Transcript Marketing & Communications for Your Community

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Module #10 – Marketing &
Communications for Your Community
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Marketing Your
Community is Easy, Right?
• My community is a great place to live,
work and play; marketing it will be a
cinch!
• I’m not a procrastinator! Time for action!
Let’s market! I’m ready to:
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Mail out brochures
Do email blasts
Advertise
Put the pressure on!
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Marketing is the LAST Piece of the Economic
Development Success Formula
• There is much preparation and planning to do before
you’re ready to market
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What is the “product” you are selling?
What are its distinguishing characteristics?
Who is the competition?
Who wants to “buy” it (who is the customer)?
What kind of buyers do I really want to attract?
To jump into a marketing program before you do
above is equivalent to: Fire! Ready! Aim!
• Let’s discuss marketing and all that must precede it
to be successful
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Marketing Your Community
• Understanding the Customer
• Targeting the Customer
• Marketing to the Customer
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Definitions Of Marketing
General Marketing:
“The performance of business activities that direct the flow of
goods and services from producer to consumer”
-- American Marketing Association
Societal Marketing:
“To determine the needs, wants and interests of target
markets and to deliver the desired satisfactions more
effectively and efficiently than competitors in a way that
preserves or enhances the consumer’s and the society’s well
being.”
-- Phillip Kotler, Marketing Management
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Community Marketing
Community marketing is not like consumer product
marketing where hoards of consumers buying
everyday products can be enticed to switch brands
with a television jingle. Community marketing is
about creating an image in the minds of key
executives that make expansion and location
decisions and staying in contact with them so that
when the time comes to act, they consider a
particular area.
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Steps in Successful Community
Marketing
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Define the Product and Message
Identify the Target Audience
Distribute Message and Create Awareness
Make a Convincing Case and Close the Deal
Note: Our focus here is on business recruiting, but principles
apply to tourism, retail, retirees, etc. and to business retention
and expansion and new business start-ups
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Define The Product & Message
• Define The Product
• Product Development and Definition
• Marketing Image
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Define The Product: SWOT Analysis
• Community Vision – what do you want to be?
• Community Assessment/SWOT Analysis
o Should Cover All Community Factors Because They Are
All Relevant To Business Location Decisions and
Economic Development Success
o Identify assets, opportunities to build on and “sell”
o Identify weaknesses and threats to address
• Vision and assessment differentiate the community from
thousands of others
o How can you sell a product if you can’t describe it?
o How can you target customers if you don’t know what
you’re selling?
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Product Development and Definition
Depends on the Vision and Target Customer
• What Does Your Community Want to Be
(Vision) and Who Are You Selling to (Target
Audience)?
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Low-skill industries?
High-skill advanced manufacturing?
Warehouse and distribution operations?
Technology-based industries?
Corporate headquarters?
Tourists?
Retirees?
Retail firms?
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Introduction & Overview
A.
Connecting the Dots in Community Economic
Development (CED)
1. Build Wealth and Value
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Neighborhoods
City
State
2. Prioritized Projects
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Strategic Planning Outgrowth
Assigning Responsibility
Identifying Resources
3. Project Opportunities
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Attract Investment
Debt and Equity
Better the Community
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Develop and Define the Product (Community)
Based on Vision and Target Customers
• Make decisions and invest scarce
resources to achieve your vision and
attract targets
o Industrial parks (large or small, manufacturing or
service jobs?)
o Infrastructure (roads, utilities, broadband)
o Education
o Workforce development
o Zoning and permitting
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Marketing Image
• Image Is The Sum Of Beliefs, Ideas and Impressions
That People (Residents, Target Audience, Outside
Public) Have Of A Place
• Image Creation And Management Is A Key Component
Of Economic Development Marketing
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Positive business image can help: Alabama, Georgia, Virginia?
Negative image can hurt: North Dakota, New York, California?
Image is cumulative (sum of beliefs), can be hard to change
Image often determines whether a state or community is on
the initial search list
o Image is often a final intangible selection factor
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Marketing Image
• A Marketing Image Should Be:
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Valid
Believable
Simple
Appealing
Distinctive (not just another “great place to live, work and
play”)
o Related to target audience
• Image Often Serves As A Rallying Point For The
Community (Internal Audience) As Well As Prospects
(External Audience)
• Image Idea Often Comes Out Of SWOT Analysis And
Community Strategic Planning/Visioning
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Identify The Target Audience
• The Marketing Audience
• Marketing Segmentation
• Target Industry and Company
Selection
• Know Your Target Audience
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The Marketing Audience
• External Marketing Audience
o Outside Companies, Site Selection Consultants, Industrial
Real Estate Companies, Venture Capital Companies, Others
Involved In Corporate Expansion (Recruitment)
o Lead-Generating ED Organizations (State, Regional ED
Organizations, Utilities, etc.)
o Existing Businesses (Retention and Expansion)
o Entrepreneurs (New Business Start-Ups)
• Internal Marketing Audience
o Stakeholders (Elected Officials, Board Members, Sponsors,
etc.)
o Media (Newspapers, TV, Radio)
o Public
o Must keep them informed and supportive
of the program
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Marketing Segmentation
• Industry/Sector
• Geography
o Geography-based target industry analysis is
effective
o Should Nebraska send brochures touting a
productive labor force and right to work state to
target industry companies in Kansas or New York?
• Type Of Company/Organization
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Target Industry Selection
• Pick Your Targets (Industries) Based on Vision and SWOT
• Location Needs of Target Industries Matched With the
Assets of the Area
• Historical Growth and Potential Growth of Industries
• Skill Levels and Wage Rates of Industries
• Specific Community Considerations (Environmental, HiTech, Image of Industry, etc.)
• Mix of Industries to Diversify Economy
• Other Criteria as Appropriate
Targeting is important for business retention and expansion
and new business start-up support as well
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Target Company Selection
• Goal Is To Pick Firms In Target Industries Most
Likely To Move Or Expand. Some Criteria Include:
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Growth rates
Merger/acquisition
New management
New product or service
Suppliers/customers of existing firms in area
• Sources Of Target Company Names
o Commercial databases (Dun & Bradstreet, Hoover’s, etc.)
o Consulting/research firms
o Original research (annual reports, 10-K reports, etc. On-line
or hard copy)
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Know Your Target Audience (Customer)
• How Do Companies Make Expansion and Location
Choices?
• What Benefits Are They Seeking?
• What Problems Are They Avoiding?
• What Key Factors Influence Their Decisions?
• What Are The Key Issues Or “Hot Buttons” Facing Your
Target Industries And Companies?
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Needs-Based Selling and
Marketing
“Tell & Sell”
Consultative Sales &
Marketing
• Focuses on:
• Focuses on:
o Needs of seller
o Needs of prospect
o Convincing prospect to
want your product
o Matching product with
prospect’s needs
o Prospect listening to the
Seller
o Listening
o Immediate – High
Pressure
o Promotion
o Long-term
o Problem-solving
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Distribute Message and Create
Awareness
• Marketing Material
• Elements of Promotion
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Elements Of Promotion
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Positive Publicity
Public Relations
Advertising
Direct Mail
Email
• Personal Contact
• Trade Shows &
Expos
• Networking
• Web Sites
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Positive Publicity
• Being able to get the news media to
broadcast or publish news about your
community and/or its events and
accomplishments
• Staging events that are likely to obtain
the interest of the news media
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Public Relations
• Obtaining favorable press
• Building up a good public image
• Handling or heading off unfavorable
rumors, stories, or events
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Direct Mail Steps
1. Obtain or create mailing list (target
industries and companies)
2. Determine what to mail – postcard, letter,
brochure, etc.
3. Prepare mailing piece
4. Test mailing lists and approach
5. Mail material
6. Follow up on responses within 24 hours
7. Send new letter and materials second and
third time
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Advertising
• Image building over time
• Demonstrates marketing activity
• Effectiveness varies widely
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National media
State/regional media
Site selection magazines
Trade publications
Billboards, airport advertising, etc.
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Personal Contact
• Telemarketing
• Cold Calls
• Calling Trips
• Prospect Visitations
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Trade Show Attendance
• Insight into target industry
• Meeting corporate executives informally
• Community exposure
• Meeting targeted media
• Finding out what the competition is doing
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Networking Opportunities
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State economic development agency
Utility companies
Real estate brokers and developers
Site selection consultants
Existing employers in the area
Railroads
Trade associations (IAMC, SEDC, etc.)
Trade shows for target industries
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Community Web Sites
• Advantages:
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Can hold vast amounts of community information
Can be navigated to zero in on just what is needed
Can be constantly updated at little cost
Can give a “virtual tour” of community with pictures, video,
testimonials (executives, elected officials, etc.)
• More useful in Phases II and III of sifting process, less useful
in Phase I (initial screening)
• Economic development web site is now a common
expectation
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Suggestions For Web Sites
• Don’t bury the economic development web site in a municipal,
chamber or other web site. Make the economic development part at
most one click away from home page
• Orient your economic development web site toward external users
(prospects). Don’t make users wade through chamber banquet
announcements
• Keep the information up to date. Old data gives a bad impression and
may contribute to eliminating your community from consideration
• Liven it up with graphics, pictures, videos, but don’t make download
too slow.
• Encourage people to visit web site in marketing materials
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Marketing Materials
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Brochures – general and special purpose
Flyers, postcards, brief mailings
Community profiles/fact books
Audio-visual presentations
o CD-ROM
o Laptop computer
o Web sites
• Promotional items (T-shirts, bags, pens, etc.)
• Newsletters
• Electronic marketing materials growing in popularity
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Marketing: What Really Works?
22. Sources of prospect leads
(% selecting each as one of the top 3 lead sources)
Leads from state and reg. ED orgs.
68%
Networking/word of mouth
55%
Your web site
44%
Trade shows and conferences
40%
Prospect trips
39%
Advertising (print, electronic media)
20%
Email
17%
Direct mail
13%
0%
10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80%
Source: SEDC Member Survey 2006
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Your Community Needs a Written Marketing
Plan!
• Mission statement for marketing plan; vision statement for
community
• Situation analysis (SWOT analysis summary)
• Target audience
• Marketing goals and objectives
• Strategic actions to achieve each objective
• Budget and resources
• Clearly defined staff requirements and positions
• Responsibilities of participating organizations and
stakeholders clearly defined
• Should be updated at least annually
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Concluding Observation
The fortunes of places depends in the final analysis on
the collaboration of the public and private sectors –
teamwork among governmental units, business firms,
voluntary and civic associations and marketing
organizations. Unlike commercial product marketing,
place marketing requires the active support of public
and private agencies, interest groups and citizens.
A place’s potential depends not so much on a place’s
location, climate and natural resources as it does on
human will, skill, energy, values and organization.
--Philip Kotler, Marketing Places
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