June 3

Welcome and Introductions

Branding
A brand is the perception held of your place by your marketing efforts’ audience, whether site selectors, corporate buyers, entrepreneurs, or tourists. Like it or not, your town or region already has a brand—positive, negative, or wholly indifferent. Participants will learn about the components of brand, its importance to economic development, and how you can improve or change it.

Lunch on your own

Developing the Marketing Plan and Metrics for Success
All communities market themselves whether or not they have developed a marketing plan. A marketing plan helps to ensure that you are making a positive impact and are making effective use of available resources, staff and financial capabilities. It provides a guide for all marketing activities and is an important part of an overall economic development strategy. This interactive session will address how to set realistic goals and objectives, to develop strategies that support your marketing goals, and to how to measure the success of your initiatives.

Positioning Your Community and Finding your Niche
Each community, no matter location or demographics has its strengths and weaknesses. Identifying both and being able to play off the strengths is key to setting yourself apart. In this session, participants will learn how to find those things that make your community unique and how to best communicate your position in today’s complex marketplace.

Short Break

Talent Attraction
Skills, experience, education, and ideas are the leading driver of economic growth today. It’s no surprise that leading economies today compete as much for highly educated workers as they do for businesses, a in what is sometimes called the “war for talent.” Instructors will explore the means to attract and retain skilled workers, from overseas marketing and hiring missions to “deeper” strategies such as entrepreneurship development and placemaking.

Foreign Direct Investment
In recent years, international economies have grown rapidly, and foreign businesses have grown in lockstep. Now, these companies often wish to expand into the United States, to take advantage of this country’s huge, wealthy market, as well as American specialties such as our universities, venture capital, and protections for intellectual property. Attendees will first learn about key drivers of foreign direct investment in the United States, and then shift focus to FDI attraction techniques including advertising, using international business networks, and undertaking trade missions, including the resources and tools available to successfully carry out these techniques. The session concludes with a discussion of solutions to FDI pitfalls such as language, culture, and regulation.

June 4

Websites
A website is often the first contact someone has with a community, organization or company and is arguably the most important marketing tool in today’s world. In this session, participants will learn about the key components of a highly effective website and how to best ensure your message and brand are being communicated online.

Online Marketing and Lead Generation
Online marketing goes beyond a website. This session will explore the vast opportunities to be had when an organization takes on a marketing strategy that includes the targeted, measurable, and interactive promotion of a community, state or region. Participants will also learn how to use digital technologies to reach and convert leads into customers and retain them is key in today’s competitive atmosphere.

Social Media
Communication and marketing isn't what it used to be. Today you have many channels to reach your audience. This session will focus on communications using social media. Topics will include changes in how communication is happening, who is now doing the communicating, where conversations about your communities are happening, and how you can successfully use social media to engage your targets. Topics will include major social platforms.

Lunch on your own

Case Studies
This session will lead participants through a series of case studies that recap and illustrate the concepts discussed throughout the course.

Group Interactive Session: Creation of a Marketing Plan
You’ve learned the pieces; now put that knowledge to work. In this session, participants will work in groups to create a marketing plan for a community and share the results.

Q&A, Wrap Up and Certificates

* Agenda subject to change