Marketing Your Community Guide

Michigan Opportunity Zones Marketing Your Community

MARKETING YOUR COMMUNITY: IT COULD REAP SIGNIFICANT REWARDS.

Prior to marketing your community, it is important to mention the significance of placemaking. The benefits of placemaking include increased population attraction and retention; enhanced business development opportunities; increased job creation; a wider range of job opportunities; more mixed-use development; more affordable, livable communities for diverse population groups (including low and moderate income Michigan residents); greater social equity through improved access to amenities; more economically competitive communities; improved and protected natural environments; and increased energy efficiency and resilience. Key resources for more information on placemaking include:

Placemaking as an Economic Development Tool: A Placemaking Guidebook – seeks to assist neighborhoods and communities with quickly reshaping their thinking and acting on how effective placemaking can greatly enhance community and economic development.

MIplace.org – Community Development Guidance

Michigan Municipal League – Placemaking – Capitalizing on the distinctive assets of a community to integrate a mixture of uses that connect people and places on a human scale. It is a scalable strategy to create adaptable, economically competitive 21st century communities worth caring about.

MIplace.org – We support the growth of vibrant, diverse, and sustainable communities across Michigan.

MIplace.org – Community Development Guidance – The Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC)’s Community Development (CD) team supports the growth of vibrant, diverse and resilient communities across Michigan.

Project for Public Spaces (PPS) – is a nonprofit planning, design, and educational organization dedicated to helping people create and sustain public spaces that build stronger communities.



Why market your community? To attract the private capital that can help transform your community for the better. The key is to highlight your city or town’s competitive assets, and to share the insights and information that will intrigue potential investors. Community marketing and promotion efforts take many forms, but the goal is to create a positive image that enhances community pride and consumer and investor confidence. As such, strong community marketing plans should publicize and strategize around what sets a community apart from others.

There is no single, definitive marketing approach for all. Every community has different assets with different investment goals. The following (which includes information regarding Opportunity Zones in other states), can guide you through and simplify the process:

How to market your community as a Michigan Opportunity Zone
Step 1a: Compile relevant information, including:
  • Historic and future development plans
  • Zoning ordinances
  • Tax policies
  • Local/state incentives
  • Thriving projects to highlight
Step 1b: Compile relevant information, including
  • Geographic focus
  • Intended investment focus
  • Investment size
  • Mission statement or impact objective
Step 2: Gather data
  • Maps: OZ, Zoning, Land use
  • Demographics
  • Business
  • Employment

The following resources can be used to find important information about your community:

  • Census (by tract)
  • Arcgis online
  • MI GIS Open Data
  • FetchGIS
  • MSUE’s OZ Dashboard
  • Master Plan
  • Zoning Administrator
  • Assessor
(Source: MSU Extension)
Step 3: Choose a marketing method

Online platforms:

Printed/digital product:

  • Investment Prospectus
  • Community Profiles

Investment based crowdfunding:

  • Platforms with low minimum investment requirements
  • e.g.: Revalue, Fundrise, Local stake
(Source: fundrise.com)

Story Maps

  • Interactive maps to tell your community’s story.
Muskegon Story Map
(Source: arcgis.com)

Investment Prospectus

  •  All-in-one “pitch” to attract investors
  • Compilation of data and storytelling
Lansing Investment Prospectus
(Source: City of Lansing, MI)

Community Profiles

Use community branding to promote a consistent identity and tell your ‘why invest here’ story. Help investors understand the advantages of your region.
  •  Quick fact sheet on communities
  • Summarized version of investment prospectus
(Source: MSU Extension)
Step 4: Help forge meaningful connections

Local Resources – Identify the organizations in your area that project stakeholders can tap into or partner with to get their initiatives off the ground. The following are examples that serve the greater Lansing area. Which ones serve your community?