10 Key Trends for Economic Development Websites in 2016

Alissa Sklar, Ph.D.Director of MarketingGIS Planning [email protected]://www.gisplanning.com/

@gisplanning

10 Key Trends for Economic Development Websites in 2016

Wednesday, November 18th, 2015

Aaron BrossoitChief Executive OfficerGolden Shovel [email protected]://www.goldenshovelagency.com/gsa@goldshovel

What’s next in economic development marketing?

10CONTENT, CONTENT, CONTENT.

Why? Good Content Brings Many Benefits

Keeps website currentGreat first impressionSEO benefitsInforms local businessesEducates stakeholdersShows industry engagement

Many types of content...

Local Content

Local NewspaperCurrent ED newsEventsLocal Businesses

Editorial Content

Success StoriesBusiness ParksTestimonialsLocal Businesses

Made in advanceKeywords

National & Expert Content

CurrentED FocusedEducate

StakeholdersBlogs

Feature on Home Page

CurrentED FocusedEducate

Stakeholders

Social Media

How Often Should I Post?

Weekly… at minimum.

9DATA

Case studies:How two communities put data to work:

http://www.gatewaycog.org/

http://gallupedc.com/

http://www.greatlakesbaysites.com/communities.html

8INFOGRAPHICS & VISUALIZING DATA

The power of images90% of the information that comes to our brain is visual

The human brain can absorb visual information in 1/10th of a second.

The average person is exposed to 174 newspapers full of information every day.

Only 1% of that information actually makes it through to our brains.

We remember new and different things more easily when they are presented in a visual format.

Infographics are illustrations of data or ideas that can communicate complex information in a way that can be quickly absorbed,

easily understood and remembered.

Websites with infographics realize an increase in traffic of 12% over those that don’t.

http://www.gemstateprospector.com/communities.html

7MOBILE

Our analytics show that up to 25% of web traffic on our clients’ site selection pages are coming from mobile devices.

If your website isn’t optimized for mobile, you are losing leads without knowing it.

Be Mobile Friendly

6REGIONAL CONNECTIVITY

5MICROSITES

Types of Microsites

Microsite for site selection

4WORKFORCE ATTRACTION

Social Media for Workforce Attraction

Workforce Attraction Ad Campaigns

Target Workforce Attraction Marketing

Promote Jobs

Generate Likes to Social Media Pages

Drive Website Traffic

834

3TOOLS FOR ENGAGEMENT

Search widgets for any website pagehttp://www.elkgrovecity.org/city_hall/departments_divisions/economic_development/

Search buildings, sites, communities and

businesses

ZoomProspector GIS site selection tool

User-defined search for sites and

buildings based on location & size

Property list is also displayed on interactive map

5 Intelligence Components for website pages 1- Mapping

2- Business Data

3- Demographics

4- Compare Communities

5- Infographics

2SOCIAL MEDIA

Who is using what tool?

Fully embedded social sharing

Mine your data tools for a consistent source of social content:

● Properties of the week● Businesses of the week● Interesting heat maps

1STORYTELLING

Why storytelling?The human brain is hard-wired for narrative.

Comprehension: We use stories to make sense of the world.

Recall of information is significantly higher when information is presented in narrative forms.

Resonance: Stories make a strong impression upon us.

Video Storytelling

Using data for storytelling

http://www.santarosaedo.com/demographic.html

http://www.ga-sites.com/industries/aerospace.html

Top 10 Trends in Economic Development Websites for 2016

10) Content 9) Data 8) Infographics & Visualizing Data 7) Mobile 6) Regional connectivity 5) Microsites 4) Workforce attraction 3) Tools for engagement 2) Social media 1) Storytelling

Alissa Sklar, Ph.D.Director of MarketingGIS Planning [email protected]://www.gisplanning.com/

@gisplanning

Thank You! Any Questions?

Aaron BrossoitChief Executive OfficerGolden Shovel [email protected]://www.goldenshovelagency.com/gsa@goldshovel