Tag Archive for 'Economic Development 2.0'

Why Use SlideShare As A Part Of Your Economic Development 2.0 Strategy?

Published
by
Ian Smith
on February 24, 2010
in Author-Ian Smith, Economic Development, Investment Attraction and Web 2.0 Strategy
. 0 Comments

You have decided to implement a marketing strategy for your region for investment attraction purposes.  As a part of  the strategy, you have selected to use social media marketing applications. After concluding a benchmark of sites that are using Web 2.0 tools, you have created a list of the following applications that should be used in the strategy.

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Flickr
  • RSS Feeds

The list seems to be pretty complete however; there is an application that does not come to mind when discussing social media marketing tools.  The application is SlideShare.

SlideShare is a tool that allows individuals to place documents in various file formats (i.e, .ppt, .doc, .pdf) on web.

The use of SlideShare in a marketing context is very practical.   Here are the advantages

1 - Avoid reinventing the wheel

There is a good chance that you may have promotional material in .pdf and or PowerPoint already in your agency that can be easily placed online.  Instead of spending a portion of your budget on new promotional content, use what you have and upload it to SlideShare.

2 - Reinforce Your Search Engine Optimatization Strategy

Having a presence on various Web 2.0 applications will enhance and reinforce your search engine optimization strategy for your website.  SlideShare is an efficient tool to accomplish this goal,  Each word of the document on the application is indexed and allows it to appear on Google’s result page quickly and within the first couple of pages. (if you are creating a new document to be place on SlideShare, keep in mind the keywords that investors are most likely to used to find information regarding investment attraction along with the name of the city, region, province / state or country.  Good examples of keywords would be: “Invest in”, “Investing in”, “Incentive” or “Doing Business In”.

3 - Be Visual

Using Slideshare to publish Microsoft Powerpoint presentation is a very powerful strategy.  The medium allows agencies to communicate facts about their region visually.  Figure 1 is a page from the Chesterfield Economic Development (Chesterfield, Virgina) presentation on SlideShare.

Figure 1: Chesterfield SlideShare Powerpoint Presentation

This particular slide is effective to help sell the region as a location of  growth in terms of the value of new commercial construction by using the ascending set of bars in the chart.

Some may consider SlideShare as the poorman’s YouTube when it comes to delivering content visually however; it can be efficient tool to aid in obtaining your marketing goals for economic development initiatives.

SlideShare is available at www.slideshare.net

Thinking about creating your Economic Development 2.0 strategy?  Attend Intelegia’s seminar,  “Optimize Investment Attraction Strategy Through Information and Social Media Applications“

Best of Tools For Thought 2009 - Economic Development 2.0

Published
by
Ian Smith
on December 23, 2009
in Author-Ian Smith, Economic Development, Social Media Marketing and Web 2.0 Strategy
. 0 Comments

In 2009, we examined the use of social networks for economic development initiatives.  Web 2.0 tools such as Facebook, Twtter and YouTube serve as efficient vehicules to market a region without spending a huge amount of money.  The following post highlights the best practices in economic development 2.0 and related fields.

YouTube: Nova Scotia On The Map For Investment Attraction

This post provided an excellent example of how a private sector organization can use a Web 2.0 application to convince potential investors that Nova Scotia, Canada as the best location for foreign direct investment.

To learn more about this initiative and view the video spotlighting the key locational factors, click here.

Web 2.0 For E-Government?

Can Twitter be used in an e-government context?  Why not. Both Tools For Thought and Des Outils et Des Hommes identified San Francisco and New York as the cities that are utilizing Twitter to compliment a government service such as an 311 information telephone hotline.

Click here to read more about this simple use of Twitter.

What Is Available On YouTube For Site Selectors?

YouTube has quickly become a search engine for information.  Rather than using Google, some individuals are turning to the Web 2.0 site.  Intelegia conducted a search on YouTube to see what relevant videos are available for site selectors in terms of promotional content for investment attraction.

Click here to read the results of the exercise.

Are you seeking to create or improve your economic development 2.0 strategy for investment attraction?  Register for Intelegia’s seminar, Optimize Investment Attraction Strategy Through Information and Social Media Applications

Investment Attraction Via YouTube: Greater Rochester, NY

Published
by
Ian Smith
on November 25, 2009
in Author-Ian Smith, Economic Development, Investment Attraction and Web 2.0 Strategy
. 0 Comments

Thanks to the post, “What Is Available On YouTube For Site Selectors?“, a reader pointed us to the following YouTube clip for the Greater Rochester, New York Area.  The promotional clip is specifically dedicated for investment attraction purposes.

In this 2 minutes and 10 seconds clip, Greater Rochester Enterprise does an excellent and efficient job at selling its territory to companies looking to expand their operations in the northeastern part of the United States.  The key selling point that is communicated throughout the clip is that investors can find all of the main locational factors (used in deciding where to invest) in one place, in Greater Rochester.  The following factors are highlighted in video:

  • Selecting Rochester as a place to live
  • The region breaking ground in green technology
  • Training opportunities thanks to 18 colleges and universities
  • The quality of life in the region
  • The city’s Intellectual Density Quotient
  • The ability to export from the region

The clip shown above should serve as a model for economic development agencies seeking to produce a YouTube video clip as a part of their economic development 2.0 strategy.  Not only is the clip short and concise but it is visually effective by keeping the viewer’s attention on the key points of Greater Rochester Enterprise’s argument.

The Importance Of YouTube In An Economic Development 2.0 Strategy

Published
by
Ian Smith
on November 19, 2009
in Author-Ian Smith, Economic Development and Web 2.0 Strategy
. 0 Comments

As a short follow up to the post, ‘What Is Available On YouTube For Site Selectors?“,  ComScore,  a source of digital marketing intelligence, saw an increase in the use of YouTube as a search engine.   In October 2009, 3.7 Billion search queries were conducted on YouTube.  This translates into an 31% increase over the past twelve months.

What does this mean for economic development professionals?

It is time to think about placing any form of promotional videos for your region on the Web 2.0 application along with the proper descriptions and tags.   Search engine optimization for YouTube will be essential as a part of an economic development 2.0 strategy.

What Is Available On YouTube For Site Selectors?

Published
by
Ian Smith
on November 18, 2009
in Author-Ian Smith, Economic Development, Investment Attraction and Web 2.0 Strategy
. 5 Comments

YouTube is a very powerful online marketing vehicle if used correctly.  To some, throwing on a video without clear descriptions, nor well defined tags seems to be sufficient enough as apart of economic development 2.0 strategy however; it is not effective.  Economic development officers and  marketers of cities, regions and countries for investment attraction must remember that an increasing amount of site selectors and advisers are turning to the web as a part of their site location search process.

According to the report, “A View from Corporate America: Winning Strategies in Economic Development Marketing” by Development Counsellors International (DCI), the frequency of the use of internet by site selectors and advisers in the site location search process increased from 55% in 2005 to 63% in 2008.  Based on this fact, this investment decision makers have learned to search the web including social networking sites efficiently with their own methodologies.

Just for the fun of it, Intelegia conducted a search of YouTube to see what is available in terms of investment attraction promotional videos as of November 13th, 2009.  To conduct the search for the “best in class” videos, the following keywords were used:

  • “Invest In”
  • “Economic Development”

Intelegia considered results that were listed within the first 5 pages in the “All” and “Channel” sections for each of the keyword queries.  The videos were evaluated and selected for this blog post on the basis of convincing the viewer that their region is the best place to invest in.

“Invest in”

Invest in Ontario

This promotional piece discusses the key locational factors to consider when selecting Ontario as a place to invest.  It stresses the competitive advantage of selecting Ontario in regards to how companies can benefit from the province’s innovation-driven business environment.

Invest in Columbia

This video is used to position Columbia as the best place to invest in Latin America.  It provides information that addresses concerns such as the country’s debt and inflation.  In addition, it discussed trade related issues and locational factors.

Both videos above were found on the first page of results and has descriptions attached to them.

“Economic Development”

Portland’s Economic Development Strategy

Portland’s Economic Development Commission’s YouTube  video is very compelling to investors.  Through the use of testimonials from existing companies in the city, the commission demonstrates Portland’s manufacturing and innovation-driven environment for a green economy.

After conducting this exercise, it is apparent that some agencies or departments that are responsible for marketing their territory for investment attraction are not using YouTube at all or not to it is full potential.  Agencies and departments that are in both cases must remember that it is not good enough to have a convincing video but it must be easy to find on the Web 2.0 application.

Did we miss anything?

Does your organization have a video on YouTube specifically for site selection or investment attraction purposes?  Do you think it is better than the videos presented above?  Post the link in the  comments’ box and we will make it the subject of a future blog post.