Economic developers across the country are reporting decreased prospect activity. Everywhere there are tales of recessionary and inflationary constraints hampering new business attraction efforts. The smart economic developer will use this time to re-examine and refine marketing efforts. At the end of the cycle you will come out stronger and better positioned to capitalize on pent-up opportunities.
What things should you be considering during this time? Here’s a list for success in difficult economic times:
Focus on retention – we all know this is where the great majority of our growth occurs. Talk with your existing businesses and identify their needs, Understand their challenges and opportunities by learning about their industry. If you have a formal program, step up the effort. If not, now’s a good time to start a formal retention effort.
Refresh and refine marketing vehicles – now’s a good time to take a fresh look at your website and other marketing materials to evaluate whether they are still relevant to your markets. Especially important is providing the web-based tools being expected and demanded by your customers today. Take some time to refresh the look, the capabilities and the information of your website.
Cultivate relationships – develop new relationships with site selection influencers to increase your future prospect activity. Extend your efforts beyond the consultant community only and identify real estate brokers, trade association executives, architects, engineers and others who are influencing site selection decisions everyday. Let them get to know you and your community.
Be creative with your creative – if you continue your brand building efforts by using direct mail, print advertising or other forms of creative pieces, make them stand out above your competition. Focus on your product benefits, not product qualities.
Stop selling, start informing – your potential customers want accurate, current and unbiased information. Shouting your message at prospects only reduces your credibility. Give them unique information about your community instead of reinforcing your sameness with other communities.
Smart marketers know that business downturns are a great time to market. While others are cutting back, those that stay the course will make progress and move ahead when the normal business cycle returns.
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