WHAT WOULD GOOGLE DO? Rethinking Economic Development In the Internet Age August 27, 2013 AED Annual Conference
May 16, 2015
WHAT WOULD GOOGLE DO? Rethinking Economic Development
In the Internet Age
August 27, 2013AED Annual Conference
About Atlas • Niche economic development marketing and technology
firm, providing branding, websites, GIS
• Worked with 100+ economic development clients
• Pioneered the use of benchmarked outcome metrics in economic development
• IEDC’s official High Performance Economic Development Marketing Partner
• 20+ people based in Denver, CO in the (haunted) former Governor’s Mansion
• Invited by Bryan Barnhouse, Jefferson County
A Word About The Book and “Google Rules”
About this presentation • Originally delivered in 2011 at the
International Economic Development Council’s (IEDC) Annual Conference in Columbus, OH
• In December 2009, I read the book, “What Would Google Do?”
• One of its key themes was “Middlemen are doomed.”
• I had to ask the hard questions: • “Is my company a middleman?• “Are economic developers middlemen?”
Why Should We Study Google?
A share bought for $102 in 2004 is worth $869 today
Over the Same Period, What has Been Happening in Economic Development?
• Vast growth in the availability of information
• Dramatic downturn that froze company and workforce mobility, then a gradual economic recovery
• More global competition for business and jobs
• With the recession, declines in public sector funding
• More scrutiny from private sector investors
Has your organization become 8 x more valuable since 2004?
Introducing Google Rules 1. Everybody Needs
Google Juice2. Middlemen Are
Doomed3. Do What You Do
Best and Link to the Rest
4. Be A Platform & Listen
5. Join a Network & Think Distributed
6. Answers are Instantaneous
7. Your Customers Are Your Ad Agency
8. Make Mistakes Well9. Be Performance
Driven
Google Rule #1
Everybody Needs Google Juice
“It isn’t what you say about yourself. It’s what Google says about you.”
Chris Anderson, Author, The Long Tail
WHAT’S GOOGLE JUICE?
• The magic elixir that makes Google value you more because the world values you more
• If your website can’t be found, you might as well not exist
DO I HAVE GOOGLE JUICE?
Log-in to Google and search for:• Your Community Name + “Economic Development”
• Your Community Name + “Business,” “Business Expansion,” “Business Relocation,” “Demographics,” “Foreign Direct Investment,” “Incentives,” “Maps,” “Office Space,” “Site Selection,” “Workforce”
• Your Organization Name (including variations and misspellings)
Google Rule #2
MIDDLEMEN ARE DOOMED
“For all middlemen the clock is ticking and the question of value is looming.”
Jeff Jarvis, Author, What Would Google Do?
Do you get value for what you pay these people? Are they worth it? (page 74)
• Car salesmen• Insurance brokers• Head hunters
• Advertising agencies• Travel agents • Real estate agents
Google Rule #3
DO WHAT YOU DO BEST AND LINK TO THE REST
“…the link forces specialization.”
Jeff Jarvis, Author, What Would Google Do?
From general to specialized
• Linking is changing the structure – moving generalization in media to specialization
• Specialization creates:– Stronger USP’s – Mass of “niches”– Opportunities for collaboration
Mapping =GIS Using
Cloud data
Real Estate =Third Party
Examples of ED’s leveraging what others do best
Google Rule #4
BE A PLATFORM & LISTEN
“Stop callin’, stop callin’, I don’t wanna talk anymore.”
Lady Gaga“Telephone”
PLATFORMS
IN ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
flickr
Orlando Rocks
LISTEN
Google Rule #5
JOIN A NETWORK & THINK DISTRIBUTED
“We can’t expect our customers to come to us”
Quincy Smith, President
CBS Interactive
Expecting Customers to Come to You
Be Distributed: Where the Customers Are
© GIS Planning Inc.
Result: More Customers Come to You
© GIS Planning Inc.
How To
• Make sure your websites are linked from/to the right partners.
• Grow your social network. • Join online industry and economic
development networks. • Grow where the networks are largest. • Be where the networks are specialized.
Build a Digital Ambassador Program
• Identify savvy executives in your community with social media followings
• Provide with frequent updates that they can tweet, blog and share to their networks
Why Digital?
• The average economic development organization nationwide gets 10 times the interactions on their website than all of the following forms of communication combined:• Phone calls• Email• Drop in visitors• Trade show conversations
Google Rule #6
ANSWERS ARE INSTANTANEOUS
“Fast is better than slow.”
- AT&T
This week in ED… • Site Selectors reviewed hundreds of Cities, in
less than an hour. They threw out 95%.• They then did deep dives in less than 5
percent of the Cities they considered. • To do those deep dives, they did an average
of 20 Google searches• If they didn’t find your website, they went to
someone else’s.• If they came to your site and didn’t find
what they wanted in 10 seconds, they left.
“Comprehensive List of Major Private Sector Employers
with Headcount”
ED Organization Website
Easy to Find
Difficult to Find
Not Found
Airdrie Economic Development
Athens County Economic Development PartnershipIowa City Area Development
Kilgore Economic Development CorporationMetro MSP
The Indy Partnership
Dennis Donovan WDG Consulting
Google Rule #7YOUR CUSTOMERS ARE
YOUR AD AGENCY
“In the 20th century, we did monologue marketing. In the 21st century, we’ve
moved to dialogue. Customers…will not tolerate not being heard”
Source: John Hayes, CMO, American Express
SHARE
Your Customers are varied – use them to develop and tell the story
• Real estate developers/brokers = inventory experts
• Local bloggers = local insight and color• Local CEO’s = your sales team• Site Selectors = the translators of your
message
Testimonial Example
Google Rule #8
MAKE MISTAKES WELL
“Oops. I did it again.”
Britney Spears“Oops. I Did It Again”
AN OUTSTANDING MISTAKE
Google Rule #9 (Provided by Ben)
MAKE YOUR ORGANIZATION COMPLETELY PERFORMANCE
DRIVEN
“What do you mean I didn’t impact jobs? Look at all the meetings I went to!”
- Former economic development CEO
GOOGLE’S DEFINITION OF BEING PERFORMANCE DRIVEN
• They don’t get paid until a user clicks on an ad when interested (95+% of their revenue)
• If their tools are not available = $0 revenue• If they don’t serve ads someone wants = $0
revenue• If a product does not hit critical mass =
canceled (Google Reader)• If a user has a bad experience = $0 revenue
A review of the Google rules
1. Everybody Needs Google Juice
2. Middlemen Are Doomed
3. Do What You Do Best and Link to the Rest
4. Be A Platform & Listen
5. Join a Network & Think Distributed
6. Answers are Instantaneous
7. Your Customers Are Your Ad Agency
8. Make Mistakes Well9. Be Performance
Driven
How can you measure what impact following Google rules will have on your community?
A guide to be a performance driven EDO: High Performance ED
• It is the first measurement of the outcomes (Inquiries, jobs, capital investment) that EDO’s create on this scale.
• It proves the ways we make a difference, and in some cases, the ways we don’t.
• It can help drive your strategic and marketing planning using actual outcomes, instead of activities, using national benchmarks as your guide.
The framework:
The results, from 300 + communities
Benchmarked Results by Population Size
POPULATION YEARLY WEB VISITS
INQUIRIES PAST 12
MONTHS
JOBS LAST 12 MONTHS
CAPITAL INVESTMENT
LAST 12 MONTHS
Less than 25,000 8,418 20
98 $28,333,333
25,001 to 100,000 8,324 46 576 $63,750,000
100,001 to 250,000 22,412 65 1,198 $149,376,418
250,001 to 1,000,000 28,374 208 2,422 $365,923,077
1,000,000 to 2,500,000 45,543 228 2,646 $447,794,260
Over 2,500,000 23,445 170 5,359 $399,630,000
Average for all Sizes 29,181 148 1,768 $244,629,502
Which one of these is not like the other one?
ORGANIZATION YEARLY WEB VISITS
INQUIRI
ESJOBS WON
CAPITAL INVESTMENT WON LAST 12
MONTHS
JOBS PER INQUIRY
ANNUAL OPERATING
BUDGET
Ohio Community
43,618
169 4,171 $875,700,000 25
Over $2,500,000
Indiana Community
25,572
107 2,329 $424,082,780 22
$500,000 to $999,000
Tennessee Community338,388 400 14,415
$2,232,616,082 36
Over $2,500,000
Virginia Community50,236 101 3134 $418,200,000
31
Over $2,500,000
Florida Community
67,440
621 4033 $43,600,000 6
Over $2,500,000
Average for Above Communities 105,051 280 5,616 $798,839,772 24
Summing It Up – What Google’s Version of High Performing ED is1. Everybody Needs
Google Juice2. Middlemen Are
Doomed3. Do What You Do
Best and Link to the Rest
4. Be A Platform & Listen
5. Join a Network & Think Distributed
6. Answers are Instantaneous
7. Your Customers Are Your Ad Agency
8. Make Mistakes Well9. Be Performance
Driven
To get this presentation, drop your card with me, or view it at www.atlas-advertising.comcommunity-marketing-presentations.aspx
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• Tweet questions using hashtag #AskAtlas
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• Next Gen Economic Development Marketers LinkedIn Group
Thank You!