8 Economic Development Marketing Tips to. Get Your Community Noticed Today

Transcription

1 Economic Development Marketing From Good to Great: 8 Economic Development Marketing Tips to Get Your Community Noticed Today 1

2 Insert CTA Header Download this presentation and others at:

3 Webinar Agenda 1. A Formative Idea for Today s Session 2. What are the basic principles that should drive your economic development marketing? 3. What are 8 Tips that we can implement to get our communities noticed today? 4. How Has one Community Done to Become the Highest Performing Community of It s Size in the US? 5. Benchmarking Opportunity 3

4 TODAY S PRESENTERS Insert CTA Header Profile: Group: Next Gen Economic Development Marketers 4

5 TODAY S PRESENTERS Insert CTA Header Profile: Website: ia@columbusregion.com 5

6 Formative Idea for Today s Session Prospects (Site Selectors, Companies, Talent) are now in control of when and how they access information during the purchase process. At the same time, Economic Developers are constrained by tight budgets while charged with longer to-do lists, including the need to interact with board s, stakeholders and customers across a variety of marketing, political, financial and infrastructure channels. And at the end of the day, Economic Developers are more accountable than ever for results 6

7 A few principles that drive (or should lddrive) economic development 7

8 What worked years ago is not the same as what works today. 8

9 What hasn t changed: To make a difference, dff we have to serve companies directly. If we are not having conversations, we are not making a difference. 9

10 Economic Development is a Spectrum of Activities 10

11 The Framework 11

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14 Insert CTA Header 8 TIPS TO GET YOUR COMMUNITY NOTICED TODAY 14

15 1. GET FOUND ONLINE Google has evolved from a 1996 research project into the world s most visited website with more than five billion searches every day. Providing the most relevant search results to users fuels its massive growth. 90% of the Site Selection process starts online 15

16 EFFECTIVE SEARCH MARKETING Ranking #1 organically for your city/region economic development Ranking #1 organically for your organization name Utilizing paid search (PPC) to drive additional traffic 16

17 Top 10 search terms that drive traffic to ED websites 1. Your organization name 2. Your city/region name economic development 3. Incentive type offered in your region (depends on community) 4. Resident company name (i.e., Boeing) 5. Region name (if different from city) 6. Organizational url (without.com/.net/.org) 7. Campaign name (initiative or fundraising) 8. City/region name maps 9. City/region name counties 10. City/region name industries 17

18 2. REMEMBER WRITING FOR THE WEB IS JUST DIFFERENT Most people p scan content online. Make your content engaging and easy to ready by: Breaking information into sections Using bulleted list Bolding text to emphasize key points Writing shorter paragraphs Employing subheads (h2 and h3) Leaving out the buzzwords and the jargon 18

19 3. GOT SITES & BUILDINGS? 19

20 GIS Content on Economic Development Websites Concerning GIS content, critical applications include: Interactive Property Search Maps Interactive Demographics & Major Employer Plots Downloadable Shapefiles (.shp) for use in mapping software To provide better service to the corporate site seeker, the following guidelines are suggested for economic development organization websites: Land Critical Search Fields City County Minimum Acres Maximum Acres Site Zoning Rail Proximity Max Distance to: - Interstate - 4-Laned Highway - Commercial Airport Brownfield or Greenfield 20 Existing Building Critical Search Fields City County Minimum Square Feet Maximum Square Feet Minimum Clear Height Minimum Column Spacing Sale, Lease, Both Building Type (i.e., Industrial, R&D, Commercial, etc.) Specialty Feature (i.e., Call Center, Clean Room, Cold Storage, Data Center, etc.) Zoning Cranes Docks Rail (preferred/required) Max Distance to: - Interstate - 4-Laned Highway - Commercial Airport Previous Use

21 GIS Content on Economic Development Websites Baseline content that would facilitate an interactive GIS platform should include the following activateable menus: Base Layer Menu County Boundary Streets Airport Runways, Noise Contours, Property Lines Subdivisions Zoning Boundaries Parcels Zip Codes Rivers Forest / Preserved Areas Flood Plains Elevation (10 ft and 2 ft contours) Future Land Use Color Aerials City/Municipal Boundaries Schools (including colleges) Rail (yards, spurs, main lines) Utilities (to the extent available) 21 Future Land Use Submenu Business Park Commercial Developmentally Sensitive Hydrology High Suburban Density Industrial Public / Institutional i Recreation Rural Density Rural Land Suburban Residential Transportation Urban Density

22 4. KNOW WHAT MAKES YOU DIFFERENT DEVELOP A POSTIONING STATEMENT 22

23 5. YOUR WEBSITE IS YOU ONLINE Your website is an outreach of your community think of how you extend in-person greetings to your prospects, and try, as hard as you can, to deliver that message and tone online Your site is not static, it s living and breathing it it takes incredible attention and detail, but it will deliver incredible results Your site is your platform for first impressions, for storytelling, for capturing attention and most importantly for starting a conversation 23

24 WEBSITES FOR STORY TELLING 24

25 WEBSITES FOR DATA 25

26 Top 10 pages requested nationally on ED websites 1. About Us (about the organization) 2. Programs (that the organization offers) 3. Data Center 4. News 5. Relocate and Expand 6. Find Property 7. Site Selection Services 8. Workforce Data and Information 9. Database of Companies or Largest Employers 10. Maps of the Area 26

27 6. BUILD DYNAMIC CONTENT Dynamic content is content that caters specifically to the viewer, letting you provide relevant information whether they re a prospect, lead, or even a internal stakeholder. As a result, it provides the opportunity for you to be a champion of context providing the right content at the right time billion - that s the number of s sent every day, according to Mashable. Businesses that regularly blog receive 55% more web traffic and 70% more leads than those that don t t. Why? Because blogs are like chum for Google and other search engines. They re the bait that reels in customers when they re searching the Web 27

28 7. EMBRACE NEW TECHNOLOGY In today s globalized world there is little that can t be made more efficient through the use of powerful technology. 28

29 TECHNOLOGY HELPS YOU LEVERAGE YOUR RELATIONSHIPS 29

30 8. USE LINKED IN TO TARGET BUSINESS AUDIENCES 30

31 KNOXVILLE ESTIMATED REACH 3Million TARGET USERS BY TITLE, GEOGRAPHY, GROUP AND MORE 31

32 Insert CTA Header HOW COLUMBUS 2020 BECAME THE HIGHEST PERFORMING EDO IN THE UNITED STATES 32

33 What Columbus has done historically well 1. Had excellent ground game outstanding business development 2. Leveraged a strong PR presence and has gotten great hits during presidential elections 3. Strong branding and creative, shared with local chamber, tourism, government and ED organizations 4. Strong agency relationships with creative, media, and PR 33

34 What Columbus did to go from Good To Great 1. Decided d that t a complete website relaunch was necessary to better support Columbus 2020 s organizational strategy and goals 2. Developed a rigorous redesign strategy tied into the following goals: Improve presentation of content Drive increased engagement with site Convert visits to conversations Integrate dynamic, up-to-the-minute the content 34

35 REDESIGNED WEBSITE, LAUNCHED THIS FALL 35

36 Goal: IMPROVE PRESENTATION OF CONTENT 36

37 Goal: INCREASE ENGAGEMENT 37

38 Goal: INCREASE ENGAGEMENT 38

39 Goal: INCREASE ENGAGEMENT 39

40 LEVERAGING LINKEDIN 40

41 Goal: CONVERT VISITS TO CONVERSATIONS 41

42 Goal: INTEGRATE DYNAMIC CONTENT 42

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44 USER ENGAGEMENT 44

45 HOW THE HOMEPAGE PERFORMS

46 BE GREAT NOT GOOD When [what you are deeply passionate about, what you can be best in the world at and what drives your economic engine] come together, not only does your work move toward greatness, but so does your life. - Jim Collins 46

47 Take the survey to participate: BENCHMARK YOUR PERFORMANCE TODAY Get the report: tl advertising.com Benchmarking-Study Study.aspx 47

48 Questions 48

49 Thank you! Contact information: Atlas Advertising Ben Wright t: x 210 benw@atlas-advertising.com Advertising.com LinkedIn Profile LinkedIn Group Twitter Blog Slidespace C o l u m b u s Irene A lvarez ia@columbusregion.com t: columbusregion.com 49