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The first step in planning any campaign should always be conducting a competitive audit. This process allows you to understand the strategies and tactics used by other organizations within your space, helping to identify both opportunities and challenges. By analyzing the competition, you can gain insights into their value propositions, messaging, and overall approach, which in turn allows you to position your own campaign more effectively.
In forming our campaign, we looked closely at two standout economic development organizations: JobsOhio and Invest in Estonia. Both are actively and aggressively pursuing investment in their regions, making them valuable case studies. JobsOhio's focus on industry-specific messaging and strategic targeting offered key lessons in how to approach high-stakes markets. Meanwhile, Invest in Estonia’s use of technology and marketing systems provided a blueprint for how to maneuver the digital landscape in the most efficient way. Studying these organizations helped shape the foundation of our strategy.
Because JobsOhio has targeted Texas directly in multiple campaigns, we studied their strategies to better understand their approach. A key takeaway was their focus on how they define their value propositions, tailoring an appeal to specific industries and business leaders. JobsOhio effectively highlighted the advantages of relocating to Ohio by showcasing incentives, workforce readiness for specific industries, and infrastructure—delivering targeted messaging that speak directly to the priorities of their audience.
By studying their value propositions and how they aligned their campaigns with Texas' competitive strengths, we were able to refine our messaging to focus on the key differentiators of Texas to highlight unique offerings that places like Ohio simply can't compete with.
To build the Texas Economic Development Corporation’s marketing funnel, we looked to organizations like Invest in Estonia as an example for best practices.
Estonia, a small country with a low profile, knows they have to maximize every tool at their disposal to attract foreign investment. Their secret? They use their technology in a manner that gives them the ability to punch well above their weight.
From them we learn that, for any economic development organization, your website is the most powerful utility in your marketing stack and should be used as a publication engine; each publication being a lead magnet for investors and businesses. The purpose of your digital campaigns should be to promote the content on your website that makes the argument for relocating to your zone of economic opportunity, and once they access the article, the goal is to give them the opportunity to reach out to a representative who can consult them on moving their business to the region you represent. Effectively a full-funnel process.
In our campaign, we guided the awareness-stage audience to key pages on the Texas Economic Development Corporation’s site that answered the big question: “Why Texas?” before including them in a retargeting audience to convert.
To form an idea of the regions you want to target, it is a good idea to begin by reading into the economic activity reports of prominent economic development publications like Site Selector Magazine, Forbes, and local business publications. But at the same time, pair this with a deep dive into your Google Analytics. The historical data of the activity on your website should help you to determine the hierarchy of regions you’re targeting.
While regions like California and New York seemed like obvious primary targets for the Texas Economic Development Corporation, an analysis of their analytics revealed that the majority of the activity on their website was actually taken by companies inside of Texas that had already relocated to Texas but were looking to expand.
Because of this, we suggest starting by analyzing your local audience to determine how best to meet their needs in the event of potential business expansion, before extending your campaign to a wider market. By combining this approach with a focus on industries that are prominent in each region, we were led to target the following areas:
INTERNATIONAL: United Kingdom, Canada, India, Germany, South Korea, Taiwan
DOMESTIC: Texas, California, New York, Illinois, Florida
The industry focus for any economic development organization will differ from region to region, but a good place to start is by making a list around the largest employers in your area and building your strategy around targeting the vendors that serve them.
For example, when Samsung placed their semiconductor fab in the city of Taylor, Texas, they opened up the region to competition between the vendors that would serve Samsung. This influx of suppliers created a ripple effect, attracting more businesses that wanted to be near a key industry hub. As a result, the area is becoming a magnet for related industries and skilled labor. These are the targets with the highest likelihood to convert.
For the Texas Economic Development Corporation, the state’s industry focus has been heavily shaped by resources and initiatives led by public, private, and academic leaders aimed at enhancing Texas’ competitiveness. Key sectors such as Advanced Manufacturing, Aerospace, Aviation & Defense, Biotechnology & Life Sciences, Corporate Services, Energy, and Information Technology have emerged as primary industries due to strategic investments and collaboration across these sectors. This ecosystem of support has positioned Texas as a hub for innovation and growth across a range of industries while turning out legislation like the Texas CHIPS Act. Devices like these were what we formed our industry targeting around.
For any economic development organization, CEOs / CFOs / VPs / Business Development Reps / Site Selectors are going to make up the composition of your audience. With that, however, it is important to keep in mind that the customer journey for this audience isn’t going to fall on any one individual, but will mostly take place as a group decision on behalf of the C-Suite to reach out.
In this context, it's a good idea to tailor your messaging, content strategy, and campaign to address the concerns of every member of the C-suite. Each role—whether the CEO, CFO, or VP—will have their own priorities and pain points to speak to. Consider that a CFO might be focused on the financial incentives or tax breaks, while a CEO could be more concerned with the long-term growth potential of relocating. Your campaign needs to speak to all these angles to ensure you're addressing the collective decision-making process.
It should also be understood that the decision to relocate or expand is not made overnight. It involves thorough research, multiple touchpoints, and extensive internal discussions. As a result, your campaign should be geared toward supporting this prolonged customer journey, offering detailed resources that assist the entire leadership team in their evaluation process. Providing insights backed by actual data, relevant case studies, and value propositions spoken from the mouths of other CEOs will help move the conversation and influence the final decision.
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The key to selecting the value propositions that will drive your marketing efforts isn't simply about highlighting what you do well, but rather focusing on what you do well that your competitors cannot replicate. This unique offering is your key differentiator. This is what sets your region apart in a crowded field of alternative destinations for site selection.
For example, while states like Ohio and Florida can also lean into minimal bureaucracy and low to no state income tax, Texas distinguishes itself with unmatched geostrategic advantages. The central location offers unparalleled access to both domestic and international markets, with robust infrastructure supporting importing and exporting across the globe. Value propositions like this provide a pathway for messaging like:
"Texas is the center of attention... and the Americas! Business leaders like Arun base their businesses in Texas because of our central location and global exporting capabilities. Find out why businesses are choosing to expand in Texas."
While factors such as a pro-business environment, favorable incentives, and a rich culture make Texas highly competitive, it’s the combination of these strengths with its logistical and geographic advantages that make it truly unbeatable. For any economic development organization, the goal should be to identify and promote all relevant value propositions, but always lead with your key differentiator—the factor that competitors simply can't match.
To determine the visual identity for this campaign, we utilized a client discovery survey that included a brand strategy exercise. This process was designed to align the organization's goals with a strong visual presence that would resonate with target industries and key stakeholders. Understanding that a visual identity must communicate an organization's values, strengths, and economic development objectives, we devised a creative approach to localizing the brand’s image.
As unconventional as it may seem, one of the most effective ways we've found to achieve this is by asking clients which show dog and luxury vehicle best represent their brand. The Texas Economic Development Corporation chose the Ford F-150 King Ranch and the Standard Poodle, two very strong and emblematic character representatives. This helps to tap into the extensive concept, marketing, and branding efforts backed with millions of dollars already spent in research by those industries, allowing us to craft a visual identity rooted in widely understood concepts of prestige, reliability, and success—traits the C-Suite is need to perceive in their expansion and relocation partners.
The structure of any campaign must be closely aligned with the funnel you create, and that funnel should be tailored to the specific audience you're aiming to reach. For an audience of high-level executives—CEOs, CFOs, VPs, and Site Selectors—the funnel requires a strategic approach that prioritizes building trust from the very beginning. Executives are not quick to act; they need to see long-term value and security in any decision they make. As such, the top of your funnel needs to be focused on establishing credibility, ensuring your brand is seen as a reliable partner that can deliver results.
To achieve this, your messaging should be rooted in a trust-based narrative that resonates with the entire C-Suite, addressing their diverse concerns from financial performance to operational stability. This is where elements like testimonials from respected industry leaders, detailed case studies showcasing successful business relocations, and information about available funds and incentive programs become crucial. These assets provide tangible proof that your organization has the experience, track record, and resources needed to support business growth and expansion, ultimately guiding executives down the funnel toward a decision.
The advantage of advertising on LinkedIn for economic development organizations, compared to other platforms, lies in the fact that LinkedIn’s user base is the only one that consists of verified professionals whose companies, roles, and accounts have been authenticated. This provides a high level of targeting precision, ensuring that your campaign is reaching real decision-makers like CEOs, CFOs, and business development representatives, rather than unverified mystery users.
We recommend incorporating additional channels, such as Google, X (formerly Twitter), and Facebook, into your strategy primarily for remarketing purposes. While these platforms offer extensive reach and powerful targeting capabilities, they also carry the risk of engagement from fake accounts, click farms, and unverified users. By first attracting high-quality, verified traffic through LinkedIn, you can ensure that your remarketing campaign on these other channels are for sure targeting a legitimate audience. Once this verified traffic is captured, you can extend your strategy to reach this audience across the web, increasing your visibility and engagement.
There are also many benefits to advertising on LinkedIn that other channels don't offer. For instance, by leveraging LinkedIn’s programmatic advertising feature, the LinkedIn Audience Network we were able to retarget verified executives with placements in virtually every major publication, including syndications like Fox Business, TechCrunch, Forbes, and The New York Times.
"The Texas Economic Development Corporation hired pollen.media for a digital advertising campaign and the results have been outstanding. Will Herrmann is not only super intelligent but on top of all industry trends. He and the team take the time to understand your vision and goals, and then recommend strategies that have been researched and are proven to work. They dig in, create a winning campaign and monitor it to make any necessary adjustments. And the reporting of the campaign’s metrics are incredibly detailed. It’s a pleasure to work with such consummate professionals"
