ARLINGTON – When your business is in Arlington, the sky’s the limit.
That’s the high-flying message that tops Arlington’s marketing campaign to attract new commercial and industrial businesses to the city, and extols the natural surroundings, recreational opportunities, return on investment and quality of life that the area offers.
City officials over the past 18 months have worked with Seattle-based marketing firm TWENTYFIVE to establish roots, build the Arlington Awaits brand, film video testimonials featuring local businesses, set up an online presence, and build momentum for January’s launch, said Randal Southam, the firm’s founder and creative director.
This month, Arlington is ready to take its story to companies in the Pacific Northwest and nationwide.
Southam told the City Council at a recent update that an outbound direct mail campaign will target developers, builders and franchises.In some cases, he added, the message will focus more on introducing specific property that would benefit the greater community if they were actively leased.
Southam said the campaign will also produce up to 12 videos this year and invest more significantly in outbound exposure, with results monitored on social media and the campaign website, www.arlingtonawaits.com.
In 2016, two videos produced for the campaign received so many views that both Bing and Google search engines showed them as trending nationally.
“Our team has never experienced those kinds of results without substantial funding,” Southam said. “That really surprised us.”
He believes the number of online video views could surpass 400,000 in 2017.
While the potential audience has a national footprint, Southam said, “Our real focus in the campaign is attracting the attention of companies in the Pacific Northwest who find themselves weary of congestion, overpopulation, ever-increasing taxation and regulatory burden.”
City officials said they can make a compelling case for businesses that Arlington is a welcoming, prosperous place to land. Mayor Barb Tolbert said she wants to convey to prospective businesses that Arlington government operates as a service-based culture that wants to provide helpful services, not a bureaucracy.
“This is a big deal when you decide to invest your business here,” Tolbert said in online video testimonials. “We know it’s a big deal. It’s an emotional decision, financial decision and your future is staked on it, but so is ours.”
She said city staff is committed to solving problems, looking for ways to make a business’s development work, and keeping the process consistent from plans submittal to final inspection.
The city went live in October with its new commercial and industrial recruiting tool, with a website at Arlingtonawaits.com and a Facebook page. The sites provide information businesses need about Arlington, what the city has to offer. For example, lower taxes, less regulatory burden, helpful government leadership and other benefits.
A powerful section of the website is the descriptive Arlington Economic Development Focus Areas. The pages include interactive maps, area descriptions, demographics, zoning, infrastructure, development incentives, permit requirements, estimated fees based on cost of improvements, and review times for each leg of permit acquisition.
