Economic developers in rural areas face many challenges. One of those challenges is supporting local businesses and industries in meaningful ways.

Here is a brief example of a story that the Omni Homestead Resort in Virginia featured in an online marketing campaign sent to its guests. The story presented in this video generates  awareness about a small agricultural Fraser fir tree farm in beautiful Avery County, NC. The story informs the audience about the natural characteristics of the region and amplifies both the quality and the commercial value of products and services derived from this rural locality.

If we reverse engineer the process to create a message like the one in the video above, we can replicate the model. Here are a few steps a local economic developer can take:

• Identify a sector, a product, or a service that is unique to your community
• Take video of your local businesses involved in that sector, producing those products, or providing those services
• Create a story around it
• Invite partners – those who are leaders in the sector, those who purchase the product, or those who value the service, to share your story.

How is your community telling its story?

If you’d like to know more, go to EconDevToday and drop us a note to let us know what would help you.