Following a very successful range of ‘Social Shake Up’ events in the SEED region, the second part of the programme ‘Developing an Online Presence’ is now available to book.
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Promoting the event are David Patterson, Down District Council Economic Development Manager, Elaine McAlinden, Banbridge District Council Enterprise Development Officer, and Darryl Conway, Digital Seed Champion.[/caption]
This workshop is critical for all businesses to help them establish a presence online for their business, which is crucial in today’s digital age.
The Developing an Online Presence workshop at Downpatrick Social Enterprise Hub on Wednesday 4 March at 1pm is designed to provide businesses with the practical hands on skills required to operate a business in the digital age. It will include information on • Establishing a social media presence within companies
*Understanding website & search engines & the free tools available
* Setting up e-mail accounts
* Sending e-mail campaigns.
Developing an Online Presence is part of the #optimiSE programme and is part funded by Invest Northern Ireland and the European Regional Development Fund under the Sustainable Competitiveness Programme for Northern Ireland together with the seven SEED Councils of Ards Borough Council, Banbridge District Council, Craigavon Borough Council, Armagh City and District Council and Newry & Mourne District Council and North Down Borough Council.
Mark Bleakney, Invest NI’s Southern Regional Manager, said: “The #optimiSE programme provides a helpful resource to make online marketing a less daunting experience for businesses in the area. I would encourage as many firms in the SEED council area to get involved and take advantage of the digital platform and all the opportunities it presents.”
Ahead of the Shake Up, Daryl Conway, SEED Digital Champion, revealed some of his digital marketing tips: * Think ‘Hyper-visulation’, in other words re-think your business visually. Posts accompanied with images receive 40-120% more engagement than those without. * Image-based social networks are the fastest growing networks i.e. Pinterest, Instagram and Tumblr. * Act swiftly and positively to negative comments online. Showing that you can deal with it promptly, with confidence and with a resolution shows you respect and care about your customers. * 71% of people use mobiles to access social media – this will especially impact on the layout of your website – and make it mobile friendly.
The #optimiSE Programme will is to provide expert mentoring support to 15 businesses in the Downpatrick Council area and 105 businesses across the SEED region covering a number of subjects including social media, branding, eCommerce and web development.
More information can be accessed by contacting: Daryl Conway, SEED Digital Champion, on 028 8772 3489 email : daryl@purpledot.co.uk and on the website:
SEED is a consortium of councils which have come together to support local businesses. The rationale behind a regional approach to economic development in the Southern Region is centred on the premise that a significant amount of overlap, which may exist between locally based economic development initiatives in each of the partner Councils can be avoided. By adopting a collaborative approach to economic development, initiatives will be pursued in a more efficient manner with minimal duplication of effort and wastage of resources.
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