Digital Marketing of Place Leadership

In the global world, cities and regions increasingly compete for resources, investments, residents, tourists. Leadership in economic development, living standards, investment, and tourism attractiveness becomes the most important competitive advantage. Two technologies can be used to form a leading position of a place—the improvement of territorial potential and its promotion. In the second case, a full range of marketing technologies is used to form a leadership image of the place. This article discusses how digital technologies are transforming approaches to marketing places to be aimed at creating leadership positions. Based on the theories of the digital economy, the features and fundamental changes that occur in the field of marketing and branding of the territory in the era of digitalization are revealed. The possibility of using digital channels of interaction in the marketing of territories is considered, their merits are revealed. The concept is introduced, the structure of the virtual potential of the territory is proposed, and a methodical approach to its analysis is formulated. A comparative analysis of the official portals of the largest cities of the Russian Federation is done using a number of e-metrics. The conclusion is made about the need to adjust the approaches in the field of territory marketing and the importance of forming the concept of digital identity of the Russian Federation largest cities, which would be an integral part of the strategy for the socioeconomic development of the city.