Marketing to Site Selectors
Overview
It’s not entirely possible to read the mind of a site selector. They are, after all, individuals with individual preferences. Some hate to receive unsolicited inquiries. Others don’t mind. Some detest clever marketing pitches. Others find them entertaining.
Still, site selectors as a group tend to agree on certain basic guidelines that communities and economic development professionals should follow in their marketing efforts to companies and site professionals.
Basic Rules of Engagement
Rule One: If you want site selectors to keep you in mind, they need to know who you are. That means making regular contact. The trick is to do it in a way that doesn’t come on too strong or make you seem like a pest.
Rule Two: Be useful. Know what site selectors want and then give it to them – even if it means putting less emphasis on your own sales pitch.
Rule Three: Bend over backwards to meet any requests for information. The quicker you can respond, the better. Site selectors are in a hurry. Don’t waste their time.
Rule Four: You are not – and cannot be – the perfect community for every project. Don’t market yourself that way. Focus on your true strengths.
What Site Selectors Want Most
Economic development organizations spend a lot of time and money on surveys to understand the kinds of information site selectors want and the ways they want to receive it.
The indexes vary somewhat, ranking things differently from one to the next. But generally speaking the “Most Wanted” list includes:
- Data, including labor market information
- Details on available land, sites and buildings
- Major companies and employers
- Major industries and sectors
- Incentives
- Workforce data
- Utility and infrastructure capacity
- Education and training programs
- Quality of life