2015 Economic Development – If You Don’t Stand Out, You Don’t Stand a Chance

How can you improve your city or region’s chances to stand out with key site selectors and relocation professionals? Incredibly competitive, thousands of high-energy and targeted efforts instantly materialize whenever a site search is made public.

Right now, as you read this, relocation professionals are sifting through hundreds, perhaps thousands of potential cities or regions to assemble a “short list” of possible sites that might match future needs of their company or organization. How does your city or region make that list?

A chief key to short- and long-term success is to already be in position and discoverable when the site selector or relocation professionals starts their search. The issue? If your city or region doesn’t stand out, you don’t stand a chance.

Sure, you could try and play catch-up ball when the site search becomes public (or is quietly noted to state or regional economic development agencies). But is it possible to get out in front and beat your competition?

Getting out in front requires effort and is often complex. However, savvy economic development professionals know that key media coverage and placements can make a serious difference in making the short list, even when one may not be aware that the short list is even being assembled!

Proactive reputation management – achieved through strategic public and media relations – can advance your region in a powerful way.

Media relations in PR still represents a key advantage in promoting a region. Why? Despite comments to the contrary, professionals still regard independent media –particularly key professional trade publications (both in traditional print and online) — as authoritative. Positive PR is a major strategic key to positive brand building and sustainment.

However, with the shrinkage of print and other media, getting your region or city in key relevant media can be a challenge. Competitive is severe and space (as well as the human bandwidth to actu8ally read your coverage) is limited.

So how can your city or region break through the clutter and achieve strategic coverage?

Following are a few keys to success:

• Be relevant. This may seem like a “master-of-the-obvious” statement, but far too often people fall prey to “self-reference criteria.” Simply put, this is defined as “what is important to me is obviously important to you.” Defeat this obstacle by doing some basic research. Personally check out the publication, blog or media you want to be covered y and see what they publish, what they’re interested in and match it up.
• Build relationships in advance. When economic professionals want coverage, too often a release is prepared and “shot-gunned” out to old or incomplete media lists. Many newspapers or trade publications often list e-mails or direct phone numbers of reporters or writers. Collect those. Communicate in advance with a note of appreciation or additional tidbit.
• Prepare news briefs or releases that actually have news in them. On more than one occasion, I have been asked to prepare and send out a boring news release about a “meeting” that a group of executives recently had. What’s new and interesting about your region? What would be interesting to the industry category you would like to attract? (E.g., news about comprehensive or targeted workforce development, preparation of shovel-ready sites, etc.)
• Post your briefs and news releases on your Web site and obey the SEO rules. If your online content is search-engine optimized (SEO), site selectors can find it online long before you know they’re even looking. You can also use inexpensive online placement services like PRWeb to push your story and key words higher up the digital food chain. Your Web release also is an inexpensive way to chronicle your company’s history – again all discoverable online by site selectors
• Be respectful – if you want someone to print your story word-for-word, buy an ad. While some aggregate news services will print news releases verbatim, most will at least rewrite to include local/regional angles and flavor. Great information and great content that is to the point will win and rise to the top.

Do your homework, be relevant and help your region stand out at the key moment!

By Michael Snyder

About Michael Snyder and The MEK Group – As the Indianapolis Star stated in major profile coverage, “Michael Snyder knows brands.” Snyder today is managing principal of The MEK Group, an award-winning marketing, branding and PR firm known for creating transformational high-impact outcomes. For more information, please visit www.themekgroup.com

This article by Michael Snyder originally appeared in the online “Ideas from IEDA”forum of the Indiana Economic Development Association.