If you’ve cruised Twitter.com and you’re either from or have a vested interest in Delaware, you’ve probably seen the hashtag #globalDE, and you’ve probably seen it tweeted from this account:
Officially formed in January 2014, Global Delaware is an initiative of the Delaware Department of State (yes, the above Tweet shows your state government embracing livestreaming app Periscope), and it has three primary functions: promote Delaware incorporation, help local Delaware companies expand internationally through export and champion Delaware as a great place for existing companies to relocate.
“When we started we had no brand. We didn’t even have the name Global Delawere,” said marketing director Emma Cowdery, who has been with Global Delaware since its inception. “The old team had about 200 Twitter followers. There was no social media presence.”
That’s no longer the case for the state’s marketing arm, due in large part to Cowdery’s injection of personality and affability to the brand.
But it’s calculated personality. Cowdery said Global Delaware follows a strategic, comprehensive marketing plan with a heavy focus on delivering content through three streams that follow their core mission: invest, incorporate, expand. The most popular? Incorporate.
“It has the most subscriptions,” said Cowdery. “What makes a Delaware LLC more advantageous? We’re feeding that to our international network of lawyers.”
Branding a state is no easy task, and Cowdery said the job comes with its own unique set of challenges.
“The state’s methods for promoting itself were pretty antiquated. State agencies are not necessarily branded in cool, trendy ways,” she said. “Honestly, as a millennial, trying to do marketing on a state budget is the biggest challenge.”
Cowdery will talk about those challenges and more at Delaware Innovation Week’s Future of Digital Marketing Conference on Nov. 17 at Theatre N in Wilmington.
