Get the "Marshall, MN" App Today!

Get the "Marshall, MN" App Today!
City of Marshall Partners with Local Resident to Sponsor New Mobile App
 
The City of Marshall announces that it has partnered with local entrepreneur, Maxx Raths, to launch the Marshall MN mobile application. The Marshall MN app is a community app that pulls in business, recreation, events, deals and coupons, and city communications in a user-friendly platform. The application was developed through Raths technology company, Ninety17 LLC, and is available as a free download on the Apple iOS and Google Play app stores for mobile devices.
 
“As we continue to develop our Strategic Plan for the City of Marshall, we know that one of our focus areas will be on communication,” City Administrator, Sharon Hanson said. “We believe this mobile application will serve as another valuable tool for delivering information to our residents and visitors.”
 
The mobile application features a business directory, events, local attractions, visitor information, and a city resource center. “Much larger cities including Minneapolis, Sioux Falls, and Duluth have similar mobile applications,” Hanson commented. “However, this is typically not something a city our size has the resources to produce, so we look forward to the possibilities of this partnership.”
 
In working with a local vendor, the Marshall MN app will be modified and updated regularly to meet the needs of the community and local businesses. “Right now, there are a handful of parks, events, resources, and businesses in various categories listed within the app and we continue to add new content daily.” Maxx Raths, added.
 
EDA Director, Lauren Deutz, who led the City or Marshall’s rebranding efforts in 2019, has worked closely with Raths to bring the partnership to fruition. “We often hear that it can be difficult to find information or to know what sources are valid,” Lauren Deutz said. “This app will allow our residents and visitors to find everything they are looking for in one convenient location.”
 
Raths explained that while he is an avid supporter of social media marketing for small business it presents a few challenges that he believes this app will help solve. “For one, social media is crowded, it’s a great tool to reach the masses but you also compete with everyone else trying to do the same thing,” Raths explained.
 
Due to the ability of large retailers, such as Target and Amazon, to acquire search histories on social media for sales capturing, Raths app ensures that local businesses don’t have to compete with outside retailers for marketing space.
 
“Businesses should have a social media presence but be beware that when spending ad dollars exclusively on social media they are also competing and helping larger organizations,” Raths explained. “Social media allows those organizations to identify potential consumers in our city and retarget them, typically with a more robust advertising spend.” Raths continued “It’s not all bad but it doesn’t help our local economy as much as a closed platform like this that still lends itself to sophisticated advertising reach and tracking.”
 
The new Marshall MN app also comes as the need to support local businesses grows following the COVID-19 pandemic. “These have been hard months for our community, and we need to be innovative and bold in our recovery ideas,” Deutz explained. “We believe the Marshall MN app will add a great deal of value for our small business community.” Deutz said.
 
The app will also serve as a communication tool for city updates and emergencies which was an important element according to Marshall Mayor, Bob Byrnes. “We’ve always had a need to communicate clearly and effectively on environmental updates like flooding, a pandemic, or civil updates like voting information and council reports,” said Byrnes. “Being able to leverage this mobile platform and the push-notification technology is a great asset and it’s my hope that everyone participates so that they can receive those important updates directly to their phone.”
 
The Marshall MN app is available for free to download from the Apple iOS or Android Google Play app stores immediately and, once downloaded, will work with or without an internet connection.
 
For businesses interested in participating in the app, instructions can be found in the app or they can contact Maxx Raths or find additional information at ninety17.com.
 
You can follow this app on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/MarshallMnApp

Marshall App Screenshot