Digital Media and the Branding of Downtowns: Strategies for New Business Development Using Paid, Owned and Earned Media November, 2013 | Page 17

“One thing we’ve learned from the talent side is that people are most influenced by friends, family and
rankings,” said Jenn Bosser, assistant executive director for Wake County Economic Development. “If
you can educate locally what your advantages are, then you have a sales force of ambassadors who are
out there helping to tell your story. You never know who they’re going to be talking to.”
“You're much more likely to go to a restaurant based on friend’s recommendation and suggestion than
the restaurant’s,” said Derrick Minor. “I’m going to talk how great Raleigh is and all the cool stuff that’s
happening downtown, but if you have other peers who are doing that on your behalf, that’s much more
powerful.”
Know your Audience
Although digital media are essential tools for attracting some businesses, it’s important to determine
when their format doesn’t matter…at least not as much.
David Diaz of the Downtown Raleigh Alliance emphasizes that the face-to-face meeting is still the way to
go to in some cases: “For a storefront, digital media is not as important. Lots of storefront customers
still aren’t that tech savvy. We find more success in meeting with them one on one and really doing
other things beyond the social media when we’re trying to recruit a business.”
How can you tell the difference? Know your audience by listening to their needs. All the social media
savvy in the world won’t make up for missing the target with key stakeholders.
“There are lots of nuances,” said Steinbacher with the Durham Chamber. “In a chamber of commerce,
even though we have an incredibly savvy tech community, I still have 700 members that are your pizza
shop on the corner, your printer on the corner; you’ve got to be careful not to get too far in front of
your audience.”
Place before Job
To market your community effectively to potential newcomers, you should understand a paradigm shift
that’s occurring quietly in some parts of the country. Many of us have moved to communities we didn’t
like very much because of a job. If the job was good, we were willing to move to it – especially if we
needed the experience.
The model has changed for many young professionals. They are willing to move to a new location
without a job if they perceive the place to be desirable enough. They want to live in a vibrant
community that offers plenty of amenities, lots of networking and social activities, even chances to
volunteer. In many cases, all they need for work is web access; they’re not limited to a certain area.
David Minor of Raleigh put it this way: “High skill talent, top talent, they can pretty much go anywhere.
Usually, they’re going to think, ‘I want to live and work in a place I would just want to be. I’ll move there
and then make employment decisions based on that.’”

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