New entrepreneurs opt for app over ads
TORONTO, March 11, 2015 /CNW/ - As the Canadian workforce continues to shift towards business ownership, entrepreneurs are relying on innovative apps to compete against big-budgeted rivals.
This trend has spilled over to the birth of a massive industry of start-up and small business marketing culture. Entrepreneurs are equipped with web analytics and conversion reports, seeking out affordable and impactful platforms to cut through the noise. As crowd-funding and Facebook ads over-saturate, new platforms emerge with cutting-edge tech.
The latest to launch is the first instant-connect mobile search engine, a feature of Toronto-based C2B app Who's On Now, which aims to level the marketing playing field by giving smaller businesses the opportunity to compete.
The app provides consumers with streamlined results for business searches, based availability of the business, response rate, reviews and service area – all features controllable by the business owner. Consumers and businesses find each other through the search and live news feed functions, connect instantly via direct messages, and transact all on their iPhones within the app.
Quick-responding businesses can tap into an unlimited potential customer base with a very low acquisition cost. The app is free to download and use for all parties, with businesses paying a small fee per transaction.
"If you ping them, they will come," says Mehran Moeinifar, Founder of Who's On Now. "I was at my home in Florida in desperate need of an electrician, and I couldn't find one – the phone number on Google didn't work, and the other ones didn't answer their phones. And I was shocked when there wasn't an app for that, so I created it."
Consumers prefer the speed of Who's On Now compared to traditional Google or classifieds searches, that often populate too many results, give out-of-date contact information, and have no instant connection or direct messaging.
Small and mid-sized businesses from lawyers to babysitters can now compete on the basis of their agility and availability, including in 'emergency response' situations, for example an overflown toilet, crashed computer or spilled wine.
SOURCE Who's On Now
Media Contact: Anita Verma, [email protected], (o) 416.777.2899 (m) 416.998.5942, www.whosonnow.com
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