Q1 Report

Analyzing Digital Advertising in Economic Development

Forecasts in 2018 predicted that digital advertising sales would account for nearly half of all advertising in the U.S. (official numbers are not yet out). The advanced analytics, hyper-targeting capabilities and immediate actions it can inspire on a landing page are the tip of the iceberg in terms of advantages that digital advertising holds over more traditional mediums.

So how is economic development marketing evolving with this industry shift, especially as many communities increasingly look to attract talented professionals and/or the technology industry? In late 2018, Development Counsellors International (DCI) surveyed a select group of economic development organizations (EDOs) currently engaged in digital advertising initiatives to find out. The results were both encouraging and indicative of the sophistication yet to come.

The key questions we set out to answer were:

1. How are EDOs measuring the impact of digital advertising, and are they able to show an ROI or connect results with their business objectives?
2. What channels are EDOs using the most, and who are they trying to reach with their messaging?
3. How much budget are EDOs allocating to paid media?