Social media can help build place brands by serving as a new channel for communities to share information with potential visitors and investors. It allows for two-way dialog and transforms community members into brand ambassadors online. Example place brands that have been successfully promoted on social media include Savannah, GA, which shares its history and culture, and Denver, CO, which highlights its active lifestyle. Appropriate goals for using social media to build a brand are to generate new leads, engage stakeholders, and spread positive messages about the community.

1. How to Build a Community Brand in the Age of Social Media

2. OutlineWhat is Social Media?What is a Place Brand?How Social Media can Help you Build a Place BrandExamples of Great Place Brands Experienced through Social MediaAppropriate Goals for Brand Building Using Social MediaAction Steps to Build a Brand Using Social MediaQ+AAppendix: Background on Social Media Tools

3. Your Host Raised in: Loves to visit: Vitals:Ben WrightCEO, Atlas Advertisingbenw@atlas-advertising.comwww.twitter.com/atlasadFunction: ExecutiveBiggest question about social media: How will it change the nature of geography?

4. About Atlas Atlas Advertising helps economic developers reach national and international prospect and site selection audiences. We deliver branding, website development, GIS mapping, research, social media, and creative services professionally and with a staff experienced in economic development. Unlike firms with little or no economic development experience, Atlas Advertising uses a proven mix of economic development marketing tactics that generate interest from site selection audiences. Atlas Advertising is led by a former economic development practitioner and has worked with 60+ different economic development clients in 35+ states. Our approach and experience means that our campaigns generate an average of three to ten times the response of other campaigns. Featured clients:Indy Partnership State of OhioAlabama Power CompanyCity of San FranciscoBryan County, GASavannah Economic Development AuthorityElectric Cities of Georgia

5. Atlas Agency ServicesWebsite Design ServicesGIS WebsitesBrand DevelopmentSearch Engine MarketingSocial Media MarketingWebsite Hosting Marketing, Media and Lead Generation

6. Content Services

7. Research Services

8. Training ServicesAtlas Technology and Data ProductsContent Management Software Robust Media Center CalendarData Cart/Brochure Generator Mobile friendly websitesBlog or Microsite Software Project Tracking SoftwareEmail Marketing SoftwareData ProductsDemographic DataBusiness ListsEnhanced Prospect ListsGeographic Information Systems (GIS)

9. Commercial Property databases

10. Business databases

11. Data Search (Data Tab)

12. Other Data Management (Map Overlays)

13. Community Data Management

14. GIS System Analytics

15. GIS Data Reporting

16. Data Widgets

17. Website Analytics Connect with Atlas Join the Atlas CommunityConnect on TwitterJoin our LinkedIn groupView our latest videos and presentationswww.atlas-advertising.com/communityRead more at our Blog, “Latitude”: http://blog.atlas-advertising.comWhat is Social Media? At its most basic sense, social media is a shift in how people discover, read and share news, information and content. It’s a fusion of sociology and technology, transforming monologues (one to many) into dialogues (many to many) and is the democratization of information, transforming people from content readers into publishers. Social media has become extremely popular because it allows people to connect in the online world to form relationships for personal, political and business use. Businesses also refer to social media as user-generated content (UGC). Source: Wikipedia

18. What is a place brand?The sum of all the characteristics, tangible and intangible, that make a development, city, state, or region unique.

19. How Social Media Can Help You Build a Place Brand

20. How Social Media can help you build a place brandIt is a new channel for people to discover, read, and share information about your community. It can foster “many to many” dialogues about the most important issues and assets in your community. It can transform your board members, community advocates, and ordinary citizens into marketers (or critics)It facilitates relationships around information, issues, and assets in your community quickly, transparently, and flexibly.

21. Question: What are the things that are central to your brand?The heritage, reputation, and attributes of your community itselfThe heritage and reputation of your organizationThe information you have at the ready to tell a favorable story about your community relative to other locationsThe capability of your staff to be proactive and professional The network of influencers you have in your community that can mobilize around business expansion or retention

22. Which of these can’t be enhanced by a strong Social Media program?None!

23. Research about Social Media usage among location decision makers

24. What new media advancements have you seen that you think are valuable to your profession?

25. What social networks or tools, if any, do you use?

26. How frequently do you use each?

27. What is the applicability of LinkedIn to your profession?

28. What is the applicability of LinkedIn to your 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.”“Pretty low rated.”“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.” Useful networking toolDon’t know yet.

29. Examples of Great Place Brands Experienced Through Social Media

30. Savannah, GA

31. Denver, CO

32. Bloomington-Normal, IL

33. Appropriate Goals for Brand Building Using Social Media

34. Recommended GoalsGenerate new prospect and investor inquiriesEngage current prospects, stakeholders, investors, and the general public in economic developmentMove important community investment decisions forwardGrow the reach of your organization by building your fan, follower, friend, web traffic, and connections base

35. What about negative comments?Building a brand using social media doesn’t create negative press. It you to manage and engage with that press.After much criticism for poor customer service, the direct-sell computer company earned the rather unfortunate moniker “Dell Hell.” (Googling the term results in a long list of links largely tied to customer dissatisfaction.) In response to this, Dell executives worked to improve customer relations and actively join in the conversation. Dell has even developed the property IdeaStorm—a community driven forum in which customers are invited to note problems, share suggestions with the company, and even assist fellow customers. Since then, some past critics have praised the company for their improvements and negative blog posts about the company have purportedly dropped from 49% to 22%. Read more

36. Action Steps to Build a Brand Using Social Media

37. Step 1: Create an online persona for your brandWhat are the attributes of your community itself? Great technology community? Low cost? Business friendly? Outstanding companies? What is the heritage and reputation of your organization? Have you made big deals happen? Have you led some big wins?What information do you have that others don’t have? What are you expert in? Is your staff proactive and professional? How can you show that?Who is in your network? How do they fit in to your community’s persona?

38. Step 2: Pay off your persona with real content. Take your community’s best attributes and seed or join the communities that have already formed around them. If your organization is a long time leader – act like it. Be authoritative. If you are an upstart, talk about things that push the envelope. Make all the information that you have that is legal to share completely available on your website. Make a big deal on social media of releasing it. Set a calendar to do so. Engage key staff members whose work can be made more efficient by social media to participate. Have them own key areas of your persona. Do the same thing with your network, including innovators, CEOs, and others who can own something valuable.

39. Step 3: Create reasons to engage/commentBe relevant – always tying back to how your persona meets the needs of your audiences:Be timely – don’t be the last one to post or comment on an important community issue. Be the first. Be different – take positions that only you can take. Augment them with information only you have. Be edgy, open, conversational – this is what people expect. After all, they are relating to a persona now.

40. Step 4: Give away real value that can be consumed or forwardedInside informationCustomized researchTidbits from meetingsStories from the roadLegislative updatesOfficial positions

41. Step 5: Measure and AdjustWhat to measure:Numbers of connections, followers, friendsHow often your content is shared with othersWebsite or blog trafficNumber of conversations your organization is havingHow many people in your organization are participatingGroups your organization is a part of

42. Step 6: What to stop doing to make timeAttending meetings just to be “a good face for the community.” Newsletters for the sake of newslettersPrinting boxes and boxes of brochuresAttending non-industry specific trade showsCreating fluffy and traditional branding campaigns that are dismantled after a year because they are not relevant

43. Q+A

44. Contact AtlasContact information:2601 Blake Street, Suite 301Denver, CO 80205Contact: Ben Wrightt: 303.292.3300 x 210benw@Atlas-Advertising.comwww.Atlas-Advertising.comLinkedIn Profile| LinkedIn Group | Twitter| Blog| Slidespace

45. Background on Social Media Tools

46. About Facebook“Facebook helps you connect and share with the people in your life.”

47. Most recent facebook stats: http://www.slideshare.net/360digitalinfluence/facebook-state-of-the-union?from=share_emailWhy Facebook?More than 1 billion pieces of content are shared each weekResearch says that Facebook users are almost twice as likely as Twitter users to come back to your website if they click on a link. They also beat Bing, Google, Yahoo! And Digg for loyalty. Facebook already contains a variety of vibrant communities that you can join and participate in to increase your exposure.

48. Key Features of FacebookYour Profile

49. Your Fans

50. Status Updates

51. Inbox

52. Applications

53. Advertising

54. Mobile AccessAbout Twitter“Twitter is a service for friends, family, and co–workers to communicate and stay connected by answering one simple question: What are you doing?”Why Twitter?Year-over-year growth is more than 3000%The median age on Twitter is now 31. Most of these people have at least a B.A.

55. Key features of TwitterYour profile

56. Who you follow

57. Who follows you

58. Mobile accesshttp://twitter.com