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Web Marketing 101 for Local Economic Development
This document provides an overview of effective online marketing strategies for local economic development organizations. It discusses determining marketing goals and target audiences, developing an online presence through a professional website with relevant content and tools, and optimizing search engine visibility through techniques like SEO, social media engagement, and frequent updates of fresh content. The presentation emphasizes having a clear plan and measuring results to focus efforts on most effective tactics.
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Web Marketing 101 for Local Economic Development
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- 2. WhyareYouHere? • Youknowthat thesuccessofyourEDOmeansattractingnew businesses and supporting existing business • Youknowthat attractingnewleads meansgoingwhere your customers are • Youknowthat youknowyour customers areonline • Over90%ofsite selection begins (orends) on the web • Doyouhavethe right info to beshortlisted? • Youprobably don’t knowhowtogetin front of themand deliver your“pitch”
- 3. WhyareYouHere? • Youmayhavecreatedawebsite andhad no appreciable results • Maybeyourely onState,Regional, orUtilities to drive leads • Youmayhavehired a“programmer” or“ITguy”to“manage”your website • Youmayhavenever had totruly marketyourEDOonline before • Lotsof moving parts:SEO, PPC/CPC,SEM, SMO,SMM, EIEIO • Everycommunity is “super awesome”,what differentiates yours? • Youmayrealize this ismore complicated complex thanmost “experts”claim • Alittle education and effortwill yield bigresults
- 4. AboutCirrusABS • 15YearsExperience inOnlineMarketing and Website Development • Hybrid companythat offersthe best ofmarketing andtechnology firms • 25+employees • Fullstaff oftechnical &creativepersonnel • Client ranging fromFortune 500to smalllocalbusinesses
- 5. AboutCirrusABS Cirrus ABSCore Competencies •CorporateMarketing Solutions -StrategicConsulting, Website Development, Online Marketing, SearchEngine Optimization (SEO) • PlatformSolution Development • VerticalMarketSolutions • EconomicDevelopment,Education, Insurance… • CorporateSolutions forDistributor/Dealer Networks • FranchiseSolutions
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- 8. WhytheWeb? Itis more costeffective. • Distribution of message less about money, more about effort • Updating of message printing and postage costs eliminated • Measurement of success know what works and eliminate waste
- 9. WhytheWeb? Itis interactive. • Human/SocialInteraction More timely & reliable information • Various Forms of Media Video, audio, interactive graphics, documents, etc… • Business Processes Functionality i.e. online banking, account creation, purchases, etc…
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- 13. SoHowDoWeMarketEffectively Online? • DeterminingWHO you’re trying to reach • Determining HOW you’re going to reachthem • Determining WHAT information THEY needto see to engagewith YOU • Determining WHAT ACTION you want THEM to take • Determiningwhat is WORKING and what is NOT WORKING
- 14. YouNeedaPlan "If You Don'tKnow Where You're Going, Any Road Will Get You There“ ~Lewis Carroll
- 15. SoNowWhat?–DetermineIntent • tv • dm(directmail) • radio • newspaper • print(brochures/ads) • email marketing • social • SearchEngineOptimization • search marketing • tradeshows • sponsorships(NASCAR,events, etc.) • yellowpages (not shown)
- 16. SoNowWhat? • Build aWebsite,right? • Butwhat about the searchengines? • Buthow do I get my site indexed? • Buthow do I get my site rankedso peoplecan find it?
- 17. DifferentWebsites=DifferentMessage • State EDWebsites– •Promote State incentives,programs, differentiators • Offer state-wide sites and buildings database tools • Your properties competewith everyone else – small fish, big pond • Regional EDWebsites – • Representsthe strengthof the Region • Regional workforce, quality of place/life, etc • Local EDWebsites (LEDO) • Your properties, your incentives,your workforce, your education,your differentiators • You are the local expertsto“sell”your community
- 18. First,DoYouHaveaLameDuckWebsite? • Doesyour websitehave freshcontenton the homepage? • Canyou change METAinfo? • Is your site trapped in Flash? • Do your site visitors have a reasonto come back or refer you? • Canyou evenadd contentwithout a programmer? • Do you have enoughpages to“tell the story”? • Do you“connectthe dots”for site visitors with clear contentpaths, relatedcontent, internal and external links, calls to action?
- 19. ARecentSurvey… Theeditors of AreaDevelopmentmagazine conducted a“flashsurvey”of a select group of highly respectedconsultantswho work with a nationwide client base. Theirtop site selectioncriteria whenconsidering a“top ten state”for Economic Development: 1. Lowest businesscosts 2. Most businessfriendly 3. Corporate tax environment 4. Overall labor climate 5. Work force developmentprograms 6. Fast-track permitting 7. Rail and highway accessibility 8. Shovel-ready sites
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- 21. Similarly… The2010IEDC Conference“WhatWould GoogleDo”highlightedthe following criteria whenevaluating communities websites as“musthaves” • “AMapThat Shows YourLocation inthe Context of Surrounding States.”- KathyMussio of Atlas Insight LLC • “Comprehensive list of majorprivate sectoremployers with headcount”– DennisDonovanof WDG Consulting • “Contact information (direct telephone line andemail) orsenior economicdevelopers” -Jason Hickey of Hickey & Associates, LLC • “List of Four-Yearand Two-YearColleges with Enrollment Stats”-Joe Lacy Biggins,Lacy & Shapiro • “AConcise List of Economic Development Incentives” -All Consultants
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- 24. SoNowWhat? -BuildaWebsite,Right? •Similarly sizedcommunities •One has better accessto Interstates, lower unemployment,accessto multiple airports, etc. •Whichsite looks more professional and has more“going on”??
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- 26. SoWhat? Some Statistics aboutthis effective website since its launch in June‘10: • DirectWebsite leads up 400% • 1:3 converted to projects • 50% of projects have closed!! • Latest win took only 90 days from 1st contact to open for business • Came in through search engine inquiry not State or Region
- 27. AboutThatWholeIntentThing… GoogleSearchStats: • “SiteSelection” –60,500searches/mo •“Business Relocation” –14,800searches/mo • “CommercialProperty forSale”–90,500searches/mo • “CommercialProperty forLease” –33,100searches/mo • “EconomicDevelopment” –250,000searches/mo • “’State’Economic Development” =1k-5ksearches/mo ea • Plusthousands of additional terms SiteSelection Magazinestats: 44,000totalcirculation
- 28. AboutThatWholeIntentThing… • SearchEngines RepresentDirect1:1Marketing • SearchEngine queries arepeople “raising their hand” and askingfor info • Ifyouhavethe infoandarefoundyoucandeliver yourentire value proposition on the searchers’ termsand timeframe • Traditionaladvertising interjectsadsin betweendesired content • 1/6ofapagecan’tdeliver muchof yourmessage • Ifthe adisseen the viewerwilllook foryourwebsite formore information –what will they find? • Traditionaltrade publications end upin awaiting room
- 29. AboutThatWholeCostEffectiveThing… Itis more costeffective: Site Selection Magazine 2011Advertising Rates $4370 is approx one full year of our LEDO Suite program for communities under 100k population for: •Website (including content management and SEO tools) •Sites and Buildings with Demographic and Business Data •Site-Wide Report Builder •Hosting •Call-in and Email Support •Tech & Security Upgrades
- 30. SearchEngineOptimization –WarningGeekContentAhead 1. Technical–Coding, site structure, URLstructure, site maps(XML and visible), Metatags,heading tags,internal link structure, … a. Haveorhavenot. And the weighting of elements constantly changes 2. On-siteContent –Ifyoudon’t talkabout it youwon’t befound forit!!! a. Keywordsaturation, title tag,Metadescription, h1s,internal linking,… 3. Off-siteContent -AKA “backlinks” a. Building site authority through reinforcing links &citations toboth your homepageand internal pages b. Socialmedia (networks and bookmark sites) canbeyourfriend here
- 31. SearchEngineStats 1. Googlehasover200criteria tobelisted in its index a. “technical”,“on-sitecontent”, &“off-site content” b. Ifyoudon’t talk aboutit, youwon’tbefound forit –ContentisKing! 2. 95+%of non-branded searchesstopatthe bottomof page1 a. Farmore people searchforwhat youdothanwho you are b. Novisibility =no clicks 3. Lessthan20%of searchers will evenconsider “sponsored links” (Adwords) a. Cangetquick response but canbeveryexpensive to maintain 4. ButIwantto be#1…
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- 34. StartThinkingAboutTotalOnlineVisibility •Engaging your customeralso engages the search engines. •Creating a “buzz” is important •Sharing info across multiple mediums ensures you will make contact with your customers’ preferred medium •Provide Quality Content •Give both site visitors AND the search engines reason to return •Freshness of content is crucial •Keyword Saturation of content •Internally linking fresh content to existing content •Backlinking to fresh content
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- 36. TotalOnlineVisibility–GetSocial How can socialmedia help your EDO? • Visibility / brand awareness • Customer feedback (in real-time) • Traffic/backlinks (to pages or our site) • To encourage page or site indexing • Likability factor (or not) – “All things being equal, people want to do businesswith their friends. All things being not quite so equal, people STILL want to do businesswith their friends”– Jeffrey Gitomer • Promoting knowledge experts
- 37. Online/WebsiteToolstoIncreaseEffectiveness Sites and BuildingsDatabases • On-site or Off-site Pros and Cons • Off-site Pros – your properties compete at state/national level • Off-site Cons - your properties compete at state/national level • NoonsiteSearch Engineindexing,IF the search engineseven see thedatathe state/nationalsitegetsthe“Google Juice” • Noabilitytouse site-widereport buildingtools • NoGoogle Analyticsfortracking • On-site Pros – it’s yours • Youget Search Engine value forYour properties(“Google Juice”) • Abilitytocompilewithreport buildersand othertoolstobrand results • Add relatedcontenttocompleteyour“value proposition” • GoogleAnalyticstracking of propertyvisits • On-site Cons • Can youpush/pull dataor are you static?(Multiple dataentry) • Can be expensive(dependingon vendor)
- 38. Online/WebsiteToolstoIncreaseEffectiveness Report Builders /Data Carts • Site user can add content they choose to Report(s) • Brandedfor Your organization • Save time for EDO staff responding to State, Regional leads • Some (LEDO Suite) can capture lead data Widgets • Related content (documents, images, videos, maps, links, more) • Social Media content
- 39. InConclusion • First andforemost, do you have a plan? • Do you have a lame duckwebsite? If you do you change it! • Doesyour website have the information, tools, and calls to action neededto engagewith YOU • Are you supporting your website’ssearchengine visibility and site visitors with new, fresh, optimized content? • Are you engaging social media and other offsite outlets to build authority and spread your messagewith little to no expense? • Are you measuring what’s WORKING and what’s NOT WORKING? • Do more of the former and less of the latter!
- 40. AdditionalCapabilities • FullServiceMarketingSupport • ProfessionalWeb/PrintCopywriting •GraphicDesign,Collateral MaterialDevelopment • VideoProduction • SearchMarketing& SocialMediaMarketing • Online/OfflineMarketingCampaignSupport • Marketing&Brand StrategyDevelopment • Software/ApplicationDevelopment&SystemsIntegration • FlashApplication Development
- 41. ToBeContinued… Thankyouforyourtimetoday. Pleasevisit www.ledosuite.comforinformation onourLEDOSuiteprogram. Pleasevisitwww.cirrusabs.comforinformation aboutourcompany. Oremailmedirectly atbgardiner@cirrusabs.com