Five Resolutions for Place Marketers

As 2014 dawns upon us, we would like to share five New Year’s resolutions that place marketers should consider for 2014. These resolutions reflect lessons learned from working with EDOs, corporate real estate executives and site selection consultants this past year as well as opportunities for the future.

1.  Develop a Consistent Marketing Strategy – To be effective, your organization needs to be marketing everyday across multiple channels.  Determine which combination works best for you and execute regularly.   Understand what your audiences want to know, create a plan to deliver the information and have the resources in place to support your plan.
   
2. Commit to Collaborate – More and more, communities need to collaborate with each other and across regions to be successful.  Openness and sharing allows all knowledge, resources and skills of stakeholders to flourish.  Collaboration also reduces risk, provides financial savings and creates a stronger, unified voice for your region.
   
3. Demonstrate Value Beyond Incentives – A growing body of evidence is demonstrating that the use of financial incentives is more politically valuable than it is as a tool to attract and retain companies.  Work to develop a value proposition that communicates other advantages your area offers, especially in logistics, workforce and regulatory costs.
   
4. Draw Your Bull’s-eye – Communities must target those industries that have the best chance of succeeding in their unique environment and culture.  Many strive to be all things to all industries and thus wind up being ineffective. By focusing on what your community does well, it can be established as an important industry hub that is particularly supportive of your targets and add even more value to both the business and your community.
   
5. Continue Your Education – New developments are constant in economic development and the business world it serves.  Learn about the new technologies and methodologies that are emerging. Keeping up to date with these new trends is important to maintain your position as a high performing EDO and to provide opportunities for your community to stand out in the marketplace. 

The Place Marketing Group is committed to helping communities succeed in their marketing efforts.  We hope you enjoy our list of resolutions.  Best wishes for a successful marketing effort in 2014!