Bridging the gap between Irish business and advances in digital marketing

by Diarmuid ORiordan on June 10th, 2010

Irish companies feel like they are falling increasingly behind the times in terms of advances in digital marketing. While the digital community prepares itself for advances in areas such as location based marketing, the SME community is still unsure as to whether Internet marketing actually works. We need to further establish both positions and how we can bridge the gap between the two.

Mr. Bill Thompson was part of an open discussion at the IIA conference in Dublin recently. In a conversation with Jim Power on the use of social media in business, he was of of the view that companies not embracing social media would cease to exist in a few years. He also added that this may not be a bad thing, as companies who do embrace it will be offering a superior service to their customers.

Mr. Jim Power, prominent economist with Friends First held a conflicting opinion. Jim also runs an economic consultancy practice and has a lot of contact with SMEs. His view was that SMEs on the ground were largely untouched by the advances in digital marketing. He added that SMEs didn’t understand many of the platforms, were wary of privacy issues and were not convinced “social media actually works, and that its not just something fluffy and useless!”

So having established these hugely different viewpoints, who can we say is correct?

Both are correct in my opinion, and bridging the gap between the two is where the way forward lies. Jim is right in terms of SMEs on the ground, they still have a large customer base which is not using social media. Among SMEs who do use social media, their is a misconception that all a company has to do is set up a Facebook and Twitter page and watch the market come flocking. These users are only moderately succesful in their attempts and a general feeling of social media marketing being ‘fluff’ has been created.

Bill Thompson’s viewpoint can be easily backed up using Internet usage statistics and how people are using social search to find products and services. Business in Ireland must follow consumers onto social media.

There are innovative online marketing solutions being devised here in Ireland. However there is a danger if SMEs are not informed and trained, revenue streams will dry up and this could impair the advancement of these solutions and Irish business in the next number of years.

Mutual dialogue must be initiated between the two groups and the government must also be involved in the roll-out of broadband. Marketing through social media is all about listening to the conversation of customers, the digital community must listen to its customers for the benefit of all Irish business in the coming years.

Connecting with Enterprise Ireland

by Connector on April 29th, 2010

Yesterday Conor took part in an Enterprise Ireland podcast about Micro-Blogging, i.e. Twitter etc.  This was for Irish SMEs and we will link to the podcast shortly.   Pictured are Conor with Ralph Averbach from ENN‘s and Andrew Townley from Archistry in the studio off Mount Street. Thanks to David Scanlon from EI for the invitation and the very nice lunch!

Connector Top Tips
- Use a downloadable application like Tweetdeck or Hootsuite if you want to use Twitter to its full potential
- Use Twitter as a great social media listening tool even if you don’t want to join the conversation
- Why not follow these guys on Twitter? @connector_ie / @dscanlon / @ralphenn / @atownley

Review of iia Audio Video Culture Event

by Nicola OReilly on April 27th, 2010

On the 22^nd April 2010 the IIAs Social Media Working Group held an event entitled Audio Video Culture: Behind the scenes of audio & video content online.  Conor the current Chair of Social Media Working Group at the IIA was the chariman for this event.

Speakers from RTE, RaboDirect, Channelship, Mason Hayes and Curran, CEUD NDA, Google Ireland and YouTube all spoke at the event and helped to make it a great success.  Pictured is Sebastian Missoffe from YouTube in action from Conor at the top table!

There was very positive feedback with most feeling they learned a great deal about  audio and video content online.

New Connector Training Video

by Dave Dungan on April 21st, 2010

We’re delighted to announce that we’ve  added a new Connector Training Video to the training page of our website. The video introduces Connector Training in digital & social media.

Produced by Progressive Productions, the short video features some nice effects and innovative use of graphics, text and footage, not to mention an appearance by Conor Lynch himself who narrates with class and style!

Connector Weekly – 19th April

by Nicola OReilly on April 19th, 2010

Connector is set for another busy week of connecting! Here is a roundup of the main events for this week:

On 20th Connector will hold its Digital & Social Media Workshop. This strategy workshop will help participants understand how social media is changing our culture, and importantly, the way consumers share information and make buying decisions.

After that, Connector will also be hosting Career Connections a event only for students at the Science Gallery at 6:30 pm. With this event Connector is helping to connect graduates with potential employers. Many graduates this year will find it hard to get a job but those at the Students Event won’t be amongst them. Recruitment experts from Microsoft and Google will give advice about graduate programs, career choices and personal branding. Greg Fry from Careers Coach will be speaking at the event too.

Public Affairs Ireland presents a half-day event in Dublin on the 21st. It will be of interest to people who would like to have a better understanding of how new media, the web and email can enable better access of information and provision of services to the public.

Conor, as the current chair of the IIA, will introduce the Audio Video Culture: Behind the Scenes of audio and video content online on Thursday April 22nd. This will offer an in-depth look at how to maximise the impact of video and audio content for your business.

More updates next week.

Connect with Dragons Den @ The Entrepreneur Show

by Laura Goucher on April 10th, 2010

Things are beginning to warm up for The Entrepreneur Show which will be held in the RDS Dublin on April 23rd and 24th. It is set to be two days of the biggest networking and business knowledge gathering event ever seen in the country. Connector will be present at the event with a stand and with Mr. Networker himself Conor will be taking part in some of the panels and discussions about building new connections.

The Entrepreneur Show is designed to inspire visitors to do new and better business. It will host an array of speakers from all sectors of business, to inspire you in your business development.  It will give the opportunity to  learn and develop new business ideas and the necessary skills to put them into practice.

Not only does it give guests an opportunity to do some serious networking, it will also feature over 80 guest speakers from some of the most knowledgeable business minds like the UK’s Dragons Richard Farleigh and Rachel Elnaugh, the Irish Dragons Sean Gallagher, Bobby Kerr and Gavin Duffy and the Entrepreneur of the Year Terry Clune.

The show is made up of five different areas,the Inspiration Chamber will host an inspiring group of Entrepreneurs speaking about their journeys through their business life.  The “New Ventures” Arena will feature recently developed companies sharing their journey through the early stage of their business, this will educate visitors on how beneficial mentors and investors are to a new business and also tips on what qualities to look for when investing.

The “Think Tank” Auditorium is a new feature to the show which  involves different business sectors participating in the show and a live audience of entrepreneurs, enaging in panel discussion and audience interaction. One of the most exciting areas for visitors to the show is the “Invest test” Sessions which will feature businesses looking for investment and will be judged by a live panel of experts including the UK Dragons. The Exhibitor’s Area will demonstrate the tools and services needed to develop your business development these demonstations will over vast areas including mentoring, life coaching and design services.

Two day tickets to the event are priced €35. Proud sponsors Google are giving the first 10,000 visitors who purchase tickets online €75 worth of free Google ad words to kick start marketing their business online.
Those who purchase tickets online before midnight on Monday the 12th of April, will enter into prize draws for Entrepreneur show hampers sponsored by companies such as henparty.ie, hairybaby.com and many more.  For more details, click here>>

Digital and Social Media Workshop- 8th april

by Sarai Fernandez on April 8th, 2010

Connectors’ first Digital and Social Media Workshop is taking place today at Cassidy’s Hotel. We are going to be learning how to develop a digital marketing strategy following 10 simple steps: Connector’s 10 C’s.

In the afternoon session we are looking at the differences between a Facebook Group and a Facebook Fan Page; the LinkedIn groups and Twitter to see how social media tools are very useful for marketing strategies if they’re used thoughtfully.

Guest speakers include Aaron Downes, Thomas O’Duffy and Greg Fry. Aaron will discuss creative development in social media, Thomas will be talking about the importance of peer inlfuence and Greg will be telling us about his top ten online tools for businesses.

€2,000 worth of Connector Training to be won in April!

by Andrew Sigle on April 1st, 2010

Connector is offering you the chance to win one of the 8 free places at the following Connector Training courses we are running in April:

* 2 free places x 2 Introduction to Social Media Marketing Course (Half day day course on April 1st or April 19th)
* 2 free places x 2 Digital & Social Media Strategy Workshops (Full day course on April 8th or April 20th)

And the winners for the first course are… Nessa O’Hara and Dave Curry!!!  Congratulations! If you haven’t been succesful this time, keep sharing the promotion with your friends and colleagues* and avail for more opportunities to win in the forthcoming weeks:

- Share the link www.connector.ie/social-media-training to your friends and also ‘CC’ training [@] connector.ie
– Share our eZine to friends and also ‘CC’ training [@] connector.ie
– Share on Twitter, please tweet ‘Check out Connector Training www.connector.ie/social-media-training from @connector_ie’

* Of course, no one will receive further communication from Connector unless they opt in.

Connector Training – Course No.1!!

by Sarai Fernandez on April 1st, 2010

Connector has gathered together a diverse group of people keen to learn the basics of social media marketing and how to get the most of it.  Today Connector is running its first training course, called “Introduction to Social Media Marketing” at Cassidy’s Hotel in Dublin 1.

We are looking at the Connector blog,  Conor’s Facebook profile, the Connector Facebook Fan Page, and friends of the Facebook Group; Conor’s LinkedIn profile, where we joined the Connector LinkedIn Group, Connector Twitter and WordPress.

Two of the attendees, Nessa O’Hara and David Curry, were the lucky winners of 2 free seats. Connector is still giving your the opportunity to win 2 free seats in the next 3 courses which are being held in April. To find out more about the contest, click here.

Best Irish Digital & Social Media Case Studies

by Conor on March 31st, 2010

As you may be aware, Connector Training is about to kick off tomorrow and we are really excited about sharing our knowledge as well as our connections.   As social media is all about sharing we are sharing some free places on the courses and would like you to share something too!

We’d like you to share your favourite Irish digital marketing case studies from recent years – if you can’t think of a great Irish case study, do you have a favourite international campaign?

We’re just looking for a link and the reason why you thought it worked so well.  If it is your work, it is best to say that so we can credit your work. To submit, please leave comments below ideally about the problem, solution & results.  You can email any materials to training [@] connector.ie

If you’re in a generous mood, we are also looking for submissions for the following -

- Best Social Media Web Sites
– Best Social Media Books
– Best Social Network
– Best Facebook Fan Page
– Best Online Community
– Best Content (Video, Music, Game, App etc.)
– Other cool stuff!