COM
As shown on the next page: Case study highlights the elements of best practice in the use
of an IPI web site to promote a location, service investors and coordinate other regional
entities with similar competencies.
Source: Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA)
Copyright 2006 Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency. All rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced in any form
without written permission from the copyright holder. Requests for permission to reproduce should be sent to the Director,
Operations , the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA), World Bank Group at fdicenter@worldbank.org
FDI Promotion Center Module 9
FOCUS ON eFLORIDA.COM
Background
In July 1996, the state of Florida replaced its Department of Commerce with Enterprise
Florida Incorporated (EFI), a public-private partnership responsible for leading Florida’s
statewide economic development, international trade and statewide business marketing
efforts. This model, which was the first of its kind in the United States, requires EFI to
employ an efficient and market-oriented approach to doing business and to emphasize
partnerships with other public and private sector organizations.
EFI works collaboratively with a statewide network of regional and local economic
development organizations (“partners”) to improve Florida’s business climate and ensure
its global competitiveness. A Board of Directors—comprised of leaders from Florida's
business, economic development, educational and government communities—provides
broad-based policy direction. The Governor of Florida serves as the chair of the Board.
EFI’s mission is to diversify Florida's economy and create better paying jobs for its
citizens by supporting, attracting and helping to create businesses in innovative, high-
growth industries. To support this mission, EFI developed a positioning statement—
“Florida. Innovation Hub of the Americas ®”—which concisely defines a diverse and
dynamic state as a location for investment, trade, and entrepreneurship in a host of high-
value sectors such as: life sciences, information technology, aviation/aerospace,
homeland security/defense and financial/professional services.
By all accounts, over the past 10 years EFI has helped shape economic development in
Florida into a market-oriented and well coordinated enterprise. The Web site
eFlorida.com is an example of EFI’s transformative success in presenting a unified face
on a diverse and dynamic state. The Web site echoes EFI’s market-oriented approach to
doing business and puts into action its partnership philosophy.
eFlorida.com
In 2003, EFI completely revamped its brochureware Web pages and launched
eFlorida.com, an easy-to-use, content rich, interactive Web site. According to EFI
management, the rationale behind investing in a state-of-the art Web site was simple: an
up-front investment would enable EFI to achieve the broadest possible reach at the
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lowest cost. EFI staff would also benefit since much of the information and analysis they
needed to share would be accessible online.
1. Globalization of the Web site: Perhaps the biggest strength of the eFlorida.com
Web site is content that is customized to 14 countries. Not only does the site
feature all of its major content in the official language of each country, but it also
has current content geared toward the interests of the investors from these
countries. Providing this kind of targeted content facilitates use of the site by
international investors. Since EFI currently does not have a physical presence in
France, the French version (http://www.eflorida.com/france/france.asp?level1=1)
of eFlorida.com serves as a virtual office in the country. EFI is able to
communicate directly with French investors through Web site messages that are
tailored to their interests. One cautionary note to other IPIs is that such
customization courts inquiries in multiple languages. Globalization of the Web
site necessitates the ability of IPI staff to handle such inquiries in a timely and
comprehensive manner.
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interests. The click-through rate for these links helps EFI analyze the
effectiveness of the campaign.
• EFI has worked to ensure that its Web sites perform well on search
engines. EFI used Google AdWords http://www.google.com/ads/ to boost
traffic to one of it Web sites and plans to do so for its other Web site in the
near future. EFI also understands the importance of search engine
optimization, and has included this task for both of its Web sites in a
scope of work to be tackled in an upcoming project.
• EFI has hosted a seminar via the Web as a means to promote Florida a
global innovation hub of life sciences as well as to inform audiences
about Florida’s existing life sciences cluster. Presenters included
representatives of a private, non-profit research institute, Florida's
university system, life sciences businesses and the venture capital
community. This online seminar, or Webinar, supplemented an already
rich set of content offerings about the sector including current players in
Florida; information on Florida’s research and development advantages,
the business climate and infrastructure, state laws and regulations, recent
EFI missions to promote overseas partnerships among businesses;
upcoming sector events; and other reports and analysis on the sector.
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For staff and partners, this portion of eFlorida.com also provides access to
numerous resources designed to assist them in preparing for investor visits or
responding to investor inquiries. The space functions as a kind of supplemental
intranet, housing links to a database of Florida companies, updated information
on incentives, state-by-state comparisons of economic indicators, an image
library, results of the periodic capital investment and jobs survey as well as
corporate resources such as a brand book and a staff directory.
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EFI’s partnerships all have built-in mechanisms for communication and feedback,
and key partners meet with EFI regularly to provide additional feedback on local
and regional trends as well as voice any need for access to new resources. EFI
uses the Web to facilitate communication with and feedback from partners on
specific issues. For example, in the development of Florida’s strategic plan, EFI
developed Web pages to inform partners about regional meetings and to obtain
feedback on the strategic plan. Web site visitors were able to register online to
attend meetings, to download versions of the strategic plan, and provide
feedback online if they could not attend the meetings. This approach provided
partners with immediate access to changes in the plan, saved on printing and
mailing costs, and encouraged feedback from all partners.
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Glossary:
Click-through rate – This term is used in Internet marketing to describe the percentage
of users who click on a link or advertisement. The click-through rate is used as a
measure to determine the effectiveness of a link or advertisement on a particular Web
page that is associated with a marketing campaign.
E-marketing automation package – A software solution that can be used to: gather
information on potential customers; store this information in a database format;
customize message to subgroups of these customers according to pre-defined
characteristics of these customers; email these messages to these customers; and track
responses from customers to these messages. Most e-marketing automation packages
can interface with a Web sits to help an IPI create forms and other methods for servicing
potential investors.
Landing page – This is a Web page that is linked to, or landed on, directly from a
hyperlink in an e-mail campaign or other advertising campaign. For example, the reader
might find more information, register for an event, fill out a survey or download a
publication on a landing page. Landing pages are built to support an e-mail or online
advertising campaign or can be links referred to in hard copy direct mail campaigns. An
IPI can track usage statistics on landing pages to measure the impact of the campaigns
with which these pages are associated.
Lead generation capacity of the Web site – A lead is the name and contact
information and areas of interest of an individual or company that is potentially interested
in your location as a destination for a potential investment. IPIs can utilize the Web site
as a tool for generating such investment leads by gathering information on Web site
users, storing this information in a database and using the database as a foundation for
targeting and direct marketing activities.
Opt-out - Opting out is the process by which a subscriber to your e-mail list chooses to
no longer receive e-mail information and/or advertisements from your organization.
Often this is accomplished by the subscriber clicking on a hyperlink to unsubscribe, or by
replying to the e-mail campaign with the word "unsubscribe" in the subject line.
Search engine optimization – This term refers to a process aimed at improving the
visibility of a website in search engine listings. The process involves rewriting body copy,
altering Title or Meta tags, removal of Frames or Flash content, and the seeking of
incoming links, and ensuring that the website coding validates.
Webinar – This term is short for Web-based seminar, a presentation, lecture, workshop
or seminar that is transmitted over the Web. A key feature of a Webinar is its interactive
elements -- the ability to give, receive and discuss information. In order to conduct a
Webinar, organizations usually contract with one of a number of Webinar service
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providers to assist with audio and/or video recordings of content and registration of and
delivery to users.
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