What, really, are industry clusters? And do they belong in your inward investment marketing?

In the world of inward investment attraction, it sometimes seems as though everyone - from local authorities to regional and national agencies - is promoting their 'industry clusters', whether in financial services, advanced manufacturing, tech, logistics, or a multitude of other sectors. 

But what, really, are industry clusters? Do all these local authorities and investment promotion agencies really have them within their territories? And, once we've understood what they are, and whether we can claim to have any, how can we promote them credibly and effectively to attract businesses in our target sectors? 

Inward Investment Marketing: Online Lead Generation Strategies for Success

It should be uncontroversial to say that effective internet marketing now belongs at the heart of effective inward investment attraction strategies. Recent market research shows that almost all business location searches now involve online research.1 And the great thing about attracting investing businesses online is that investment leads can effectively be 'self-qualifying': they've found you because your location offer aligns with their needs. Compare and contrast this with the practice of chasing businesses because they have the 'right profile' for your location (e.g. industry sector), but otherwise have no strategic fit or even plans to invest!

Industry Cluster Partnerships Can Supercharge Your Inward Investment Marketing Performance. Here's How.

Established industry clusters often feature prominently in regional inward investment value propositions and marketing campaigns. And for very good reasons. As geographical concentrations of specialised companies and organisations, clusters have proven potential to boost business productivity - a key benefit for investing companies searching for the best possible location.

Strategic Inward Investment Marketing Delivers Measurably Better Results. Here's How.

Everyone involved in inward investment promotion is likely to agree that their organisation's marketing activities should be focused on delivering results. Which means making tangible progress towards our ultimate goal - landing more inward investment projects (and creating regional prosperity and high value jobs in the process).

The key to achieving this is making our inward investment marketing more strategic.

But What is Strategic Inward Investment Marketing?

Inward investment lead generation - leveraging the world's most powerful B2B business database

Generating inward investment leads is a key step towards landing investment projects - and databases of businesses and decision makers are often sold as a basis for producing lead lists. But using business databases to produce lists of 'investment leads' has always been problematic.

Inward investment promotion and the power of peripheral locations

Hinterlands, peripheries, in-between places. Call them what you will, these are the locations where economic transformations happen. 

Space, the vital ingredient

Strategic Economic Development Projects Need More Strategic Communications. Here's Why.

Strategic economic development projects - to grow entire regions or key locations within them - have multiple stakeholders who want to be kept informed. But information that's relevant to them may be of no interest to investing businesses, and could even put them off.

So how can economic development agencies (EDAs) communicate with their various audiences more effectively, to give them the information they want, but not the information they don't?

Regional inward investment teams and organisational change - the opportunities and potential risks

England's regional inward investment teams are going through a period of significant organisational change. LEP functions are transferring to growth hubs and local authorities, which are transitioning to combined authorities, which are still in their formative stages.

When it comes to effective inward investment promotion, all this disruption presents opportunities but also potential risks. Here are some to consider:

Inward investment strategy: should exhibitions be part of the marketing mix, and how?

Trade shows, exhibitions, industry events - for investment promotion agencies they're popular parts of the marketing mix. But should they be? And if so, how should they be used most effectively - to maximise measurable marketing success and ROI?

The UK’s Modern Industrial Strategy - Leveraging the Potential for Inward Investment Attraction

The UK government’s industrial strategy green paper sets out a framework for growth and investment attraction that inward investment agencies and professionals are likely to welcome.

Inward Investment Value Propositions. What Are They? What Aren't They? And What Makes a Good One?

Almost everyone working in the field of inward investment promotion will be familiar with inward investment value propositions. But what are they? And what aren't they? And what makes a good one?

'Value proposition' is a marketing concept that can apply to any kind of 'product' (including a business location). By one definition it's a concise statement presenting an organisation's unique promise of value to its customers. How does this 'product' deliver benefits that others don't?

Inward Investment Marketing Insights and Key Trends at the End of 2023

Here’s Clarity’s inward investment marketing wrap up for the end of 2023, in which we take a look at:

• A ‘hybrid working’ future: the opportunities for inward investment and place marketers
• AI, technology, and getting the inward investment marketing basics right
• Attracting inward investment in a tough economic climate
• Clarity’s Inward Investment Marketing Word of the Year, 2023

A ‘hybrid working’ future: opportunities for inward investment and place marketers

Online Inward Investment Attraction Has Come of Age. So How Can Business Location Marketers Seize the Opportunity?

For several years, internet marketing has been part of the inward investment promotion toolkit. But now, through developments in internet technologies, platforms, and marketing techniques, as well as the ways we do business, online inward investment lead generation has truly come of age. Here's why, and how Investment Promotion Agencies (IPAs) and site marketing teams can seize the opportunity to attract more investing businesses online.

Place Marketing Isn’t Magic. The Basic Principles of Effective Marketing Still Apply.

Place is the word…

In the world of economic development, there’s no doubt that ‘Place’ has been the word of the last few years. It's now quite common for local authorities to have Place directorates, and an entire vocabulary of related words has evolved, like 'placemaking' and even 'placeness'.

Inward Investment Attraction in Times of Great Uncertainty - Thoughts on What City, Town & Regional Agencies Need To Do...

During this period of great economic uncertainty, it's not surprising that those of us working in economic development and inward investment promotion sometimes feel like rabbits caught in the headlights - shocked and unsure of which way to turn.

Time-Lapsed? Why Industrial & Logistics Sites Need Better Internet Marketing Strategies for the New Online Business Era

One major consequence of coronavirus has been the urgent reassessment of well-established business practices. Most obviously, many more activities have moved online, including customer interactions. This has brought about revolutionary change in the ways businesses use technology, with many gaining an edge on their competitors by adapting at impressive speed. On the other hand, companies that don't move with the times are likely to lose out.

Place Marketing in the New Era of 'Hybrid Working' - Identifying Opportunities for Provincial Towns, Cities and Regions After Coronavirus

For a long time now, the big cities have looked like the winners in the economic development stakes - especially those with strengths in service and technology sectors. And an important reason for this has been agglomeration, or industry clustering.

Developing Outstanding Inward Investment Value Propositions: 5 Key Principles for Success...

Perhaps the most basic challenge facing investment promotion agencies (IPAs) is this: how to make their business location stand out from all the other locations investing businesses could choose instead.

That's why effective location differentiation is essential, and why investment value proposition research and development should be the starting point for every IPA's marketing and sales activities (and all their other activities for that matter!).

GDPR and Inward Investment / FDI Marketing: A Disaster or an Opportunity?

Today is GDPR Day +6, and there's little doubt that inward investment marketers across Europe will, by now, be nursing seriously depleted email marketing lists. The problem, of course, is that the new regulation requires contacts actively to opt in to receive emails; the old approach of adding contacts to lists and hoping they won't unsubscribe is no longer OK.

Data-Driven Inward Investment Marketing (1): Using Labour Market Data to Land Inward Investments

As every inward investment professional knows, an effective value proposition - for your location, sector or site - is key to attracting expanding businesses. In turn, that proposition must be supported by high-quality location data, addressing all the factors that influence business location choices - from taxation rates to property costs.