This business case highlights how a region in New Brunswick has used Internet social media tools to enhance its visibility on the web and in particular toward potential investors. In a matter of two weeks, the local economical development agency was able to attract 1,366 fans and followers using Facebook and other social media tools.

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Entreprise Chaleur
Social Media Marketing Applications
For Economic Development
Business Case
September 2009
By Isabelle Poirier and Ian Smith
www.ebdata.com

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Table of Contents
Table of Contents ................................................................................................................ 1
Introduction ........................................................................................................................ 2
1. Situational Assessment ................................................................................................ 2
2. Issue Assessment ......................................................................................................... 4
3. Project Description ...................................................................................................... 5
4. Solution Description .................................................................................................... 6
5. Solution ‐ Results ......................................................................................................... 9
6. Final Thoughts ........................................................................................................... 14
About E&B DATA ............................................................................................................... 15
About The Authors ............................................................................................................ 15
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Introduction
This business case highlights how a region in New Brunswick has used Internet social
media tools to enhance its visibility on the web and in particular toward potential
investors. In a matter of two weeks, the local economical development agency was
able to attract 1,366 fans and followers using Facebook and other social media tools.
1. Situational Assessment
Located on the northeast coast of New Brunswick, Entreprise Chaleur is the economic
development agency for the Chaleur region. It is composed of the following six
municipalities with a population base of 39,000 citizens:
o Bathurst
o Beresford
o Belledune
o Pointe‐Verte
o Petit‐Rocher
o Nigadoo
Mining, forestry, specialized business and professional services, government agencies
and tourism are the main sectors in the region. The Chaleur region is proud of
possessing the industrial infrastructure to support new businesses, a specialized labour
force courtesy of innovation‐driven educational institutions and the Port of Belledune
(see Figure 1), an excellent exit point to foreign markets.
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Source: www.portofbelledune.ca
Figure 1: Terminal 1‐2‐3 Port of Belledune
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2. Issue Assessment
Given its geographical location in the province of New Brunswick, the Chaleur region
remains an unknown area to do business and visit. The location of the Chaleur region in
the province is illustrated in Figure 2.
Source: www.ent‐chaleur.ca
Figure 2: Location of Chaleur Region
Investment dollars that flow into the province are usually placed in larger cities located
down south. Entreprise Chaleur is faced with an issue of efficiently promoting and
placing the region on the map in terms of attracting investment to foster the vital
aspects of the local economy.
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3. Project Description
To place the Chaleur region on the radar in terms of investment attraction and enhance
the visibility of existing economic initiatives, Entreprise Chaleur teamed with E&B DATA
to adopt an online social media marketing strategy. The option would provide the
agency with an innovative, inexpensive and effective vehicle to promote the region.
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4. Solution – Description
Among the hundreds of social media marketing applications available on the web,
Entreprise Chaleur chose to start with the following Web 2.0 applications:
o Facebook
o Twitter
o Flickr
Facebook – Online Social Networking
This tool was selected due its capacity to reach a large amount of individuals who are
familiar with the Chaleur region (i.e., current and former citizens, investors, etc). The
Facebook fan page option, RegionChaleur provides A screen shot of the Facebook page
is provided below in Figure 3.
Figure 3: RegionChaleur Facebook Fan Page
Entreprise Chaleur engages individuals by posting relevant content and a platform to
express their opinions. Content is available in French and English, the two languages
spoken by citizens in the region.
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Customized tabs were created to help users navigate through the page to find relevant
information: Live – Innovate ‐ Invest – Photos.
Twitter – Microblogging platform
Twitter is mainly used to push information to individuals and organizations interested in
news from the region and about stakeholders. The feed (see Figure 4) is updated at the
same time a link to a news article is posted on the Facebook Wall.
Figure 4: RegionChaleur Twitter Page
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Flickr – Content sharing (images)
Flickr helps with the presentation of photos of popular landmarks and existing
infrastructures available in the Chaleur region. It allows interested individuals a chance
to view existing infrastructure for economic development purposes. A screen shot
below in Figure 5 presents RegionChaleur’s photostream on Flickr.
Figure 5: Region Chaleur on Flickr
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5. Solution ‐ Results
The RegionChaleur Facebook Fan Page is the main anchor of the Entreprise Chaleur
social media marketing initiative. During the period, September 5th, to September 20th,
2009, 1,366 fans were connected to the page. Fans are engaged thanks to the wall and
discussion board
Postings of hyperlinks to news articles dealing with economic development initiatives;
likewise fans are able to provide comments below the initial post as seen in Figure 6.
The comments provide invaluable feedback to decision makers seeking to public opinion
in real‐time. In the case below, real‐time feedback is given regarding Bathurst’s city
initiative to rejuvenate downtown.
Examples of stakeholders engagement via the RegionChaleur Facebook Fan Page Wall
Figure 6: Feedback regarding the downtown rejuvenation initiative
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Figure 7: A response from a fan of RegionChaleur who is working on one of the project highlighted in
the article posted link.
The discussion board is a platform that allows fans of RegionChaleur to have
conversations on a variety of topics (see figure 8). Fans are free to express their
thoughts. According to the study, "A View from Corporate America: Winning Strategies
in Economic Development Marketing" by Development Counselors International (DCI)1,
“executive perceptions are heavily influenced by what “other credible sources” say
about a community (or what they observe in their own travels), rather than by what a
community says about itself via controlled media.”
1
A View from Corporate America: Winning Strategies in Economic Development Marketing" (Development Counsellors
International (DCI)), p. 5
http://www.aboutdci.com/dci/media/docs/Winning%20Strategies/DCI%27s%20Winning%20Strategies%20Report.pdf
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Figure 8: Discussion Group Posting on the subject – “Jewels of the region”
To enhance the efficiency of Facebook platform, it is important to customize the
information that will best reflect the advantages and characteristics of the product that
was going to be for sale. In this case: the territory as displayed in Figure 9.
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Figure 9: Information Available on The Region’s Industrial Parks
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Figure 10: Relevant Information Becoming Mobile
For site selectors and decision makers that are always traveling, information on
RegionChaleur is available via a Facebook enabled mobile phone (See Figure 10). In this
case, details regarding transporting infrastructure can be easily accessed without being
at a desk or opening a laptop computer.
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6. Final Thoughts
Social media applications (SMA) are very attractive because they are inexpensive or can
be found for free. Due to fact that they change so often, one will wonder if Twitter will
be effective next year.
Discarding SMAs can be quite compelling right now. Embracing them represents a
substantial investment of time and the ROI (return of investment) is not always
immediate and measurable for some economic development organizations.2
The present success of Entreprise Chaleur's social media marketing strategy can be
quantified by:
• The number of fans that join the page
• The real time peer‐to‐peer interaction regarding different topics
• The media attention that the strategy has received to date
• When Googling “invest in Chaleur Region” or “invest in Region Chaleur”, people
will automatically find the link to Chaleur Region Facebook Page on the first page
of results on Google
In less than 7 days, investors, site selectors and stakeholders can easily retrieve the
Region Chaleur’s economic development agency and engage in a conversation with the
specific person responsible for investment projects.
Finally, these new applications enhance the strategy that a community must have to
create wealth by harnessing the power of its network.
2
E&B DATA, Web 2.0 And Business Attraction - Canadian Cities Online Marketing Index©, September
2009.
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About E&B DATA
E&B (Economic and Business) DATA is a North American leader in the supply of
economic and business information, specializing in the industrial, emerging and energy
sectors. E&B DATA performs benchmark analysis for economic development initiatives.
Equipped with proprietary databases and information systems, E&B DATA operates the
largest business capital investment monitoring activity in Canada since 2000.
Visit E&B DATA online at www.ebdata.com
Follow E&B DATA at www.twitter.com/EB_DATA
About The Authors
Isabelle Poirier
Isabelle Poirier is the Investment Strategist at E&B DATA. She has 15 years of
experience in economic development and investment attraction strategy.
Follow Isabelle Poirier at www.twitter.com/intelegia
Ian Smith
Ian Smith is the Senior Competitive Intelligence Researcher at E&B DATA. Ian
specializes in information monitoring systems for investment attraction intelligence.
Follow Ian Smith at www.twitter.com/citweetz
Contributor
Aicha Habiby
Aicha Habiby is Project Manager of E&B DATA’S Investment Observatory.
Follow Aicha Habiby at www.twitter.com/EB_DATA
Social Media Marketing Applications For Economic Development ‐ September 2009