebook pages never let me down and I received a ton of great input to point me to the right providers for my needs.
I quickly realized the Facebook and Instagram pages consisted of several active and engaged community members attempting to push out useful information regarding citywide, small business, and tourism events. Oftentimes, the efforts fell on deaf ears and the pages were filled with complaints that people had not been sufficiently informed or made aware of said events.
These observations lead me to push to help in the creation of a community calendar website. The website would offer a feature for all the well-intentioned organizations to upload and share their events. The event calendar would be pushed through the local municipal websites and share the URLs to individual events on the social media platforms of city members, residents, and group pages.
A Picture is Worth 1000 Words
A SIMPLE GLANCE of this calendar page says a lot! When a resident or potential visitor to Oakdale, views July 22nd the will quickly discover what’s in store for celebration of the National Day of the Cowboy in the Cowboy Capital of the World. There are currently four events occurring on this day. (Technically there are SIX, see more on the Oakdale Ranch Rodeo event page detail.)
Visitors will quickly learn that they can start their day at the Oakdale Morning Market and enjoy locally produced and grown goods. A short walk from the farmers market to the local Cowboy Museum where mimosas and some yummy snacks will be served up is also available. From there visitors can wander to the Oakdale Rodeo and enjoy an action packed Ranch Rodeo and BBQ Rib Cookoff. The day can be closed with a LIVE CONCERT at the Dying Breed Brewery.
Digital Connection is Good for Business
Several of the local Oakdale websites under development include their own event calendars. Those same calendars are then duplicated onto the Community Calendar. This is good for all parties involved. Google’s algorithm LOVES a good backlink. Internet users viewing the Oakdale Community calendar are also connected directly to the source of each event with the click of a button. When this happens, the community website serves as a referral source to the local businesses and vice versa. It is a great linking strategy to get smaller cities/towns/businesses ranking.
It is ALSO good for business whereby those who live or wish to visit Oakdale CA are able to easily discover places to eat, shop, indulge in recreational activities or enjoy an entertaining night out. We are in the process of developing a video that will guide you through the site and provide instruction for easy navigation. STAY TUNED!
Monetization is the ultimate side-effect of a digitally connected community. The community calendar converts otherwise non-revenue-generating website visits into cash flow when calls-to-action are inserted, and digital customers become physical clients. This online to offline trend increases participating businesses and non-profit organization exposure and sales opportunities. It’s a WIN WIN and we are proud to be part of a WINNING culture in Oakdale, CA.