Did you hear? The latest job skill requirement for investment promotion professionals is… omnipresence! 

In the ever-evolving landscape of economic development, where digital presence plays a pivotal role, the proliferation of social media channels has created an expectation for everyone to be everywhere. LinkedIn, Facebook, X, YouTube, Tik Tok and now Threads create pressure to tap into new audiences with increasingly niche needs. But for most organisations, that’s just not possible. 

Among these channels, LinkedIn is undoubtedly the go-to network for professionals and businesses. Is it really that bad to rely solely on this channel for your marketing efforts? It's a question we’re asked a lot.  

Below, we explore why there’s nothing wrong with this approach for economic developers.

Put Your Time Where Your Audience Is Putting Theirs 

A top consideration of marketing is finding out where your audience is spending their time. According to our Winning Strategies report of business decision-makers, LinkedIn is the top platform (61%) followed by Instagram and Facebook.  

It is true that business people are probably on many of the social media channels out there, but where are they making decisions about a location to invest in or receptive to learning more about what a location has to offer? Where are they networking before and after conferences, or reading news about their industry?  

When resources are tight, it’s all about where you can get the most bang for the buck. And in most cases for economic development, that’s on LinkedIn. 

Do Fewer Things Great Rather Than More Things Poorly

Having multiple social media channels certainly allows your organisation to reach a wider target audience, but place marketing measurement should be more intentional than that. What about engagement, impact and outcomes? 

When spread too thin, a few things happen. First, content can be watered down for each channel all at once, making your resonance with target audiences below average at best.  

Second, content is rushed or poorly planned simply to meet a deadline. The low-quality result reduces credibility and trains people to ignore your content because it’s not meeting your needs. 

An alternative is focusing on a single channel and making that the best it can be. If resources allow, go to a second and perhaps a third as quality and capacity allow. 

There is a considerable amount of work and resource needed to successfully deliver a multi-channel social media strategy, so the question is, do you or your team have the capacity to do this effectively? If the answer is no, it’s time to reconsider your approach.  

Channels Are Best When Paid & Organic Are Combined

Another benefit of focusing on fewer channels is that marketing campaigns across paid and organic placements are more effectively combined. This is true with Google and is the same on social. 

LinkedIn already sees 40% of its visitors engaging with a page organically each week, showcasing the platform's enduring significance in the market. Imagine combining that with a paid campaign that increases visitors from target segments using the platform’s advanced demographics, thus spreading your influence to a wider net of prospects. 

The heavy B2B concentration has enabled LinkedIn to launch innovative offerings every year, increasing the possibilities of getting on your audience’s radar screen. These are hard to identify and utilise to their max when five other social channels are part of the every-day mix. 

In short, we officially declare that it is fine to run a single channel for your economic development organization if that is what resources dictate. There’s no shame; in fact, it’s the smart, data-driven approach to place marketing. And if you can run more than that, by all means do so and do it well. 

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