< PreviousWhen used productively, social media can help your business grow and thrive. The from the firms We Are Social and Hootsuite reveals that over four billion people all over the world use the internet—more than half the global population—and most internet users are also active on social media.APRIL 201810 With more than three billion regular users, social media is a valuable tool in today’s marketplace. Here’s how you can effectively incorporate social media into your business.Share only mobile-friendly postsBusiness owners looking to capitalize on modern usage trends must ensure their ads are both mobile friendly and that they appear on social media platforms commonly used by the business’ target demographic. The We Are Social 2018 report shows that of social media’s three billion users, nine out of ten access their platforms of choice via mobile devices. In fact, the report attributes much of the internet’s growth to the increas-ing affordability of smartphones and data plans. that Facebook is by far the most popular social media platform. Other top contenders include YouTube, Instagram, Twitter, and of course, LinkedIn. Businesses need not be active across all platforms, but choosing two to three social media sites on which to post regularly helps to grow your web presence and establish your business as trustworthy and approachable to clients.Social media posts should feature no more than a few short, intriguing sentences, accompanied by an eye-catching image that links to a company webpage or blog post on your mobile-optimized site. Online marketing guru Derek Halpern, who runs the social media strategy has nailed content marketing down to a science. He states that the goal of your web copy should be to get people to read the first few sentences; this is the real challenge. Once they have read that, they are much more likely to keep going. For optimal visual appeal, he recommends a page of 480 to 600 pixels in width, starting your article with short sentences (even bullet points work well) of 100 characters per line, and having a 180 to 300 pixel image to the right of the text.Select your ambassadorsIn addition to having active company pages on social media sites and encouraging your team to follow them, businesses should also consider allotting marketing-savvy staff to be brand ambassadors or advocates, creating, for instance, a Twitter or YouTube account where they can post updates and informa-tion. Examples can include “[Jane Doe] of [Acme Inc.],” “[Jane Doe, [Acme Inc.] Marketing Specialist],” or even simply “[Jane Doe] Customer Service.”Ambassadors can use these social media pages to promote the company within their own networks, and all employees can follow the business and like or share the posts. However, when choosing your ambassadors, be sure to select team members who truly understand your brand’s values and are passionate about them. Keep in mind that since social media is a place where the line between personal and professional is blurred, entrepreneurs, business owners, and their brand ambassadors will have to tailor their strategies when engaging on these platforms. This is because when it comes to social media, traditional advertise-ments don’t work. Users want to feel that they are interacting with a human, rather than a business. 11 Use social media to start conversations, not to sellA conducted by Sprout Social, the social media manage-ment platform for brands and agencies, shows that people were more per-suaded to buy from brands on social media that were responsive, offered pro-motions, provided educational content, and shared interesting visuals. The top four traits that they appreciated in a social media brand account were honesty, friendliness, helpfulness, and a sense of humour. But while your target market may want your product, they do not necessarily want to see an ad for your business while they scroll through their social pages in bed or on their lunch break. The Sprout Social survey shows that you can craftily maneuver around this catch-22 by posting useful information relevant to your business’ target demographic. Brand ambassadors should use warm, casual language when constructing posts that aim to inform their target audience rather than sell to them, as tra-ditional ‘salesy’ posts come across as crass on social media and may leave a sour taste in the mouth of your followers. For example, if you run a renovation business, share DIY tips on how to paint your bedroom like a pro or fix your own leaky faucet. If you sell organics and specialty health food items, share an article on the best smoothie recipe of the season. Involve the officeTo tackle this issue, many proactive businesses have instituted social media workplace policies. Emily Bennington of suggests researching policies of other businesses such as to use as a starting point for crafting your own, paying special attention to how they address issues like con-fidentiality, appropriate behaviour, intellectual property rights, and so on. Keep the policy simple, and consider following it up with training sessions so employees are clear on how to responsibly engage while representing your brand. Unless you plan to outsource your social media duties, business owners should allot some time during the workday to allow brand ambassadors to use social media. But as informs us that seven in 10 Americans use social media—most of whom check it multiple times a day—many business leaders worry that encouraging social media use could lead to a slippery slope. On the other hand, with three billion users, not being present on social media means missing out on an important way of reaching many potential clients who may otherwise never hear of your business. APRIL 201812 Use only the best platforms for your business and should be considered by companies selling to a teenage or young adult demographic. Instagram is also a smart choice for companies whose products or services are very visual, such as clothing or jewelry businesses.While LinkedIn seems like a drop in the pond next to Facebook, YouTube, or even Instagram, the Business Insider report also shows that it is more popular among high-income users than competing platforms: “Forty-five percent of U.S. adult internet users with an income higher than $75,000 annually are on LinkedIn.” In fact, over the years LinkedIn has garnered a repu-tation as being a professional’s social media staple, so business owners should at least consider creating a company page and/or using the platform when searching for new talent. More and more people are using social media every day, and for many casual users it can seem like a time sink. But when utilized strategically, it can also be a growth tool. For business owners, social media is an asset in a time of increased digital communica-tion, keeping you connected to your clients and prospects.When choosing which platforms to join, businesses should consider both the popularity of the platform as well as how many members of its target market are using it. January 2018 data from shows that as of January 2018 there are 2.17 billion active users on Facebook, 1.5 billion active users on YouTube, 800 million active Instagram users, 330 million active Tweeters, and 260 million active LinkedIn members.Because about half of all people who use the internet are active on Facebook, a business Facebook account seems like an obvious choice, but entrepreneurs and business owners should also keep in mind the demographics of the platform. tells us that eight in 10 online Americans have an active Facebook account. In addition, women continue to use Facebook at somewhat higher rates than men (83 percent of female internet users and 75 percent of male internet users). Though it is popular among all age groups in general, to reach a more mature audience, Facebook might be your best bet. A report shows that users aged 45 to 54 are spending more time on Facebook, representing 21 percent of the total time spent on the platform – more than any other age group. The Pew Research Center adds that 62 percent of online adults aged 65 and older now use Facebook as well.With well over a billion users, YouTube is another major social media platform that actually reaches consumers aged 18 to 49 in the United States. While millennials love the platform – preferring it twice as much as TV – Generation X and baby boomers are its fastest growing demographics, and data shows a majority of adults will take action after viewing an ad on YouTube. Most people tune in to watch videos uploaded by individual users (80 percent of 18 to 34 year-olds) with content uploaded by brands, companies, and institutions at a close second (74 percent of 18 to 34 year-olds). These trends suggest that a YouTube account may be the right option for your company’s brand ambassadors, as viewers enjoy watching other “real” people. 1 | | 3 | | 5 | | 7 | | | 10 | | 12 13 BUSINESS IN FOCUS The International Economic Development Council (IEDC) – the world’s largest economic development membership organization – has a staff of thirty and an average annual budget of $5 million, with which it works as a powerful force in the economic development arena.“As president and chief executive officer of the IEDC, Finkle is passionate about the role that economic developers play in the United States and other countries.”Jeff A FinkleCEcD, President & CEO, IEDCAPRIL 201814 Written by Robert HoshowskyWhen Category 4 Hurricane Harvey tore through Texas last August and September, the aftermath was devastating. The storm claimed an estimat-ed eighty-eight lives, and two feet of rain poured down in just twenty-four hours. Emergency provisions like food and blankets were soon distributed to those in need. Economically, the brutal hurricane had a terrible impact on the Houston Metroplex, America’s fourth-largest city and its population of 6.22 million. Some 738,000 people registered with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) for assistance, and a bill approving $15.25 billion in storm aid was soon signed by the president.Rebuilding any area affected by natural disaster is never an easy process, but it is one that certified economic developer (CEcD) Jeffrey A. Finkle understands. Finkle recently returned from a trip to Texas to survey the damage done by Hurricane Harvey. As president and chief executive officer of the IEDC, Finkle is passionate about the role that economic developers play in the United States and other countries. And ever since Katrina hit the Gulf South, Finkle has been organizing economic develop-ers to assist communities hard hit by disasters to go to those regions and volunteer to help those local economies recover.Finkle served as president and chief executive officer (CEO) of the Council for Economic Urban Development (CUED) from 1986 to 2001 and as president and CEO of the Association of Defense Communities (ADC), giving him decades of first-hand knowledge in the industry. The International Economic Development Council was created through a merger between the membership orga-nizations CUED and AEDC in 2001. Finkle not only serves as the IEDC spokesman, but he also works to foster relationships with key players in the U.S. Departments of Commerce and Agriculture, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), along with directing programs in small business creation, retention and expansion, infrastructure investments, real estate trends and other critical areas. Leading the board of the IEDC is Chair J. Richard, CEcD. Richard assumed his one-year term as chair on January 1, 2018 and is currently into his second year as president and CEO of the Tampa Hillsborough Economic Development Corporation. Richard’s lengthy resume includes twenty years in economic 15 BUSINESS IN FOCUS development leadership roles. Both Richard and Finkle agree that economic development requires not only professional dedication – such as earning the certified economic devel-oper (CEcD) designation through the IEDC – but a passion for helping others. The IEDC had a role in helping disaster-affected areas such as Texas and New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and 2017’s Hurricane Harvey. This holds great meaning for Richard, as the Florida city of Tampa was also affected by Hurricane Irma, the first major hurricane to slam the city since 1921. Much of the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico were also hard hit, and the International Economic Development Council was there to help.“I have to give great kudos to IEDC and its efforts to build toolkits and resources that economic developers can use to help restore their economy,” comments Richard. “IEDC was a leader in working with the Economic Development Administration (EDA) in developing this toolkit and programs at that economic development organizations can use to mobilize services for their community. That was due to the vision and foresight of IEDC and its board and directors.”IEDC’s Finkle recently found himself in Puerto Rico and Saint Croix, Virgin Islands, both hit by Hurricanes Maria and Irma, where he kicked off their volunteer program. “These are going to be long recoveries,” says Finkle. “Nearly 500,000 people in Puerto Rico still don’t have electricity.” Vital economic drivers, such as the hotels, resorts and spas responsible for hundreds of jobs, suffered millions of dollars in damage and will remain closed until 2019, dramatically affecting the local economy.Finkle says that although most of the organization’s members are based in North America, the IEDC re-examined its role after Hurricane Katrina and asked itself what it was doing about lending a hand, with proven methodologies, to other places when they were struggling. “The economic developer com-munity decided it needed to be helpful when disasters occur,” he says.The organization approached the U.S. Economic Development Administration after Katrina and requested $80,000 – not a lot of money in federal terms. It used the funds to bring volunteers to Mississippi, Alabama and Louisiana to work for a week at a time, and this valuable assistance helped local economic development agencies work on recovery efforts in their own communities. APRIL 201816 Some IEDC members were themselves residents and were rebuilding not only local communities but also their own lives in the process. “Some of them were living in FEMA trailers,” says Finkle, “and others were living on the second floor of their houses because the bottom floor was flooded, and they had to rip out all the drywall and get rid of the mold. One of our members lost his house completely – it was pulled directly off the foundations and swept out to sea – every belonging in that house was gone. So we started shuttling people down there.” Volunteers actively worked in small business recovery centers, did business retention calls, incubation studies and more. In the spirit of camaraderie, an intern in the IEDC office volunteered to go to Louisiana, where she was put up in the house of a board member to help the economic development alliance Greater New Orleans, Inc. as a receptionist in their office for a week. The alliance had to lay off staff since businesses were unable to support the organization.“As a professional, you have to have that innate drive and moti-vation to look at communities, understand some other issues and challenges and what opportunities are before them and envision and create the plan to execute it,” says Richard. “It all goes back to being a true professional who is motivated by the work itself.”“It is a goal to increase diversification of different business types, much like a stock portfolio.”IEDC membership represents the full spectrum of the economic development profession – including everything from small local economic development organizations all the way to large city development associations, chambers of commerce, utility companies, educational institutions, private and public con-sultants and others. The strength of the IEDC comes from the experience and influence of its members in workforce devel-opment, real estate development and commercial revitaliza-tion and business finance and infrastructure. These skill sets and many others are used to create incentive packages for busi-nesses of all sizes seeking to locate or expand to another area.It is not unusual for towns and cities to create incentive packages to lure companies that will diversify their economies. It is a goal to increase diversification of different business types, much like a stock portfolio. If certain industries are not repre-sented or underrepresented and the area has the necessary assets for those industries to be successful in their community, it makes sense to offer incentives, says Richard. 17 BUSINESS IN FOCUS “In essence, what you’re trying to do is prime the pump. You’re trying to get companies to expand and grow in your communi-ty that you don’t otherwise have, and for them to be successful, there has to be some ground-level support for that to happen.”In Tampa, for example, the city did not have a large pharma-ceutical company presence until a few years ago, as it is known mainly for financial services and customer support centers. While setting up a capability center – a robust-type of customer service center, Tampa attracted the attention of global biophar-maceutical company Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMS). A significant incentive package was soon prepared, and BMS relocated to the area and expanded its operations. Soon, American multinational giant Johnson & Johnson announced it was looking for a similar facility. “And we were able, because of our track record and success with Bristol-Myers, to get Johnson & Johnson here and with far less incentives than we did for Bristol-Myers Squibb,” says Richard. Recently, successful recruiting saw biotech company Amgen opened a facility in Tampa without receiving any incentives.“You have to display that these companies can be success-ful here in our community, and incentives were part of that decision at that time,” comments Richard. “Communities are starting to get more sophisticated, and they’re building more formulaic incentives, meaning you have to perform in certain areas to receive certain benefits. Often times, it’s not like a big fat check for coming to a community announcing they are going to locate here. I think communities have gotten way more sophisticated today, and those types of practices are far and few between. The reality is, incentives, when used properly, can prime the pump for future companies and organizations to help a community diversify its economy.”Several years ago, the IEDC commissioned two reports on skills necessary for economic developers. Among other things, the IEDC realized that to be successful, individuals needed to be communicative, demonstrate leadership qualities, be fairly ana-lytical, understand transparency, deal with public officials, be knowledgeable in real estate and finance, know tax regimes and more.“The reality is, incentives, when used properly, can prime the pump for future companies and organizations to help a community diversify its economy.”APRIL 201818 For Richard, one of the most important qualities of an economic developer is the ability to check one’s ego at the door. While playing an important role, many developers work tirelessly in the background and ensure others are recognized for their success. “Economic development is a team sport,” he says. “You need the capacity to build partnerships and collaborate. In many of our communities, you have to work through private-public partnerships, and in many ways, you have to work in a regional nature. Even though you may be the leader of a local economic development group, you have to work with your counterpart in other cities and other regions to make sure the whole story of the region is being told.”Richard says economic developers also need to be motivated by an unwavering desire to help communities and work in the face of challenges, restrictions and limited resources. “You have to be pretty creative in how you execute on that mission. And if you’re not motivated about the purpose of economic devel-opment and the value provides communities, it’s going to be tough to wake up every morning doing what you do. You have to be mission-driven in this profession.”There will be other challenges in the years to come for the International Economic Development Council, including every-thing from working with communities in the aftermath of disas-ters and dramatic changes to how business is conducted to federal funding, but Finkle and Richard say the IEDC is ready. “The future looks really bright for IEDC, and our profession,” comments Richard. “When I first got into the profession twenty years ago, nobody knew what economic developers were about.” In recent months, the profession has been the subject of dis-cussion on TV shows Last Week Tonight with John Oliver and Saturday Night Live as they reported on the search for a new headquarters site for Amazon. Twenty cities are shortlisted, and the potential benefits to the winning city are staggering. “John Oliver knows who we are now!” he says, laughing, “and that’s because the public has become more aware of what economic developers are all about through the whole Amazon process. People can say what they will, but this basi-cally provided a big, bright spotlight on economic developers and what we do. When your profession is satirized on Saturday Night Live, you kind of know you’ve arrived. IEDC is a strong organization, and it is growing and increasingly proving more valuable to economic developers, because what we are doing is more diverse than company recruiting,” he shares.“We are having conversations on topics like economic inequal-ity, talent attraction, workforce development, even affordable housing. These are all functions that are now impacting every local economic developer, and we have to be able to prepare our communities to face these types of issues. And we are in a great position to help facilitate those types of conversations and dialogue with the stakeholders and our respective com-munities to do something about it.”19 BUSINESS IN FOCUS Next >