atlas iedc marketing using the web
DESCRIPTION
Atlas CEO Ben Wright's presentation at the International Economic Development Council's 2011 Marketing and Attraction Conference, about how to market using the web. Topics include LinkedIn, slideshare, SEO, and moreTRANSCRIPT
IEDC Marketing &
Attraction: Marketing
Using the Web
2
Agenda
• Some advice • Formative ideas about online marketing• What the research says • Goal setting for online marketing • Employing specific online tactics
– Web self-service and online RFI responses– Using LinkedIn– Using slideshare– Use of search engine marketing approaches– Use of email marketing– Use of mobile marketing– Marketing specific sites (next!)
• What you can stop doing to make room…
3
Advice from someone who just began the
second half of his career in economic development
4
Every community has a different definition of
economic development.
5
There are just as many definitions of what it
means to be an economic development
marketer.
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So what do you do?
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Get to know what is expected of your boss,
or your boss’s boss
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Gravitate toward activities that will help
your organization reach these goals.
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Invest your time where the most important
interactions are
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Invest your time where the most important
interactions are
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What I remember from my time on staff, 13 years later1. Putting together original research that was distributed to 450,000 people each
month.
2. Speaking to business leaders about how my community’s economy would help or
challenge their business
3. Working to recruit Level3 (Success) and the NCAA Hall of Fame (Not a a success)
4. Building my first economic development website
5. Getting a stadium approved and funded
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The best marketers in economic development took the initiative to define their role themselves. They are engaged and successful as
a result.
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How much of your time do you spend on the things that you will
remember?
Formative Ideas About Online Marketing
Your community will get ten times the interaction online as it will in person.
The visitors to your website, who open your email, view your social media profiles, view your slides on slideshare, are people.
When considering your online marketing efforts, set quantitative goals. If you can’t measure it, you shouldn’t buy it.
Economic developers should respond to those who are already looking before speaking to those who aren’t.
Online communication follows the same rules as offline communication. It must be relevant, timely, and different.
What the research says
How site selectors say they like to get information from communities
Information Source % Important, 2011
% Important, 2006
Site visits (familiarization tours) 100% 100%Existing relationships with ED officials 95% 88%
Community websites 90% 63%Third party national data sources 90% n/a Past experience with other deals 81% 71%Word of mouth from peers 57% 43%Calls from local officials 48% 29%Existing relationships with local real estate community
38% 29%
National conferences 29% 0%Trade magazines 29% 14%Social Media/Social Networks 24% n/a
Source: Atlas Survey of Site Selectors, January 2011
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What new media advancements have you seen that you think are valuable to your profession?
Source: Atlas Survey of Site Selectors, January 2011
The frequency site selectors are using social media is rising in 2011 – 86% use weekly or more, compared to 71% in late 2009
Daily Two or three times a week
Weekly0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
35%
25%
31% 31%
Early 2011
Source: Atlas Survey of Site Selectors, January 2011
What social media/networks site selectors are using
Social Media/Network % who are using
LinkedIn 61%Facebook 21%RSS Feeds 21%Twitter 18%Blogs 14%Foursquare or other location based social media
0%
Source: Atlas Survey of Site Selectors, January 2011
A person!
Tracey Hyatt-Bosman
1. Based in Chicago, IL
2. Former economic developer
3. Specializes in renewable energy and data centers
Director of Grubb & Ellis
Strategic Consulting Group
What Tracey needs and doesn’t need
What We Need• Contact information• Incentive programs• Tax rates• Recent announcements• Industry-targeted info• Map of your territory• Largest employers• Area colleges and
universities
What We Don’t
•General labor statistics
•Secondary source wage information
•Real estate listings
•Rankings
•Distance to other major cities
Goal setting for online marketing
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Examples of standard benchmarks for quantitative goals, and how they relate
Goal Small City Benchmark
Region Benchmark
State Benchmark
Deals/Jobs in the pipeline Varies Varies VariesRFI requests per month Varies Varies VariesWebsite visits per month 1000 5,000 20,000
Incoming email and phone inquiries per month 10 50 200
Property searches on my website per month 250 2,500 5,000
Social media followers/ connections 200 500 1,000
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Free (or low cost) tools to track your performance
• Salesforce for calls and email inquiries
• Google Analytics for visits and conversions
• Your GIS system or Google Analytics for property searches per month
• HootSuite for your social media followers/ connections and click-throughs
Employing specific online tactics
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Effective web self-service is…
• Giving users the ability to create their own proposals – from your website
• Allowing page content, properties, businesses, documents, and maps
• Allowing simple document re-ordering
• All without a password
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Effective use of LinkedIn is…• Linking to customer
facing staff profiles from your website
• Maintaining an organizational page
• Participating actively in relevant groups
• Managing and growing your connections
• Using company profiles in recruitment and retention
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What is the applicability of LinkedIn to the site selection profession?
“I have used it along with Hoovers to check who is LinkedIn and contact people for business meetings.”
“I think it has good application. I have gotten proposals through this tool.”
“It’s okay.”
“I already have the contacts I need in my email – how is this different?”
“Not much”
“Good for seeking independent information.”
“Good for finding contacts, and to keep in touch with peers.”
“More of a business site”
Useful networking tool
Don’t know yet.
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What is slideshare?
• A service to host and share your slide presentations
• Integrates with your website and with your LinkedIn account
• 45 million viewers per month, viewing 90 million pages per month
• Voted top 5 global learning tool, behind twitter, YouTube, Google Docs, and Delicious, and
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Effective use of slideshare is…
• Creating relevant, targeted content at least monthly
• Integrating slideshare with your website and with your LinkedIn account
• Tracking views for key presentations alongside your website statistics
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Effective use of search engine marketing is…
• Ranking #1 organically for “your geography economic development”
• Ranking #1 organically for “your organization name”
• Utilizing paid search (PPC) to drive additional traffic
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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”
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Effective use of email marketing is…• Maintaining and growing
your opt in list, from your website, CRM system, and LinkedIn account
• Sending simple, targeted messages that are relevant, timely, and different
• Linking back to your website or blog
• Tracking open and click through rates
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Effective use of mobile techniques is…
• Showing a specially formatted version of your website
• Focusing on contact information and how to connect with you
• Including property and other geographic information
• Not building an app
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Why should you care about mobile?
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What you can stop doing to make room…
• Sending printed newsletters• Designing and printing fancy brochures• Going to general industry trade shows• Going to as many meetings!
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Put your marketing skills to the test, and serve your country! • Write the best messaging for
the United States for Foreign Direct Investment
• Become our 4th Panelist Tuesday the 20th at 8:00 PM
• Criteria for entry: – Follow @atlasad on Twitter– Be judged as the best by other
panelists– Tweet using the hashtags:
#iedc and #usvworld– By Tuesday at 6:00 PM
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Contact Atlas
Contact information:
2601 Blake Street, Suite 301
Denver, CO 80205
Contact: Ben Wright
t: 303.292.3300 x 210
www.Atlas-Advertising.com
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