Northeast Ohio ED Marketing Pitch

The December issue of Expansion Management Magazine contains one of the largest special advertising sections I have ever seen in any industry site selection trade publication. It occupies nearly one-half of the 100-page magazine. Who ran it? The Northeast Ohio Works marketing project, sponsored by Penton Media, the Greater Cleveland Ggrowth Association, and other local/regional EDOs in NE Ohio.

It's a well-done piece with a series of interesting articles written by local economic development leaders. (Maybe next time some NE Ohio business CEOs can author the articles. That may carry greater weight with corporate decision-makers.) Overall, it's a pretty good piece as far as trade publication marketing pieces go. (Note: the series is available only in the mailed paper edition at this point.) I assume it will be on the Expansion Mgt. website at some point.

Three key questions should be considered in any economic development marketing effort. First, is the effort effective in reaching the intended audience(s) with the desired message? Were the messages believable? Second, what is the return on investment (ROI) on the marketing activity? How many business inquiries or leads were generated, and what is the quality of the leads? Finally, is the activity grounded in a well-thought out overall marketing plan or strategy?

NEO needs to do more marketing. We have been out of the game for too long. Let's hope that business prospects (existing NEO companies and out-of-town businesses) are listening to the messages communicated in the section.

What are your thoughts?

(Note: You may want to follow a discussion about this issue that is going on over at BrewedFreshDaily.com. Go here and be sure to read the posted comments at the end of the article.)