A lot of effort can be placed into planning and executing a social media marketing campaign for investment attraction however; there is an element that cannot be omitted. Getting exposure.
Similar to the saying, “If a tree falls in the forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?”, having a presence on social media but if nobody knows it, then it is a huge issue that should be dealt with immediately. While preparing for the 2010 Canadian Cities Online Marketing Index, I was surprised to find that some Web 2.0 accounts were not linked to the economic development agencies’ website and vice versa.
Here are a few practical tips to help obtain some additional exposure for your agency’s Web 2.0 efforts.
1. Links, Links, Links – Take a look at the agency’s website. Do all the links to your platforms (i.e., Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc.) appear on the front page of the site? Providing direct links will make life easier for investors and site selectors who are looking to gather information and not guessing where links are on the website. Be bold and put them upfront where they can not be overlooked.
2. Find Yourself – Put yourself in the shoes of site selectors and conduct a search on the popular social media networks using the keywords that they would used. Have you found your agency’s page, profile, channel and / or account? If not, you have some extra work to do to get on the first page of results. (Please read, “Finding Keyword Intelligence For Investment Attraction Promotion“)
3. Get People To Read All About It – If you believe that you have done something great with one or all of your Web 2.0 applications, let people know about it. Issue a press release, mention it in a newsletter or send out a tweet (remember to use hashtags). Nobody is going to draw attention to your agency except for yourself.
4. Be Active and Engage – To some. being on social networks for investment attraction begins and ends with just posting content in the form of links, videos, tweets, etc. An important factor to a social media campaign is engaging your target audience. This can be done by simply replying to comments made on a Facebook Page Wall or participating in a LinkedIn Group. This kind of interaction will help you enhance your credibility as a knowledgeable economic development officer representing a region and an agency.
If you have placed a check mark beside the four tips above to indicate that you have completed or are doing the tasks, congratulations. It is a sign of very good social media marketing management.
If you found yourself nodding in agreement as an indication that these tips should be acted upon, then I wish you good luck. It is time to improve your visibility to get on the radar of site selectors.
