In the information age of the 21st century, boasting an appealing, user-friendly online presence is a crucial aspect of successfully marketing a community, says Sundre’s economic development officer.
“Since more than half of today’s research is done on mobile devices, it’s absolutely essential that not only we have a modern and well-designed web presence, but that it is mobile-friendly, interactive and responsive as well,” said Jon Allan.
Acknowledging this new reality, the Town of Sundre endeavoured to develop a multi-faceted digital identity, an effort that was recently recognized on the national stage.
During the Economic Developers Association of Canada’s 51st annual conference held recently in Edmonton, Sundre was presented with a Marketing Canada Award in the website category, said Allan.
Sundre's total economic development budget for 2019 was about $321,000, “but the net budget after taking into account anticipated revenues is $281,559,” he said.
“Our website is our storefront to the world,” he said.
“The award confirms that our storefront is inviting, that our organization offers great customer service, and hopefully it invites users to think our product is just as nice as the first impression the storefront provides.”
Coming out ahead of several strong contenders from across the country, including but not limited to the Regional Municipality of Durham in Ontario, population 645,862; the Town of Oakville, Ont., population 193,832; the City of Kingston, Ont., population 136,685; St. Catharines, Ont., population 133,113; and Lethbridge, population 92,730, was “a fantastic honour,” said Allan, adding Sundre’s population by comparison is about 2,730.
“We were the underdog that beat out some of Canada’s largest and wealthiest communities,” he said.
“We should all be very proud.”
Overall, there were fewer than 20 other municipalities in Sundre’s category that were also in the running for consideration of the award, he said.
“We had to submit an application package for consideration and show how successful, unique or effective the website is,” he explained.
“Our nomination was actually for more than one website — it was for Sundre’s whole online ecosystem of websites developed by the department of economic development last year.”
That online presence consists of the following: the town’s main website, sundre.com; a new tourism website, exploresundre.com; a new economic development website, growsundre.com; as well as the municipality’s new mobile app that can be downloaded on digital devices, he said.
“We then showed how all of the products are linked with shared imagery and branding, share similar functionality and how they include an impressive interactive ability.”
The main objective behind the online ecosystem is to improve and support access of information for users, as well as to present Sundre as an attractive community to consider either setting roots in, visiting and exploring, or perhaps even investing in, he said.
But none of that, he added, would have been possible without the assistance of All-Net Municipal Solutions, Sundre’s web development partner that took the economic development department’s vision and — through a collaborative process of constant revisions — delivered the award-winning product.
Allan additionally extended gratitude to LocalIntel, the developer of Sundre’s economic development website, which also provides the means for including interactive forms and maps on the main website.
Both companies, he said, played instrumental roles in contributing to make the municipality’s vision a reality.
The project was also made possible courtesy of collaboration among regional partners and municipalities that worked together to create mountainviewcorridor.ca.
