Constructing a winning investment promotion case study
FDI success stories are a core pillar of content that we recommend to our investment promotion clients trying to build location credibility, but doing so in a way that offers true insights is challenging.
Companies can often remain secretive about the real decision factors that led them to a location and, even if they are willing to share, getting approval through all the layers of communication departments can be daunting.
Place marketers can be left with watered-down quotes from a press release and minimal information that communicates the value that the location or IPA provided along the journey. Below, we dive into how to get information for the case study and which content to include.
How to get great information for a case study?
One of the most difficult pursuits for economic development marketers is chasing down case study information after the fact. Once a decision has been made, companies can go dark as they focus on mission critical activities to successfully scale.
The best way to prevent this is to be proactive and build it into the FDI recruitment process. It is a perfect scenario for marketing and business development to collaborate, as capturing true insights from these projects requires someone on the inside who can ask the right questions, build the right relationship, and seek the necessary approvals in advance.
IPAs provide critical information and assistance to companies. The least that can be expected in return is information that can help the current project positively impact future ones by offering meaningful quotes and reasoning for the final selection.
Many place marketing teams are hesitant to ask for case studies, but companies often do want to share their story. Especially when the company is new to the market, they need help with building an employer brand and integrating into the community, so participating in publicity around their project is an easy way to do so.
They also want to see the location they just selected succeed, if for nothing else to show their own stakeholders what a vibrant and healthy business ecosystem they are now part of. In short, helping to promote this growth story is a direct benefit to them.
Peer-to-peer dialogue is always a top influencer for executives, as captured in C Studios’ Winning Strategies in Investment Promotion Marketing report, as well as our sister agency’s U.S. version. Well-executed case studies are a way to tap into this as a part of your own marketing strategy.
What information makes an ideal success story?
Getting the approval to use a quote or project information is one thing. Getting truly insightful details is another, but it doesn’t have to be overly complex. The formula for a great case study usually includes:
We worked with X.
We provided Y services.
The company chose our location for Z reasons.
Ideally an insightful quote about the decision.
Bonus: Timeframe of scaling and/or follow-on investments.
It is simple, but powerful. The X factor is the company, and these success stories should ideally be done with businesses that are representative of the future clients your agency is chasing. Many IPAs use the biggest of names, which is not necessarily a bad idea for recognition.
However, we find that the best case studies come from “everyday” examples, such as mid-size or more obscure companies that better represent the target profile and needs of potential clients rather than Google, Microsoft or Siemens, which have offices almost everywhere.
The Y factor is the service and value your IPA provided. This could be very specific or quite broad based on the needs of the company, but the more specific you can be (considering confidentiality, of course), the more effective the case study is.
That leads to the Z factor, or why the company chose your location and is often related to the quote. Most comments about a project in a press release are stale and generic. They could probably stand in for any announcement across an entire year.
The trick is securing a rationale and quote that could not be used by just any other company in any other location. In other words, what was unique to that project that made your location stand out?
The last step is a timeframe for scaling or follow-on investments that suggest the initial decision was a good one. For example, showing that a company scaled to 500 workers in less than a year (or frankly, less than two years) is quite impressive.
Similarly, if 2-3 years later, the company added a new operation or expanded the existing one, that speaks to a happy customer who re-invested.
Examples to consider
With the content above gleaned from a project, there are multiple ways to use it: pitch deck slides, videos, social media quote cards, lead form content, and more. In any form, when the packaging remains simple, the story shows through best.
Here are a few examples of well done case studies from around the industry:
