Digital Media and the Branding of Downtowns: Strategies for New Business Development Using Paid, Owned and Earned Media November, 2013 | Page 15
USING DIGITAL MEDIA TO ATTRACT BUSINESS
With the right strategies in place, digital media can play a part an important role in attracting businesses
to your downtown district. There are two specific ways digital media can help: 1) by creating an online
atmosphere that’s attractive to prospects; and 2) by highlighting the district’s unique strengths,
particularly those that differentiate it from other downtowns.
Both Durham and Raleigh have used digital media extensively in these ways. To the right are
screenshots of messages
(tweets) posted to Twitter by
Downtown Durham, Inc. and
the Downtown Raleigh
Alliance in autumn, 2013.
Raleigh is trumpeting a new
business opening, street
closures and parking options.
Durham describes an award
for a business with a local
presence, an upcoming public
meeting and a distinction the
city won from a third party
organization.
As you look at the information these successful organizations push to their followers, you’ll notice that
several trends repeatedly bubble to the surface:
The content is simple.
The messages are positive.
The content is useful.
The messages apply directly to their communities.
Positive messages and helpful content play a key role in creation of an attractive atmosphere. You want
to convey an image of your downtown that is uplifting and optimistic. Be careful to avoid negativity and
the latest controversy of the day.
Derrick Minor with the city of Raleigh puts it this way: “The last thing I want to do is disseminate
poisonous messages that are going to plant seeds because at the end of the day, what can we do? If we
complain about it, does that make it better? Or, if we’re positive, does that potentially create
relationships and solutions that can help overcome?”
Be aware that online communication never truly goes away. Savvy web users can find archives of old
sites easily and the Library of Congress archives every tweet; as of early 2013 some 170-billion tweets
had been saved in the library for future gene rations. Though a rash comment or poorly considered post
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