Downbeach.com forms partnership with business community

North Beach Ventnor business district.

It's a summer like no other as Downbeach area businesses begin to open up and adjust to the new normal and greet seasonal visitors, second homeowners and residents.

There's a spirit of optimism as Ventnor, Margate and Longport rebound from the days of sheltering in place and closing of many institutions and businesses. Customers want to buy products and services and need to do so with the confidence that they and their families are safe to move past the crisis.

That's where Downbeach.com and its MediaWize sister sites in Ocean City, Sea Isle City and Somers Point come in. MediaWize stands ready to help area businesses with customizable, flexible and affordable marketing and advertising packages.

MediaWize sites have the largest audience in our region, which gives us the ability to get our advertisers' messages out in the most efficient way for them to capitalize on business this summer.

For starters, Downbeach.com is rolling out a new resource for both paid and non-paid businesses called, Safely Open for Business. It will run next to each day's feature stories in Downbeach.com.

The free service will allow local businesses to list their name, phone number, address and core product or service.

Paying customers will receive larger and more prominent placement with the above information, as well as a 90-second video that we will produce. The video will educate customers on how they can safely shop at the business, what safety steps have been taken, and brief them on the quality of their product or services.

Downbeach.com and the other MediaWize sites deliver like no other media in South Jersey, with 2.5 million viewers across our four sites and spanning multiple generations. Our readers enjoy household income in the middle, upper middle and upper income categories, and a gender split of 60 percent female, 40 percent male.

https://youtu.be/oaO3t_q6lYo

We can do what newspapers, radio and other media cannot, said MediaWize's Mike DeVlieger. Our sites engage customers and give them sound reasons to shop with you versus your business competition.

DeVlieger noted that no two businesses are the same and they have unique needs. Matching those unique needs with the optimal marketing campaign is something we excel at doing.

Among the options open through Downbeach.com and MediaWize:

• Featured Business Profile Stories  These stories dig deep into the story behind the business and what makes the business stand out. They are excellent at bringing awareness for new businesses, as well as reminding customers of what made the iconic businesses famous.


• Banner Ads  They remind locals and vacationers every day that you are a trusted business and ready to support their needs.


• eBlast  Individual blasts that are sent to our email subscribers exclusively focus on your business and the message that you are looking to share. They can be scheduled for release at any time based on your business needs.


• Bundled Services  We can put many of our services together in a package to reduce the cost of each service if purchased separately.


• Payment Plans  We know some businesses are cash-poor as they get back on their feet. We will work with you to develop a payment plan that can spread out over time, so that your registers will ring before you are billed.

We also stand ready to help businesses recruit employees and fill staffing needs with a new employment section that will not only run in Downbeach.com but also on our other three regional sites. Employers will have the option to list all of their hiring needs for one low price on a monthly or seasonal rate.

I'm excited for the future of our community as we emerge on the other side of this crisis, DeVlieger said, and I welcome the opportunity to help businesses do so this summer.

For more information, call Mike on his cell phone at 609-231-8987 or email him at [email protected].