The Economic Developers Association of Canada (EDAC), Canada’s national organization of Economic Developers, has published an excellent report on economic development marketing practices. You can find the full report on www.edac.ca

I think the trends observed 2009 – 2010 are global, and not only applicable to Canadian Developers. Some conclusions I would like to share:

• Business attraction is the top ranked marketing objective. Business retention is a distant second. I recognise this sequence, even to a level where business retention is undervalued. Once established companies do not feel serviced any more by the Agencies that brought them in, and start looking for alternative locations. Never forget your existing clients
• Those that increase their marketing budgets are planning further increases. Those that have decreased in
  2009 and 2010 are planning more decreases. The gap continues to widen. How do companies find you when you reduce your marketing efforts? You have to be where they are looking, and that is in well over 50% online. Make sure you can be found, and present relevant information in the earliest possible phase of a search. Longlist-Shortlist-Selection starts with being on the Longlist
• Half of EDAC members are marketing without a single dedicated staff member. That can only be done by tying in to an organization or platform that fills that gap for you. What is your road to the client?
• 37% of respondents say their website is the single most effective marketing technique they are using, and 70% have a dedicated, frequently updated web presence. This 37% may very well be higher, since investments originate more and more from Emerging Countries and Regions, and there we find a high focus on Online. Content edditing to survive the “5 sec diagonal scan” and Search Engine Optimisation are processes that should be in order ot truly call your website an effective marketing technique
• This year’s study asked EDAC members for the first time about marketing measurement: Lead generation, website analytics and event attendance are the top measures used by Canadian Economic Developers. 69% say that their measurement efforts are somewhat effective, but 22% have no idea if their marketing is working at all. If you consider, or are forced, to reduce marketing budgets, then make sure that what you allocate is generating maximum effect. Can your marketing efforts be measured?

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I would like to thank EDAC for their excellent survey, and for their approach to stimulate to use the results freely.