World Business Chicago (WBC) today was ranked 3rd best city in the world for its “digital marketing efforts” in Financial Time’s fDi Magazine. WBC also ranked among the top 10 (country, region and city-wide) organizations for overall digital marketing strategy, overall website, and most innovative digital marketing strategy.

 This is fDi’s first-ever award for digital marketing excellence, and investment promotion agencies (IPAs) from cities, regions and countries submitted information that was ranked by a panel of judges. The finalists all showed innovative approaches that are bringing results to these organizations and the locations they represent.

Anatalio Ubalde, CEO of GIS Planning (a judge on the panel) noted in fDi Magazine that cities’ websites show the most effort. “The websites for cities were a distinct cut above those for any of the other entrant categories, mostly in terms of design aesthetics, but also often in terms of the content presented,” he said.

“We are honored to be recognized by fDi for WBC’s web and mobile efforts,” said Rita Athas, president of World Business Chicago. “At WBC, we have looked for innovative ways to gain maximum exposure for Chicago’s tremendous business advantages and utilized our new media platforms to build incomparable resources for companies making location decisions.”

Last month, WBC also ranked among the top 5 U.S. economic development agencies for digital marketing strategy in Intelegia’s 2012 Canadian American Cities Online Marketing Index. The report showcases how leading agencies in Canada and the U.S. use social media marketing to highlight specific accomplishments. WBC’s Twitter campaign revolving around a University of Illinois tech recruiting eventwas highlighted in the benchmarking study as a “key insight.” WBC’s Site Selector web-based mapping application was also highlighted as a “best practice.” The study considered the 40 largest metropolitan cities in Canada and the U.S.

“This year, we have seen a clear distinction between early adopters and late comers. Leading agencies are starting to reap the benefits of their efforts and this is just the beginning. We will see additional success stories as CEOs of economic development agencies embrace social media as a competitive advantage” says Isabelle Poirier, President of Intelegia and co‐author.

Additionally, in October, WBC received a Gold Excellence in Economic Development Award for Site Selector from the International Economic Development Council (IEDC). The organization noted that WBC created innovative and successful strategies to promote economic development with cutting-edge, effective practices that can be replicated in other communities.

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