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Social Media Trends: Crucial Considerations in Economic Development

In addition to having a robust website, your EDO needs a presence on social media platforms in order to attract site selectors and potential investors. Social media has become a “must” in marketing for virtually all sectors, but it is also one of the most easily misused tools in your toolbox. Understanding the current trends and best practices in economic development social media use can help ensure that you’re putting this powerful asset to work correctly, and also help you avoid making costly mistakes that could actually cause damage.

 

Be Social

This best practice applies to every business, organization or community attempting to use social media platforms for marketing purposes. Don’t forget to be social. It can be all too easy to get bogged down in your need to like and share and follow others. Don’t forget that the purpose of these platforms, ultimately, is to foster the ability to communicate. Take the time to talk to your followers and fans, thank them for their shares and answer their questions. You’re much more likely to benefit from social media marketing if you do this – and remember that anyone could be a potential site selector or investor.

 

Share Information That Has Value to Your Audience

Sure, you can send out as many marketing messages as you want. However, you may find your results are pretty subpar. You need to share content your audience finds useful and valuable. That doesn’t always revolve around your community or your organization. Owned content is content that you own, which is usually marketing or promotion related. Earned content is data that has some value to your audience, but that you do not necessarily own outright.

For instance, did a business conduct a study of your area that highlighted important demographics information and then publish it publicly? That might be ideal content to share with your audience, and it can provide greater value to those following you. Not only will it deliver value to those audience members, but sharing this type of content regularly will build your own reputation.

 

Use the Right Platform

There are dozens, perhaps hundreds, of different social networks today. What’s more, they’re not all created equal, particularly when it comes to economic development organizations. What works well for a business in your community may or may not work well for your organization. You need to spend some time digging in and determining where your audience lives online.

For instance, many EDOs find that Twitter works very well for them. However, others find that their audience is primarily concentrated on LinkedIn. Most find that Facebook is a valuable tool as well, but Snapchat might offer some benefits, too. Separating the wheat from the chaff can be time consuming and frustrating, but it must be done. Otherwise, you could be spending time and money marketing on a platform that will never offer the ROI you need to see for success.

 

Use Photos and Videos

Content marketing should not rely solely on the written word, and that is particularly true when it comes to reaching your audience on social media. You need to incorporate photos and videos into your social feeds wherever and whenever possible. Images are much more likely to grab your audience’s attention when they show up in the feed than a wall of text will, and video is quickly becoming the content marketing type of choice for almost all marketers. You can tie video into your content marketing quite easily, and use it in multiple locations, as well. For instance, it can link from Twitter, LinkedIn or Facebook to your website, your blog, or even to your YouTube channel if your EDO has one.

 

Deliver Important Data but Don’t Overwhelm

Your ideal audience, site selectors and investors, need information. They crave data. However, it can be easy to overwhelm them with that information, particularly on social media. Take the time to transform some of your most important information into a more easily digestible format. Infographics are ideal examples of this. Use an infographic to communicate key takeaways, and then link to a full-blown report as a downloadable PDF to ensure that your audience is getting access to the data they really need.

 

When It’s All Said and Done

In the end, social media is a vital consideration for EDOs hoping to reach and connect with site selectors and investors. However, it is imperative that you remain committed to ongoing communication, and that you share both owned and earned content. Don’t forget that you need to avoid overwhelming your audience with data, while making key takeaways easy to digest.