Community Marketing 2.0
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Presented at the Halifax State of the Economy Conference 2012 Russell Riblett from GIS Planning presented the different marketing strategies economic development organizations and community marketers employ and which methods are most effective. It included the business site location process and the sources corporate real estate professionals use, as well as how marketing has changed from the past to the present and the direction it will move in the future addressing these marketing questions: 1. What is most effective? 2. Where should you invest your marketing dollars? 3. How are site selectors making decisions? 4. What does not work anymore? 5. What does the future look like? 6. What information really matters? 7. How can you be successful?
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Community Marketing 2.0
- 1. www.gisplanning.com Halifax State of the Economy Conference Russell Riblett Director of Sales rriblett@gisplanning.com
- 3. ED Marketing Challenges • Must communicate community benefits • Changing communication alters how businesses communicate and research • Technology and globalization affects marketing • Ignorance can waste time & resources
- 4. Over 750 respondents representing all 50 states
- 5. Survey Respondent Characteristics
- 6. Population of Service Area 20.8% 14.8% 12.3% 11.4% 10.5% 8.5% 6.5% 6.2% 4.7% 4.3% Under 10,000 to 25,001 to 50,001 to 100,001 to 250,001 to 500,001 to 750,001 to 1 million to Over 5 10,000 25,000 50,000 100,000 250,000 500,000 750,000 1 million 5 million million
- 7. Structure of EDO Government 36.3% Economic Development Corporation 33.2% Chamber of Commerce 9.5% Public-private partnership 5.6% Other (please specify) 4.4% Non-profit organization 4.3% Utility company 4.1% Community Development Corporation 1.2% University or educational institution 0.9% Research organization 0.3% Consulting company 0.1%
- 8. Most prioritized activities Business attraction 78.4% Business retention 76.3% Business expansion 74.5% Entrepreneurial development 32.2% Community development 30.9% Workforce development 25.1% Marketing 24.6% Site selection assistance 24.5% Small business development 23.7% Redevelopment/infill or downtown… 21.6% Support local government and economic… 17.0% Tourism 14.0% Quality of life issues 11.6% Financing 11.1% Planning 10.6% Real estate development 10.5% Public policy 9.2% Research 6.8% Other (please specify) 4.3%
- 10. Websites rated most effective Marketing Strategy Rating Effective Website 82% Out-of-Town Meetings with Businesses 74% Site Selection Consultants and Familiarization Tours 68% Public Relations 65% Special Events 60% E-Mail 50% Social Media 47% Targeted Lead Development Databases 42% Trade Shows and Conferences 42% Slogans, Logo and Graphic Identity 41% Online Videos (YouTube, etc.) 32% Online Advertising 31% Company Blog 21% Brochures 21% Direct Mail 19% Print Advertising 17% TV/Radio Advertising 11% Videos (VHS, DVD, etc) 10% Telemarketing 5%
- 11. Change in Econ. Dev. Marketing Effectiveness Website, 82% Website, 79% Out-of-Town Meetings, 74% Out-of-Town Meetings, 72% 71% Site Selection Consultants and Site Selection Consultants and Familiarization Tours, 68% Familiarization Tours, 64% Public Relations, 65% Public Relations, 64% Special Events, 60% 56% Special Events, 56% 53% 50% E-Mail, 50% E-Mail, 48% 49% Social Media, 47% Targeted Lead Development Targeted Lead Development 45% Databases, 42% Trade Shows and Databases, 43% Conferences, 42% Slogans, Logo and Slogans, Logo and Graphic Identity, 38% Trade Shows and Graphic Identity, 41% Social Media, 34% Conferences, 36% 33% Online Videos 32% (YouTube, etc.), 32% Online Advertising, 31% 29% Direct Mail, 26% Online Videos (YouTube, etc.), 22% Company Blog, 21% Brochures, 20% Brochures, 21% 18% Direct Mail, 19% Print Advertising, 16% Print Advertising, 17% Company Blog, 15% Videos (VHS, DVD, etc), 14% Online Advertising, 13% 14% 11% TV/Radio Advertising, 11% TV/Radio Advertising, 10% Videos (VHS, DVD, etc), 10% 10% Telemarketing, 6% 6% Telemarketing, 5% 2007 2009 2011
- 12. Budgeting
- 13. More people, more dollars Median Marketing Marketing as % of Gain/Loss from Population Budget Total Budget 2007 Under 10,000 $12,500 6% 20% 10,000 to 25,000 $8,250 5% -142% 25,001 to 50,000 $25,000 10% -18% 50,001 to 100,000 $25,515 6% -67% 100,001 to 250,000 $50,000 9% -40% 250,001 to 500,000 $85,000 9% -18% 500,001 to 750,000 $120,000 10% -67% 750,001 to 1 million $76,000 8% -209% 1 million to 5 million $300,000 14% 0% Over 5 million $100,000 3% -100%
- 14. The most effective spend more Median Marketing Marketing as % of Marketing Self Rating Median EDO Budget Total Budget Effective Marketers $74,500 10% $773,000 Ineffective Marketers $25,000 5% $461,000
- 15. EDOs allocate most money to websites Average Budget Marketing Strategy Rating Effective Allocation Website 16% 82% Trade Shows and Conferences 12% 42% Out-of-Town Meetings with Businesses 10% 74% Print Advertising 10% 17% Brochures 9% 21% Special Events 8% 60% Public Relations 8% 65% Site Selection Consultants and Familiarization Tours 6% 68% E-Mail 5% 50% Direct Mail 3% 19% Online Advertising 3% 31% Slogans, Logo and Graphic Identity 3% 41% Targeted Lead Development Databases 2% 42% TV/Radio Advertising 2% 11% Social Media 2% 47% Online Videos (YouTube, etc.) 1% 32% Videos (VHS, DVD, etc) 1% 10% Company Blog 0% 21% Telemarketing 0% 5%
- 16. More funding given to personal contact Average Budget Marketing Strategy Rating Effective Allocation Website 16% 82% Trade Shows and Conferences 12% 42% Out-of-Town Meetings with Businesses 10% 74% Print Advertising 10% 17% Brochures 9% 21% Special Events 8% 60% Public Relations 8% 65% Site Selection Consultants and Familiarization Tours 6% 68% E-Mail 5% 50% Direct Mail 3% 19% Online Advertising 3% 31% Slogans, Logo and Graphic Identity 3% 41% Targeted Lead Development Databases 2% 42% TV/Radio Advertising 2% 11% Social Media 2% 47% Online Videos (YouTube, etc.) 1% 32% Videos (VHS, DVD, etc) 1% 10% Company Blog 0% 21% Telemarketing 0% 5%
- 17. Social media: small budget & effective Average Budget Marketing Strategy Rating Effective Allocation Website 16% 82% Trade Shows and Conferences 12% 42% Out-of-Town Meetings with Businesses 10% 74% Print Advertising 10% 17% Brochures 9% 21% Special Events 8% 60% Public Relations 8% 65% Site Selection Consultants and Familiarization Tours 6% 68% E-Mail 5% 50% Direct Mail 3% 19% Online Advertising 3% 31% Slogans, Logo and Graphic Identity 3% 41% Targeted Lead Development Databases 2% 42% TV/Radio Advertising 2% 11% Social Media 2% 47% Online Videos (YouTube, etc.) 1% 32% Videos (VHS, DVD, etc) 1% 10% Company Blog 0% 21% Telemarketing 0% 5%
- 18. Budget items: increasing vs. decreasing Anticipating Increase in Anticipating Decrease in Marketing Strategy Next 5 Years Next 5 Years Website 70% 2% Social Media 51% 6% Site Selection Consultants and Familiarization Tours 45% 11% Out-of-Town Meetings with Businesses 44% 13% Special Events 40% 10% Public Relations 40% 10% E-Mail 39% 5% Online Videos (YouTube, etc.) 35% 12% Online Advertising 34% 15% Targeted Lead Development Databases 33% 15% Trade Shows and Conferences 30% 20% Slogans, Logo and Graphic Identity 26% 15% Company Blog 23% 14% Print Advertising 12% 43% Brochures 11% 34% Direct Mail 11% 35% Videos (VHS, DVD, etc) 11% 38% TV/Radio Advertising 9% 39% Telemarketing 7% 41%
- 19. High budgets with low effectiveness Average Budget Marketing Strategy Rating Effective Allocation Website 19% 82% Trade Shows and Conferences 14% 42% Out-of-Town Meetings with Businesses 13% 74% Print Advertising 13% 17% Public Relations 11% 65% Brochures 11% 21% Special Events 11% 60% Site Selection Consultants and Familiarization Tours 9% 68% E-Mail 7% 50% Online Advertising 5% 31% Direct Mail 5% 19% Slogans, Logo and Graphic Identity 5% 41% Targeted Lead Development Databases 4% 42% TV/Radio Advertising 4% 11% Social Media 3% 47% Online Videos (YouTube, etc.) 2% 32% Videos (VHS, DVD, etc) 2% 10% Company Blog 1% 21% Telemarketing 1% 5%
- 20. Compared to the dot-com boom days, how much do businesses spend on online advertising? 1. Less 2. The Same 3. A Lot More
- 21. Overlooked Marketing? Online Advertising Source: PricewaterhouseCoopers/Interactive Advertising Bureau
- 22. Change in Econ. Dev. Marketing Effectiveness Website, 82% Website, 79% Out-of-Town Meetings, 74% Out-of-Town Meetings, 72% 71% Site Selection Consultants and Site Selection Consultants and Familiarization Tours, 68% Familiarization Tours, 64% Public Relations, 65% Public Relations, 64% Special Events, 60% 56% Special Events, 56% 53% 50% E-Mail, 50% E-Mail, 48% 49% Social Media, 47% Targeted Lead Development Targeted Lead Development 45% Databases, 42% Trade Shows and Databases, 43% Conferences, 42% Slogans, Logo and Slogans, Logo and Graphic Identity, 38% Trade Shows and Graphic Identity, 41% Social Media, 34% Conferences, 36% 33% Online Videos 32% (YouTube, etc.), 32% Online Advertising, 31% 29% Direct Mail, 26% Online Videos (YouTube, etc.), 22% Company Blog, 21% Brochures, 20% Brochures, 21% 18% Direct Mail, 19% Print Advertising, 16% Print Advertising, 17% Company Blog, 15% Videos (VHS, DVD, etc), 14% Online Advertising, 13% 14% 11% TV/Radio Advertising, 11% TV/Radio Advertising, 10% Videos (VHS, DVD, etc), 10% 10% Telemarketing, 6% 6% Telemarketing, 5% 2007 2009 2011
- 24. What is the area served What is the geographic by your organization? scope of your marketing efforts? Multiple Citywide Multiple Nation countries 5% Countywide states 0.3% 1% 6% 2% State 11% City Global 32% 30% Regional 17% Region 19% Statewide 9% Nationwide Multiple County 23% states 35% 10%
- 25. Site Selectors & EDOs have different targets
- 26. Most targeted industries of EDOs % Targeted by Economic Industries Site Selectors Developers Manufacturing – advanced* 24.2% 43.7% Manufacturing - alternative energy/renewable energy* 16.9% 40.6% Manufacturing – traditional 36.3% 35.6% Distribution/wholesale trade 35.5% 30.2% Information technology/high-technology 27.4% 29.1% Aerospace/aviation* 11.3% 26.9% Healthcare 12.1% 25.0% Biotechnology 17.7% 23.7% Retail 15.3% 21.4% Manufacturing – advanced 21.8% 20.9% *denotes at least a 10% difference between the targeting of the industry by EDOs and Site Selectors.
- 27. Industries most served by site selectors % Targeted by Economic Industries Site Selectors Developers Corporate headquarters* 44.4% 18.3% Manufacturing - traditional 36.3% 35.6% Distribution/wholesale trade 35.5% 30.2% Call centers* 33.1% 9.1% Finance/insurance* 31.5% 9.3% Business services* 29.8% 17.2% Information technology/high-tech 27.4% 29.1% Manufacturing - advanced 24.2% 43.7% Research and development 22.6% 12.3% Retail 21.8% 20.9% *denotes at least a 10% difference between the targeting of the industry by EDOs and Site Selectors.
- 28. Which Industry Had Greater Percent Employment Growth from 2004 to 2010? 1. Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing & Hunting 2. Manufacturing
- 29. Decline of Manufacturing U.S. Employment Growth in Selected Industries 2004-2010 Educational services, health care, and social assistance 15% Arts, entertainment, rec., accommodation, and food service 5% Professional and business services 3% Agriculture, forestry, fishing, and hunting 3% Government 3% Finance, insurance, real estate, rental, and leasing -5% Retail trade -5% Information -13% Manufacturing -20% Source: Bureau of Economic Analysis
- 30. Industries Targeted by Area Population* Less than 25,000 to More than Industry 25,000 100,000 100,000 Accommodation and food service 24% 11% 6% Aerospace/aviation 10% 17% 32% Agriculture (traditional and value added) 31% 18% 18% Arts, entertainment, and recreation 19% 8% 5% Biotechnology 7% 15% 28% Business services 19% 13% 19% Call centers 7% 16% 7% Construction 4% 2% 3% Corporate headquarters 12% 12% 23% Distribution/wholesale trade 24% 40% 28% Education 6% 6% 4% Entrepreneurial businesses 41% 31% 22% Finance/insurance 4% 5% 13% Food processing 17% 27% 17% Healthcare 24% 22% 24% Housing 13% 7% 4% Information technology/high-technology 14% 25% 35% Manufacturing - advanced (pharmaceuticals, medical devices, etc.) 14% 45% 51% Manufacturing - alternative energy/renewable energy 40% 38% 42% Manufacturing - traditional (auto, steel, oil, gas, etc.) 38% 45% 31% Military/defense 4% 10% 12% Mining 6% 6% 2% Non-Profit 0% 1% 2% Real estate 1% 2% 2% Research and development 11% 10% 14% Retail 41% 30% 12% Sciences (and life sciences/biotech) 5% 11% 13% Tourism 33% 16% 12% Transportation 7% 7% 9% Utilities (cable/internet/phone, electricity, water) 6% 5% 2% *percent indicating industry as top 5 priority
- 31. How Site Selectors & CRE Pros Gather Information
- 33. Adidas Group Participating Companies Fortum Power and Heat AB NAI Capital Commercial Aetna Inc. Galaxy Organization, The NetApp Allen Economic Development Group Garner Economics Nokia Siemens Networks AngelouEconomics General Motors Corp. PepsiCo AOS Studley GmbH Geyer Pont Group, The Atlas Insight Greenfield Development Company Procter & Gamble Asia Pte Ltd Austin Consulting Grubb & Ellis PropertyCalc.com Autodesk GSP Consulting Corp. Real Estate Research Consultunts Bain & Company GVA Grimley Realvest Partners Bank of America Hanesbrands Inc Redevelopment Resources CA Commercial Realty Partners Harrington Consulting Group Rubin Advisors Canup & Associates Have Site Will Travel ServiceMaster Co, The Cassidy Turley Location Advisory & Incentives Practice Hitachi Data Systems Sherwin-Williams Co. CB Richard Ellis Honeywell Limited Sitar/ONCOR International CGR Management Consultants Humana Inc. Sodexo Canada Cisco Systems IAG New Zealand Ltd Stanley Black & Decker CLW Real Estate Services Group Insight Research Corp. Steelcase Inc. Colliers International Intel Corp. Stewart Lawrence Group Computer Associates Intl. Inc. International Paper Company Stream Global Services Continental AG JEO Consulting Group SunTrust Bank Corporate Realty Group Jones Lang LaSalle SZD Whiteboard CorroLuna KeyBank TD Bank CRESA Partners Kraft Foods Inc. TIP Strategies CWS Consulting Group LLC Lundy Group, The UGL Equis Corp. Danaher Madison Equities United States Cellular Corporation Dickinson Consulting Group Manhattan Centerstone UnitedHealth Group Dolby Laboratories Inc. Marubeni America Corporation UPC Broadband eBay McCallum Sweeney Consulting Vatterott Educational Centers EMC International SARL McCarthy Consulting Vercitas Group, The Equis Corporation McKesson Corporation Walker Companies, The Express Scripts Inc. McShane Construction Co. Waste Management Inc ExxonMobil Mike Barnes Group Wells Fargo Bank Fifth Third Bank Mohr Partners Zappile Group, The
- 34. What is the area served by your organization? City County Region 1% 2% State 5% 1% Multiple states 11% Multiple Nation countries 22% 59%
- 35. My role in site selection Site selection consultant 31.5% Corporate real estate professional – advising/serving 30.6% one company Corporate real estate professional – advising/serving 22.5% multiple companies Real estate agent/broker 7.2% Corporate real estate professional – in an 2.7% architecture, engineering, or development company Developer/construction 1.8% Architect 0.9% Other 2.7%
- 36. My position in the organization President/ CEO/ Managing Director 33% Executive 26% Vice President 25% Staff 15%
- 37. How do site selectors gather information about communities? Brokers 65.2% Websites of economic development organizations 62.5% Third-party data sources 51.8% Peers and colleagues 46.4% Proprietary database 41.1% Information the organization has sent you in the past 27.7% Publications/media 26.8% Businesses in their community/service area 18.8% Other (please specify) 5.4%
- 38. How do site selectors gather information about communities? Corporate real estate professional Site selection consultant Brokers 26% 8% Websites of economic development organizations 18% 20% Peers and colleagues 15% 10% Third-party data sources 11% 19% Proprietary database 9% 17% Publications/media 7% 9% Information the organization has sent you in the past 7% 8% Businesses in their community/service area 5% 6%
- 39. What sites selectors & CRE pros value 1. Where they get the most valuable information & communication 2. What type of information they want
- 40. Site selectors rate websites #1… ahead of themselves! Marketing Strategy Rating Effective Website 76% Site Selection Consultants and Familiarization Tours 71% Out-of-Town Meetings with Businesses 54% Special Events 47% Targeted Lead Development Databases 46% Public Relations 37% Trade Shows and Conferences 37% E-Mail 31% Online Videos (YouTube, etc.) 16% Online Advertising 16% Direct Mail 15% Social Media 14% Brochures 13% Print Advertising 10% Company Blog 9% Slogans, Logo and Graphic Identity 9% Videos (VHS, DVD, etc) 8% Telemarketing 5% TV/Radio Advertising 5%
- 41. Site selectors value online advertising much higher in 2011 than in 2007 Marketing Strategy 2011 2007 Difference Online Advertising 16% 4% 12% Out-of-Town Meetings with Businesses 54% 51% 3% TV/Radio Advertising 5% 2% 2% Special Events 47% 45% 2% Site Selection Consultants and Familiarization Tours 71% 69% 2% Videos (VHS, DVD, etc) 8% 7% 1% Telemarketing 5% 4% 1% Print Advertising 10% 9% 1% E-Mail 31% 31% 0% Targeted Lead Development Databases 46% 48% -2% Slogans, Logo and Graphic Identity 9% 11% -2% Direct Mail 15% 19% -4% Trade Shows and Conferences 37% 42% -5% Brochures 13% 19% -6% Public Relations 37% 43% -6% Website 76% 85% -9% Online Videos (YouTube, etc.) 16% N/A N/A Social Media 14% N/A N/A Company Blog 9% N/A N/A
- 42. Site selectors most highly value information on demographics and labor force Website Feature Rating Effective Demographic reports 88% Labor force (availability and wages) 83% Incentives 78% Major employers 75% Maps 72% Land/sites and buildings inventory 71% Infrastructure (utilities and transportation) 70% Major industries or business/industry clusters 65% GIS mapping tools for site selection analysis assistance 60% Staff directory and contact information (phone, fax, email, address) 59% Quality of life (climate, schools, housing, culture, healthcare, etc.) 58% Comparisons to other areas 57% Business list 51% Employment training programs 51% Transactions (business licenses, permit applications, etc.) 39% Hyperlinks to other organizations 31% News about community (past or present) 28% Testimonials and success stories 24% Business assistance services/how to start a business 21% Social media integration 11% Formatting option for mobile devices/mobile apps 10% Videos 9% User-generated content (blogs, forums) 5%
- 43. Site selectors are placing greater value on business lists and transactions Website Feature 2011 2007 Difference Business list 51% 40% 11% Transactions (business licences, permit applications, etc.) 39% 31% 8% Hyperlinks to other organizations 31% 24% 7% Testimonials and success stories 24% 21% 4% Business assistance services/how to start a business 21% 17% 4% Demographic reports 88% 85% 3% Comparisons to other areas 57% 54% 3% Videos 9% 7% 2% Employment training programs 51% 51% 1% Labor force (availability and wages) 83% 83% 0% Major employers 75% 75% 0% User-generated content (blogs, forums) 5% 6% 0% Major industries or business/industry clusters 65% 66% -1% Maps 72% 74% -2% Incentives 78% 79% -2% Land/sites and buildings inventory 71% 75% -3% Staff directory and contact information 59% 62% -4% Quality of life 58% 62% -4% GIS mapping tools for site selection analysis assistance 60% 64% -5% Infrastructure (utilities and transportation) 70% 77% -7% News about community (past or present) 28% 41% -14% Social media integration 11% N/A N/A Formatting option for mobile devices/mobile apps 10% N/A N/A
- 44. By the time a long-list of locations is selected, how much more have Corp. RE pros communicated with your website compared to your EDO? • 24% • 87% • 133%
- 45. When would you first contact an EDO? 100% (contact staff vs. visit website) 90% 80% 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% When beginning an When developing a During After narrowing During To confirm Only if the company Never initial site selection long-list of possible evaluation/analysis options to a short- evaluation/analysis information I have or client specifically search for possible areas in which to of a long-list of list of a few finalists of a short-list of already gathered asked me to contact locations locate based on locations locations an EDO. restrictive-criteria Contact an EDO Visit an EDO's website
- 46. Website Features
- 47. How important is it to have the following items on an ED website? (EDOs) Land/sites and buildings inventory 91% Labor force (availability and wages) 91% Demographic reports 90% Infrastructure (utilities and transportation) 86% Maps 85% Major industries or business/industry clusters 83% Staff directory and contact information… 83% Incentives 81% Major employers 80% GIS mapping tools for site selection analysis assistance 77% Business assistance services/how to start a business 74% Quality of life… 73% Employment training programs 70% Testimonials and success stories 67% Hyperlinks to other organizations 67% News about community (past or present) 60% Social media integration 60% Comparisons to other areas 55% Business list 53% Formatting option for mobile devices/mobile apps 51% Transactions (business licenses, permit applications, etc.) 48% Videos 33% User-generated content (blogs, forums) 24%
- 48. Which website features do you have? Have Will implement in 2-5 years Staff directory and contact information 93% 3% Hyperlinks to other organizations 89% 6% Demographic reports 84% 10% Maps 79% 13% Quality of life (climate, schools, housing, etc.) 83% 7% Infrastructure (utilities and transportation) 77% 13% Major employers 79% 10% Land/sites and buildings inventory 76% 12% News about community (past or present) 79% 9% Labor force (availability and wages) 73% 15% Incentives 77% 10% Major industries or business/industry clusters 69% 16% Social media integration 56% 28% Business assistance services/how to start a business 64% 18% Employment training programs 67% 15% Business list 65% 14% Testimonials and success stories 50% 28% site selection analysis assistance (GIS mapping tools for) 44% 32% Videos 50% 23% Formatting option for mobile devices/mobile apps 18% 49% Comparisons to other areas 36% 27% Transactions (business licenses, permit applications, etc.) 38% 19% User-generated content (blogs, forums) 22% 27% 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
- 49. Fastest Growing Will implement in 2-5 years Have Formatting option for mobile devices/mobile apps 49% 18% Site selection analysis assistance (GIS mapping tools) 32% 44% Social media integration 28% 56% Testimonials and success stories 28% 50% User-generated content (blogs, forums) 27% 22% Comparisons to other areas 27% 36% Videos 23% 50% Transactions 19% 38% Business assistance services/how to start a business 18% 64% Major industries or business/industry clusters 16% 69% Labor force (availability and wages) 15% 73% Employment training programs 15% 67% Business list 14% 65% Maps 13% 79% Infrastructure (utilities and transportation) 13% 77% Land/sites and buildings inventory 12% 76% Demographic reports 10% 84% Major employers 10% 79% Incentives 10% 77% News about community (past or present) 9% 79% Quality of life (climate, schools, housing, etc.) 7% 83% Hyperlinks to other organizations 6% 89% Staff directory and contact information 3% 93% 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
- 50. Interactive website features in 2011 Have in 2011 Will implement in 2-5 years Interactive maps 44% 34% Site selection analysis assistance (GIS) 44% 32% Interactive demographic reports 30% 37% 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% Your Competitive Advantage You Must Play Catch Up No Advantage + Same Cost
- 52. Online Site Selection Analysis (GIS) • 81% of site selectors found this technology valuable, up from 77% in 2007. • 44% of economic developers have such a system, and 32% indicated they will add it to their websites within 3 - 5 years: bringing total to 76%.
- 53. True or False: 9% of Economic Developers change the oil in their car more often than they update their website
- 54. How often EDOs update their websites 2011 2007 Daily 12% Down 16% Weekly 30% 30% 13% Bi-weekly 10% Up Monthly 25% 24% Quarterly 12% 12% Bi-annually 5% 4% Annually 4% 5%
- 55. How often EDOs update their websites Ineffective Marketers Effective Marketers 8% Daily 19% 28% Weekly 35% 11% Bi-weekly 16% 27% Monthly 19% 16% Quarterly 6% 6% Bi-annually 3% 5% Annually 1%
- 56. Website Items of Effective Marketers Effective Ineffective Website Items Difference Marketers Marketers Comparisons to other areas 51% 27% 23% Business list 78% 57% 21% GIS tools for site selection analysis assistance 56% 37% 19% Testimonials and success stories 62% 43% 19% Major industries or business/industry clusters 81% 63% 18% Videos 61% 43% 18% News about community (past or present) 90% 74% 17% Formatting option for mobile devices/mobile apps 28% 12% 16% Labor force (availability and wages) 82% 68% 14% Maps 88% 74% 14% Employment training programs 75% 62% 14% Social media integration 64% 51% 13% Land/sites and buildings inventory 84% 71% 13% Demographic reports 91% 79% 12% Transactions 46% 34% 12% Major employers 86% 75% 11% Infrastructure (utilities and transportation) 84% 73% 11% User-generated content (blogs, forums) 29% 19% 11% Incentives 84% 74% 10% Quality of life 90% 80% 10% Business assistance services 67% 62% 5% Staff directory and contact information 96% 92% 4% Hyperlinks to other organizations 91% 88% 4%
- 57. Mobile
- 58. The five major technology cycles in computing 60s 70s 80s 90s 00s Mainframe Mini Personal Desktop Mobile Computing Computing Computing Computing Computing
- 59. The % of mobile phone users who use their phones to do the following 52% increase in 13 months
- 63. Mobile Formatting and QR Codes
- 64. Mobile Formatting • Mobile formatted websites will change their appearance if viewed on a mobile phone • Enhances experience of your website for people on the go who may be visiting your community • Highlights functionality that is most appropriate for mobile users
- 65. The world is going mobile… so is economic development
- 67. Enter Search Matching Properties Property Report
- 68. Property Report Interactive Local Map Layers
- 69. Select Report Create Report Map Analysis
- 70. Select Distance Create Report Map Analysis
- 71. Select One Industry Create Report Interactive Map Analysis
- 72. QR Codes • “Quick Response” codes were developed by the automotive industry • QR codes can store website links that can be scanned by a mobile phone’s camera • Place QR codes on websites, signs, or print advertising so mobile users can take your information with them
- 73. Scannable link to property report
- 74. Social Media
- 75. What your colleagues have Will implement in 2-5 years Have Formatting option for mobile devices/mobile apps 49% 18% Site selection analysis assistance (GIS mapping tools) 32% 44% Social media integration 28% 56% Testimonials and success stories 28% 50% User-generated content (blogs, forums) 27% 22% Comparisons to other areas 27% 36% Videos 23% 50% Transactions 19% 38% Business assistance services/how to start a business 18% 64% Major industries or business/industry clusters 16% 69% Labor force (availability and wages) 15% 73% Employment training programs 15% 67% Business list 14% 65% Maps 13% 79% Infrastructure (utilities and transportation) 13% 77% Land/sites and buildings inventory 12% 76% Demographic reports 10% 84% Major employers 10% 79% Incentives 10% 77% News about community (past or present) 9% 79% Quality of life (climate, schools, housing, etc.) 7% 83% Hyperlinks to other organizations 6% 89% Staff directory and contact information 3% 93% 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
- 77. Does your organization engage in the following social media strategies? Facebook Page (for my organization) 73% Twitter account 58% LinkedIn group (for your organization) 56% Video sharing (YouTube, Vimeo, etc.) 50% LinkedIn discussions (posting regularly) 37% Blog 29% Photo sharing (Flickr, Picasa, etc.) 27%
- 78. % rating social media channel as an effective marketing strategy for economic development LinkedIn 44% Facebook 32% Video sharing (YouTube, Vimeo, etc.) 31% Twitter 30% Blog 27% Photo sharing (Flickr, Picasa, etc.) 18%
- 79. % EDOs rating social media channel as an effective marketing strategy Effective Marketers Ineffective Marketers 53% LinkedIn 39% 39% Twitter 24% 36% Facebook 30% 34% Video sharing 30% 32% Blog 25% 23% Photo sharing 17%
- 80. Site selectors and social media • Site selectors spend 23 minutes per day engaging with social media for work compared to 26 minutes for economic developers • 61% of site selectors agreed that social media will grow in importance in their jobs in the coming years. • Site selectors utilize LinkedIn and blogs more than EDOs.
- 81. Benchmarking
- 82. Which of these is the correct ranking of how EDOs benchmark their success? 1. Jobs 1. Announced 1. Capital created projects investment 2. Capital 2. Jobs 2. Jobs investment created created 3. Announced 3. Capital 3. Announced projects investment projects
- 83. Job creation is still most often used to benchmark an organization’s success % of Economic Developers Rating Benchmarking Criterion Criterion as Important Jobs created 83% Capital investment 68% Announced projects 60% Increased revenue and/or sales tax to government 46% Businesses started 44% Increased wages and benefits 25% Growth of economic output 25% Decreased building vacancies and new real estate development 24% Diversity of industry 19% Workforce skills level increase 13% New quality of life/place amenities 12% We do not benchmark our organization's overall performance 9% Improvement of distressed neighborhoods 8%
- 84. US Employment 2000-2012 148 Millions 146 144 142 140 138 136 134 132 130
- 85. US Unemployment Rate 2000-2012 12.0 10.0 8.0 6.0 4.0 2.0 0.0
- 86. Which of these is the correct ranking of how EDOs benchmark their marketing? 1. Leads generated 1. No benchmarking 1. Businesses 2. Recall of 2. Company contacted organization locations 2. RFPs sent 3. Site visits 3. Leads generated 3. Website traffic
- 87. Yet most EDOs don’t benchmark their marketing % of Economic Developers Benchmarking Criterion Rating Criterion as Most Important No formal benchmarking 20% Company locations 19% Leads generated 17% Awareness/recall of your organization 11% Change of perception about community 8% Site visits 6% Internet/website traffic 5% Number of businesses contacted 3% RFPs sent to you 2% Other 2% Media coverage/mentions 2% Phone calls or e-mails to your organization 2% Proposals given 2%
- 89. “The new model in our office is: if you can't track it, don't do it. With e-newsletters we can see who opens it, which links they click on, how long they stay on the article, if they forward it to someone else, etc. Same goes for our website content.” – Jonathan Bittner, Director, Anchorage EDC
- 90. Take-aways
- 91. EDOs are feeling better about the value of marketing than ever before
- 92. EDOs and site selectors agree that websites are the most important communication source
- 93. Online advertising is growing in importance and perceived value
- 94. People & Relationships Matter
- 95. EDOs working with Site Selectors & CRE Pros need to align with target industries they service
- 96. EDOs must catch up to site selectors, who use LinkedIn and blogs more
- 97. The most effective marketers updated their websites more often and spent more time with social media
- 98. EDOs value marketing, but many don’t benchmark it and can’t prove its value to others
- 99. Questions If we get what we measure, are we measuring the right things – like jobs created?
- 100. www.gisplanning.com Trend #1 Site Selection
- 101. www.gisplanning.com Site Selection is about being in exactly the right place
- 102. www.gisplanning.com November 2005
- 103. www.gisplanning.com Answer 4 fundamental questions (and a lot of others) 1. Is there available Property? 2. Is there a market for my business to succeed? 3. What is the competition or synergy for my business at a specific site? 4. What are the geographic advantages?
- 104. www.gisplanning.com
- 105. www.gisplanning.com User-defined search for sites and property based on location, use & size
- 106. www.gisplanning.com Matching properties are shown in a comparison list & on the map
- 107. www.gisplanning.com Drill down into individual property report to see the details
- 108. www.gisplanning.com Property Reports with Detailed Property Report Variables Share Reports Using Social Media
- 109. www.gisplanning.com Choose a different view of the area, like Google Earth or Street View…
- 110. www.gisplanning.com User-defined demographic market analysis reports provide business intelligence
- 111. www.gisplanning.com
- 112. www.gisplanning.com Modify distance in miles or drive-time
- 113. www.gisplanning.com
- 115. www.gisplanning.com Competition & Synergies Identify Industry Clusters
- 116. www.gisplanning.com Obtain more information by visiting the provided link
- 117. www.gisplanning.com Overlay incentive areas
- 118. www.gisplanning.com
- 119. www.gisplanning.com Heat map of population density
- 120. www.gisplanning.com
- 121. www.gisplanning.com
- 122. Benefits of Web GIS www.gisplanning.com • Competitive advantage • Increase Jobs • Reduce local businesses leaving • Tools to succeed • Expands local tax base • Saves time • Improve community image • Proven Results
- 123. www.gisplanning.com Who is doing it? • Huge Urban Cities like NYC & Los Angeles • Small Cities like Pingree Grove, IL (pop. 4,000)
- 124. www.gisplanning.com Isn’t this GIS-stuff science fiction for someone like me? • No, it isn’t science-fiction. • Yes, anyone can do this. • Small & Rural communities are doing it • Communities with no GIS are doing it • Communities with bad website are even doing it
- 125. www.gisplanning.com Trend #2 Social Media Join the Conversation
- 126. www.gisplanning.com By vote: “Social media is changing my work” A. Strongly Agree B. Agree C. Disagree D. Strongly Disagree E. No Answer
- 127. www.gisplanning.com
- 128. www.gisplanning.com
- 129. www.gisplanning.com Why does this matter? It’s simple. This is where your customers are… and they want you to join the conversation
- 130. www.gisplanning.com Three things you better get used to
- 132. www.gisplanning.com Loss of Control Image © GIS Plannin
- 133. www.gisplanning.com Communication is a Team Effort
- 134. www.gisplanning.com 5 Ways Social Media Has Changed the Profession 1. Less control of the conversation and how people talk about communities. Everyone is a pundit with a huge microphone. 2. New marketing communication channel to reach hundreds of millions 3. Create and participate in relevant groups. Find the right people in these groups. 4. Real time feedback – ask questions, get opinions (new program, product, idea) 5. “Brand You” exponentially maximized
- 135. www.gisplanning.com The highly abbreviated version of social media for economic development
- 136. www.gisplanning.com
- 137. www.gisplanning.com Social Media Accounts Millions of Users Facebook 800 Twitter 300 Linkedin 135 - 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900 Source: Facebook, Linkedin, Twitter
- 138. www.gisplanning.com Facebook • Launched in 2004 • over 800 million users* • 50%+ of users log on any given day* • average user spends over 5.46 hours per** month Sources: *Facebook http://www.facebook.com/press/info.php?statistics **Nielsen Blog http://blog.nielsen.com/nielsenwire/online_mobile/august-2011-top-us-web-brands
- 139. www.gisplanning.com Facebook user growth Source: http://thinksocialmedia.com/tag/social-media/
- 140. www.gisplanning.com
- 141. www.gisplanning.com People have Profiles. Business have Pages.
- 142. www.gisplanning.com This is a personal PROFILE it is not an organizational PAGE
- 143. www.gisplanning.com This is a Facebook PAGE for an Economic Development Organization
- 144. www.gisplanning.com How to Create a Facebook Page For your Economic Development Organization Just a few minutes to get started
- 145. www.gisplanning.com
- 146. www.gisplanning.com Elements development organizations For economic of a Facebook Page
- 147. The button for people www.gisplanning.com to “like” the Organization Logo organization Links (Tabs) The Wall Information about the organization and contact information People who “like” the organization
- 148. www.gisplanning.com Facebook Page to engage your Things you can share Wall Posts audience
- 149. www.gisplanning.com Invitation to a networking event
- 150. www.gisplanning.com Inviting discussion about what the community needs
- 151. www.gisplanning.com Add the event directly Inviting people to an to your personal event sponsored by calendar the organization
- 152. www.gisplanning.com Respond to questions and educate people about your organization
- 153. www.gisplanning.com 2 Ways to Improve Your Facebook Page Standout from the crowd
- 154. www.gisplanning.com 1. Claim your vanity URL
- 155. www.gisplanning.com
- 156. www.gisplanning.com 2. Use a custom landing tab
- 157. www.gisplanning.com
- 158. www.gisplanning.com
- 160. www.gisplanning.com What percentage of Fortune 500 companies have executives on Linkedin? 1. 40% 2. 70% 3. 100%
- 161. www.gisplanning.com LinkedIn • Launched in 2003 • IPO In 2011 • Over 135 million members in over 200 countries (59% outside of USA) • 2 million company pages • 1 million new members each week. > 1 new member every second • Executives from all Fortune 500 companies • Avg. household income of members is $109K • 45% are business decision makers Source: LinkedIn. Last 2 bullets from Lewis Howes, author of Linked Working at http://www.brafton.com/news/linkedin-marketing-better-access-to-business- decision-makers
- 162. www.gisplanning.com Do you have a Linkedin Company Profile? • Yes • No
- 163. www.gisplanning.com
- 164. www.gisplanning.com
- 165. www.gisplanning.com Join Groups for Business Attraction & Expansion
- 166. www.gisplanning.com How many Linkedin Groups have you joined? A. 0 B. 1 – 5 C. 5 – 10 D. More than 10
- 169. www.gisplanning.com Create your own Group
- 170. www.gisplanning.com
- 171. www.gisplanning.com
- 172. www.gisplanning.com What not to do on Twitter (if you want to keep your job) How economic development became Twitter-famous Hint…it’s not a happy story Anatalio: It’s 4:00 PM
- 176. www.gisplanning.com Marketing & Communications (Old Way) Advertising Brochures Site selection information Meeting Businesses Direct Mail Familiarization Tours Special Events Newsletters E-mail Media & Public Relations Telemarketing Website Videos (VHS or DVD) Press Releases Trade Shows
- 177. www.gisplanning.com Econ. Dev. Moves from Offline to Online Offline Online Website E-mail Blog Social Media Site selection GIS assistance Videos News Releases Newsletters Media & Public Relations Advertising Meeting Businesses Special Events Telemarketing Familiarization Tours Trade Shows Brochures Direct Mail
- 178. www.gisplanning.com Russell Riblett Director of Sales rriblett@gisplanning.com www.GISplanning.com Linkedin.com/in/russellriblett @ZoomProspector Facebook.com/ZoomProspector YouTube.com/GISplanning
Editor's Notes
- AU: Economic developers must be adept at implementing strategies to promote their communities and grow their local economies. They must know how to communicate with businesses to be successful in this pursuit. Recent changes in communication, especially the rise of the Internet, are profoundly altering how business communication and research takes place, and are influencing how businesses engage in the process of site selection and interact with economic development organizations. Many economic development agencies are responding to these changes through the way they market their communities and provide their services. Others have been left scrambling to make sense of how their industry is changing. Recent technology and globalization changes have only increased the dynamic nature of marketing, so economic developers are now reevaluating how to most effectively communicate with businesses. As the paths of communication between communities and business have broadened and the business demands for rapid information communication have increased, the necessity of effective marketing communication has become more crucial.
- AU: Economic developers must be adept at implementing strategies to promote their communities and grow their local economies. They must know how to communicate with businesses to be successful in this pursuit. Recent changes in communication, especially the rise of the Internet, are profoundly altering how business communication and research takes place, and are influencing how businesses engage in the process of site selection and interact with economic development organizations. Many economic development agencies are responding to these changes through the way they market their communities and provide their services. Others have been left scrambling to make sense of how their industry is changing. Recent technology and globalization changes have only increased the dynamic nature of marketing, so economic developers are now reevaluating how to most effectively communicate with businesses. As the paths of communication between communities and business have broadened and the business demands for rapid information communication have increased, the necessity of effective marketing communication has become more crucial.
- We received over 750 responses from all 50 states.
- So briefly I’ll talk about the people who responded to our latest survey, distributed in July of last year.
- Respondents represented areas of different sizes, with spikes at population levels from 100 to 250k, and also from 1 to 5 million, which are likely the regional and state organizations.
- Most of our respondents were either government or EDCs (each made up about a third), while about 10% were chambers of commerce.
- This is what EDOs are most focused on now. Business attraction, retention, and expansion were the most prioritized activities, followed by entrepreneurial development, community and workforce development, and then marketing.
- Now we’ll look at what the survey had to say about marketing effectiveness.
- Websites were againrated the most effective marketing strategy in 2011, with 82% rating it as effective. followed by…
- There’s a lot happening in this chart, but you can see 3 distinct points for 2007, 2009, and 2011. This shows how the perceived effectiveness of marketing strategies has changed over time. You can see a very distinct V shape for most of these strategies. What was happening was in 2009 there was a real drop, people were really pessimistic about most of these strategies, and this really did coincide with when they were slashing their budgets for marketing, so it may be an indication that they were rationalizing the cuts they were making. Now in 2011, the perceived effectiveness of marketing strategies has rebounded, in most cases to higher levels than in 2007.
- Now we’re going to look at budgets.
- AU: The median marketing budget for respondents was $50,000, while the median budget for the organization as a whole was $500,000, meaning that economic development organizations are typically devoting 10% of their overall budgets for marketing purposes. This percentage tracks with typical figures for public firms across all industries. There were large variations in the budgets of EDOs, however. The median marketing budget for the largest communities was 20 times the median for the smallest communities.
- EDOs gave their highest budget allocations to websites. While this position was not a change from the last survey, the actual percentage of the budget given to websites has risen slightly.
- Trade Shows/Conferences and Out-of-Town Meetings with businesses both made gains in budget allocation, while slight, to claim the 2nd and 3rd places on this list, respectively. This shift represents an increasing emphasis on personal contact.
- Social media, while only receiving the 15th highest budget allocation, received the 7th highest effectiveness rating, which shows that social media does not need much of a capital investment to be effective.
- So in this next slide here we look at what budget items EDOs plan to increase and what they plan to decrease. Over 70% of EDOs anticipated that they would increase their spending on websites in the next 5 years. The only other marketing strategy to have the majority of EDOs planning to increase its spending was social media at 51%.
- Trade shows fared poorly compared to specific out of town meetings with businesses, showing that perhaps the shotgun approach, even at a targeted industry event does not generate the same ROI. Print advertising has continued to be one of the high budgets with poor performance. Brochures look like a great opportunity to cut costs which can be reallocated to many better performing strategies.
- So in the dotcom boom days, around 2000, there was $8 billion spent in online advertising, but then the bubble burst and spending dipped for the next couple years. But it grew quite a bit after that. We’re now at 3 times the level of online ad spending that we were at the height of the dot-com boom.
- Of all the trendlines on this chart, you can see that online advertising had a very dramatic rise in perceived effectiveness over time, and it didn’t even suffer the dip in 2009 that occurred for just about every other strategy.
- Economic developers were very focused on manufacturing. There were three answer choices that involved manufacturing, and they constituted the top three industries targeted. Site selectors did not find themselves serving the newer branches of manufacturing (advanced manufacturing and alternative energy), their prioritization of traditional manufacturing lined up with economic developers. Clearly, traditional manufacturing is not dead. The newer, burgeoning sectors of manufacturing are not high priorities of site selectors now, but past conversations with site selectors hint that these sectors will become a greater part of what site selectors service.
- For site selectors, the top industry was corporate headquarters at 44%, which was only targeted by 18% of economic developers. Call centers, finance/insurance, and business services also were far more of a priority for site selectors than for economic developers. Among site selectors themselves, site selection consultants were more likely to serve manufacturing-related industries, including food processing and aerospace. Corporate real estate professionals, on the other hand, were more likely to serve industries in the service sector, such as IT, retail, finance, healthcare, and education
- ES: Now it’s time for another little quiz.
- ES: The survey results are surprising in light of the overall employment decline of the manufacturing sector nationwide, where employment dropped 20% from 1985 to 2005. Many site selectors we spoke with pointed to a recent resurgence in manufacturing, due in part to alternative energy and green technology, but they also acknowledge that the ratio of jobs created per dollar invested in these growing industries is significantly lower than with traditional manufacturing. Switch to Anatalio
- AU: Small and rural areas were more likely than larger and more urban areas to prioritize the attraction of retail, food service/accommodation, and arts/entertainment. Urban areas had a stronger orientation to targeting industries that create jobs for those in the knowledge economy, such as finance, science, and high-tech. As for manufacturing, the larger the area, the more likely it is to target advanced manufacturing. Perhaps this has something to do with the kinds of talent needed to work in such facilities that may only be present in larger areas.
- We also wanted to know how site selectors get their information.
- We surveyed a number of site selectors, and we heard from some of the biggest corporations around.
- Here’s the full list,
- The focus of site selectors was very broad. About 60% served multiple countries.
- About a third of respondents were site selection consultants, and a little over half were corporate real estate professionals, either serving one company or multiple companies.
- And here you can see that our respondents were primarily the key decisionmakers at the executive level.
- The number one source of information for site selectors for gathering information about communities was brokers, followed by websites of EDOs and third-party data sources. Back in 2007, websites were ranked below third party data sources, so the numbers show websites are gaining in importance.
- Corporate real estate professionals were more likely to gather their information from brokers (26% compared to 8% of site selection consultants), while site selection consultants placed greater emphasis on third-party data sources and proprietary databases.
- So now we’ll look back out our survey to see what site selectors value. We asked where they get the most valuable information, and what kind of information they want.
- We found that site selectors rated websites the most effective way of communicating with EDOs, ahead of meeting with EDOs directly. Some of you may think this is surprising, and in many ways it may be, but we think this most likely boils down to the issue of convenience, since site selectors can use websites whenever they want.
- The biggest change from our surveys in terms of what is effective with site selectors was for online advertising. This may be partly due to the fact that online advertising reaches people at the moment of relevance. If you’re looking at content related to real estate, most likely the ads you will see will also be related to that topic you are interested in, and site selectors may appreciate getting messages about problems they are trying to solve at that moment in time.
- This is what information site selectors like to see on EDO websites. Demographics, labor force, incentives, employers, and maps.
- Looking at what’s changed over the last four years, site selectors are more interested in finding out about the businesses in communities, and also they want to do transactions online such as obtaining licenses, permits, etc.
- AU: Here’s another quiz.
- So we want to see when businesses are making contact. Blue represents direct contact with EDO staff (phone email, etc). Green is when they’re visiting the website, and you can see that they’re more likely to visit the website than make personal contact. So this shows that if communities are not providing their information online, they may be getting eliminated from consideration without knowing that they were even considered.
- Now we’ll look at website features
- This is what is creating the highest value and effectiveness on ED websites. Land/sites, etc.
- In 2011, we seem to be on track to make good on that prediction. Almost half (44%) of all EDOs now have interactive maps and interactive site selection analysis assistance on their website, which is over a 10% increase from 2007. The tipping point is likely to be within the next year. At that point, organizations that don’t have these interactive features will be at a competitive disadvantage where they need to play catch up.
- 81% of economic developers said that a GIS-based site selection tool is/would be helpful for their work, up from 77% in 2007. Less than have of EDOs have such a system now, but within 5 years, 76% of EDOs will be providing this type of service.
- AU: true or false…
- On the down side, we found that EDOs are less active when it comes to updating the content on their websites.
- However, when looking just at 2011, EDOs that reported themselves to have effective marketing were far more likely to update their websites in a timely fashion. 19% of effective marketers reported that they updated their websites on a daily basis, versus only 8% of ineffective marketers. You can see as you go down the chart that the three choices representing the most frequent updating schedule were dominated by effective marketers, whereas the choices representing the most lax updating schedule were all dominated by ineffective marketers.
- Now we’ll take a look at mobile trends.
- Mary Meeker, an Internet analyst known as the Queen of the Net, wrote that we are now in the 5th major technology cycle, carried over from the past decade, and that’s mobile computing.
- In May 2010, 38% of mobile phone users accessed the internet, which was a 52% increase in 13 months.
- We see in these charts that over half of American adults own laptops and over 85% own cellphones. These charts are over a year old so those numbers will be significantly higher now.
- Here we can see that tablet ownership is highest with younger adults, which is no surprise. But this also hints that in the future, this kind of technology will become more and more important.
- Location based services are services that take advantage of the GPS location of a user, usually from that user’s mobile phone. Foursquare, yelp, and facebook all offer ways for users to search and check-in to local businesses, notifying their friends where they have been and also gaining access to promotional deals from merchants. These services are great opportunities for businesses in your community to promote themselves and establish their own community of patrons, so you should work with them, especially the more technophobic among them, to make sure they have a presence on these services.
- EDOs are already taking advantage of this trend.
- Here’s an example of a site selection website. It’s possible to condense and reformat this information for a mobile device, which is what the Greater Oklahoma City Chamber has done.
- Here’s an example of how QR codes work on the website for the city of Los Angeles, which is the same way they work for the sites we already saw for Pittsburgh and the state of Pennsylvania. At the bottom of the report is the QR code, which a mobile phone can scan and will link directly to the property report so an expanding business owner or site selector can easily take that information on the go, perhaps to visit the site.
- Now we’ll take a more in depth look at social media, starting out with some more information from our survey.
- Here we see where people are spending their time on the internet, and you can see that people are spending time on social networks and blogs more than any other activity. This category is also growing the fastest, with a 43% increase in time spent from 2009-2010.
- Now we’ll look back at some more of our survey results. We asked which social media strategies EDOs engage in, and found that 73% of EDOs have Facebook Pages, 58% have Twitter accounts, and 56% have a LinkedIn group for their organization.
- When asked to rate which communication strategies for economic development were most effective, economic developers gave the highest ratings to LinkedIn, followed by Facebook, video sharing, and Twitter. These effectiveness ratings are considerably lower than the percentages of EDOs that engage in them, so there is certainly still some skepticism about the effectiveness of these channels among organizations that are engaging in them. We should keep in mind when looking at these results that we are still at an early adoption stage. As EDOs become more comfortable and proficient in these strategies, and as the business community’s involvement on these platforms grows, we expect EDOs to have more success with social media.
- We also conducted a separate survey of site selectors and asked how they use social media.
- AU: Here’s another quiz.
- Jobs are still the most often used criteria to benchmark an organization’s success by a large margin.
- AU: Here’s another quiz.
- There is not as much consensus among EDOs as to how to benchmark their marketing efforts. When we asked EDOs how they benchmark their marketing back in 2007, many people wrote in the “Other” choice to say that they did not benchmark their marketing programs at all. We made that its own option this time around, and unfortunately, but perhaps not surprisingly, the top rated benchmarking strategy was “no formal benchmarking”, shared by 20% of EDOs. An essential part of improving performance is measuring performance, so one in five EDOs are missing this key step of successful marketing.
- Jonathan Bittner from the Anchorage Economic Development Corporation provides some suggestion. “The new model in our office is: if you can't track it, don't do it”, he says. “With e-newsletters we can see who opens it, which links they click on, how long they stay on the article, if they forward it to someone else, etc. Same goes for our website content. The only thing I can measure when I send out a print piece is what time it's picked up by the postal service and how much it costs me to send it out.”Jonathan Bittner, http://www.linkedin.com/groupItem?view=&gid=1785140&type=member&item=88674347, January 15, 2012
- Both economic developers and site selectors agree that an organization’s website provides the most effective marketing strategy for economic development. Although websites are perceived as effective tools, most economic development organizations could do far more to increase their effectiveness. They should be tracked more, made more interactive, and kept more up to date.
- ES: We’ll start this off with a little quiz. I’ll need a volunteer for this.