30,000 Offline SMEs are missing business opportunities
Irish Consumers spent €3.7 billion online in 2012 but 70% of that spend went outside Ireland
Digital Workshop Gives Knowledge and Confidence to SMEs in Cork
The eircom Spiders Digital workshop held in The River Lee Hotel, Cork yesterday was attended by a large number of business owners from across Co. Cork. The event was designed to support and enable Irish companies to improve their digital presence through a practical workshop lead by industry experts. Companies were invited to attend this FREE workshop and participate in thought leading presentations on how to grow their businesses through digital channels, strategies and best practice.
The workshop was moderated by Colin Meagle. Colin is the Founder of Continuum, one of Ireland’s leading digital communications agencies and Trilabyrinth, a US-based digital animation firm. Colin serves as chief advisor to a wide range of ecommerce, financial and process-based organisations throughout Europe and the US and advises on entrepreneurial and CSR efforts for a number of organisations and individuals in Ireland.
Gary Disley, Marketing Director, eircom Business Solutions said: “This is a very important event for us. The workshop demonstrates eircom’s continued support of enterprise and innovation in Ireland. We know that at least 30,000 small Irish businesses do not trade online. We also know that Irish consumers spent €3.7 billion online in 2012 with about 70% of that spend transferring out of Ireland. The reality is that SMEs are losing valuable opportunities to grow because they aren’t tapping into the potential of digital activity. We want to change that! We have experts from across many business disciplines providing FREE advice today and we guarantee that any SME attending today’s workshop with leave with increased knowledge and confidence to take their business to the next level”.
Gary Disley, Marketing Director, eircom Business spoke on emerging trends at today’s workshop. Gary’s presentation included trends in mobile, apps and retail becoming “phygital”. Customers are combining the physical and the digital in the purchase process.
Barry owner of Handmade marketing covered the importance of analytics and how the right analytics can help companies understand how their customers interact with their websites. He also highlighted the most common mistakes that companies make when it comes to Google Analytics and he provided guidance on how to avoid these mistakes.
Gerard Keohane from StudioForty9 demystified Conversion Rate Optimisation and outlined how it can be the cheapest most effective way of significantly increasing sales, leads and orders. Conversion rates are one of the key contributors to ecommerce turnover and therefore it’s crucial companies know what it is, and how to improve it.
Alex Musgrave from Dog Day Media used a sample case study and discussed in detail the campaign Dog Day Media created for Keary’s car dealers in Cork – from planning the campaign right through to execution. Its video went viral during the summer and has had over 250,000 views. Specifically Alex spoke about the process involved in creating shareable content and what happens when your content goes “viral”.
Stephen Ryan from Fota Island Resort gave a very interesting talk about the value of social media to a business and tips on how to create a social media following that keeps growing. Stephen outlined the dramatic change Fota Island Resort made to their marketing strategy and activity in the last 5 years, and how a large part of their success comes down to how they manage social media activity.
Getting your messages to cut through and have an impact in a crowded digital landscape is a challenge for many SMEs and Gillian Bergin from EMC outlined how companies can make the right digital impression and the importance of creating the right web presence.
Diarmuid Thoma from the increasingly successful Trustevtackled the topic of technology and fraud logic behind eCommerce, and also discussed Trustev’s approach to fraud intervention.
Finally, Renate Murphy from Cameo Communications was on hand to provide vital information on how to manage online PR campaign and the importance of investing time in the right strategy. Reneta pointed out that digital media, from online news sites to social media, offers immense opportunities for brands and businesses to successfully communicate with their target markets and audiences. She also stressed that, as with any media campaign, it does require management and the commitment of resources to truly optimise the potential and effectively leverage the opportunity for business.
About eircom
eircom is the principal provider of fixed-line and mobile telecommunications services in Ireland with approximately 2 million customers. eircom has the most extensive telecommunications network in Ireland both in terms of capacity and geographic reach. The Group provides a comprehensive range of advanced voice, data and broadband services to the residential, small business, enterprise and government markets. Our mobile division operates under the Meteor and eMobile brands. In addition, eircom Wholesale is the largest wholesale operator in Ireland, providing products and services to more than 28 wholesale customers, across a range of regulated and unregulated markets.
eircom’s shareholders comprise of more than 200 investors who converted their senior debt holdings to equity upon the successful completion of examinership on 11 June 2012.
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