State of the Net Issue 15 available

November 30, 2009 · Posted in State of the Net · Comment 

State of the Net 15State of the Net Issue 15 is now available to download from the Resources Section of IIA.ie. This publication, produced in association with IIA Member Company Amas,  and indeed all those from 2009 provide invaluable business intelligence for decision makers in Irish business today. The Winter 2009 issue covers:

  • An overview of the results of the Amas/ Marketing Institute of Ireland 2009 Irish Online Marketing Sentiment Survey,
  • Top 10 iPhone Apps for Ireland (I have 2 of them and I’m embarrassed to admit that one of them is Sonic the Hedgehog!)
  •  Broadband growth figures for all platforms and mobile specifically from ComReg
  • An overview of research from the EU commission on cross border product abvailability
  • Year end details on top news searches from Google
  • Usage of price comparison sites by product/ service from Amárach Research for the National Consumer Agency
  • A cost/ benefit analysis of Social Media usage by Irish SMEs.

If your company has produced research that you feel might be suitable for publication in the next or other upcoming issues of State of the Net, please feel free to get in touch with me, Roseanne, to discuss.

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Review: Driving Self-Service Online

November 23, 2009 · Posted in Guest Blogger, events · Comment 

A big thanks to Laura Kelly from IIA Member Company AXA who submitted the following review of our recent event “Driving Self-Service Online”. A special thanks for her patience as I grappled with the recent blog issues while her concise review languished in my inbox. Her review shows that this event did not stop at examining online customer service. Of course this is exactly how any customer service should be: multi-faceted. I also attended an event similar to this by IIA Member Company iQContent at their Bootcamp last summer and agree with all her points. (But I would, of course, so it’s nice to get an unbiased opinion!)

selfserviceFBAs a firm believer in customer choice in servicing, I went along to the “Driving Self Service Online” seminar to understand how I could better improve AXA’s current online self service functionality.

Colin Bentley of iQContent proved to be a worthy guide on the journey through the topic, warning us all from the outset that it’s not as easy as we like to think!

Starting with the link between self service and customer experience, Colin gave us some great examples of online customer experiences that worked, and more importantly and often remembered those that don’t (all companies shall remain nameless here!)

Key Steps in the Online Self Service Journey

  1. Convince your CEO that online self service is right for you,
  2. Really listen to what your customers have to say, and understand the areas in which they seek help
  3.  Be clever about the medium you use to answer your customers questions. Examples include forums, avatars (e.g. Anna for Ikea) and Twitter
  4.  Understand more about the type of tasks you want to provide online, and how appropriate it is for the user and you. Tasks can range from useful, to usable, to lovable where companies really go the extra mile.

Finally Colin finished up a very informative half day by discussing the promotion of online self service, including educating staff and customers, as well as less subtle strategies such as financial incentives for transacting online.

A very informative and well presented seminar – my thanks to Colin Bentley from IQ Content and Irene from IIA.

- Laura Kelly, AXA.ie

(And the appropriateness of a CAR insurer writing a review of DRIVING Self-Service Online has just dawned on me. Ever the quick one on the uptake, Roseanne!)

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I Survived the Digital Marketing Institute’s Online Marketing Course

June 18, 2009 · Posted in Digital Marketing Institute · 2 Comments 

This is a guest blog post contributed by Rita Tobin of IIA Member Company t2 who are based in Carlow. Rita recently completed the Online Marketing Course with the Digital Marketing Institute. IIA members were offered a great discount on this course when it launched so I’m very happy to hear that Rita had, overall, a good experience. Over to Rita.

t2I recently concluded the 12 week Online Marketing Course being run by the newly formed Digital Marketing Institute. In their own words

“This Online Marketing Training course, created and delivered by the Digital Marketing Institute, is the only course of it’s kind that has been created FOR the digital marketing community BY the digital marketing community.”

Generally whenever people use the words FOR and BY to describe something I immediately think of every shoddy short film I’ve ever seen that has been made BY young people FOR young people. However on this occasion they are spot on. It has been created by the digital marketing community for the digital marketing community.

The course is taught by industry professionals, many of whom are minor celebs, in the world of SEO and online marketing, in Ireland. The students on the course were predominantly from marketing backgrounds but work for a diverse range of companies and organisations from

I sat this course for three reasons

  1. Everything I had learned to date re SEO and online marketing was self taught and I wanted to know that what I had learned was accurate and was information I could trust.
  2. Here at t2 we wanted to improve the services we offer to our clients.
  3. I wanted to create a role for myself within t2 as an online marketer.

Upon completion I was very happy with myself. I learned loads. Admittedly there were parts of the course that were not particularly relevant to me e.g. affiliate marketing and display advertising but I do still feel it is important to understand how they work.

Did I mention I loved it?

I loved it.

It was a great opportunity to pick the brains of experts like Martin Murray and Anthony Quigley. I found the modules relating to SEO, adwords, analytics, interactive design and email marketing hugely informative and relevant. I have incorporated many facets from these modules into our daily business practices. Shenda Loughnane also gave a very practical lecture on display advertising. Unfortunately I missed Krishna De’s lectures on social media marketing but by all accounts it went very well.

There were a couple of modules along the way that did feel a bit like a sales pitch but I guess that is only to be expected due to the fact that it is being presented BY industry professionals FOR a group of people that want to promote their business or organisation online.

In general all the lecturers were great. The only major quibble I had was one announced one night that he doesn’t bother with his own online presence at all as the quality of sales leads that come in from his own website are poor. I felt in that throwaway statement he had, in essence, undermined the whole point of the course!

There was a bit of a kerfuffle over the assessment. Initially it was meant to be a presentation and a written assessment, then we were given a choice over whether we wanted to do the presentation or not and finally we were told there would be no presentation. It was a bit on the messy side but it was the first time the course had been rolled out and I am a forgiving soul.

All in all I highly recommend it and wish all the guys at the DMI the best of luck with rolling out the course in Cork and Belfast. See the Digital Marketing Institute for more details.

Rita Tobin

t2

Rita really took a lot of her learnings on board and she created for t2′s blog the following video with Anthony Quigley which explains why Search Engine Optimisation and blogging are best buddies.

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Bloggers do Congress

May 26, 2009 · Posted in Congress 2009 · Comment 

The ProgrammeMany of the delegates at IIA Congress 2009 shared their impressions, notes and photos of the Congress and now I’d like to share them with you! Please leave a comment if I have missed your review, photos or other media about the event and I would be delighted to add it.

Fred Herrera shared his notes which give an impression of the presentations in broad brush strokes and include some of his own reactions.

Krishna De shares some really evocative photos of both the Congress and the Net Visionary Awards - have a gander you may see yourself there! Speaking of which you might like to check out the “official” IIA shots on Pix.ie

Keith Shirley gives a very measured review of the two days and his feedback is appreciated. He was involved in our breakout sessions as a members of the Social Media Working Group and he also stepped up as a Social Media mentor on Day 2 so big thanks to him!

Conor Lynch includes a Qik interview with a participant of the Social Media Breakout Session in his review

Eoin Kennedy’s review includes some of the content from the Social Media Breakout Session which should help you with your Twitter strategy for starters.

Gita of Agile Technologies includes reviews of the 3 breakout sessions she attended and are well worth a look.

Fred from Channelship managed to interview two of the plenary speakers from the Congress and I’m including the vids below for you. You can hear the complete speeches from Colm Lyon, Realex Payments, Trey Harvin, dotMobi, Ronan Harris, Google and Colm Long, Facebook  as MP3s on the IIA site.

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Review: Blogging, microblogging and podcasting with Krishna De 18th September 2008

October 7, 2008 · Posted in Guest Blogger, events · 3 Comments 

Click here to visit the IDI WebsiteA little tardy posting this (and more about the reasons for that later!) but very appropriately I am posting a review by Derek McGarry, a board member of the Institute of Designers in Ireland and a lecturer in the National College of Art and Design who attended the recent IIA event on Blogging, microblogging and podcasting. Appropriate because Krishna De, who presented that event, is presenting today at our event in Limerick “Word of Mouse Marketing: Building Brand and Attracting More Profits To Your Business”. (Also appropriate because the IDI are holding their coveted Design Awards tomorrow night.)

On Thursday 18th September I attended my first workshop on blogging, microblogging and podcasting run by Krishna De for the Irish Internet Association.  It was my intention to fast track my way into an information world that I knew very little about but was eager to explore.

Krishna De was an excellent speaker who illustrated her expertise on the subject of blogs, microblogs and podcasts in an informal manner that helped everyone relax and enjoy the half day workshop.  Having the class participate from the word go is always a smart way to ensure that you get everyone involved.  More than that, it also ensures that there was little chance of going home unhappy that the class was meaningless because you can help direct the content.  Our audience consisted of a good mix of complete novices, intermediates, and professionals.  Everyone approached the workshop with a clear objective to use blogs, microblogs and podcasts as an essential part of their lives.  Most had a good grasp of how it might help them build their business or that of the company in which they worked.

Krishna De provided lots of real examples or case studies that showed how others were using this technology to share information within a variety of social and business networks.  Although I would not like to be tested on the full extent of my workshop comprehension, the great outcome for me was to leave the workshop with a conceptual toolbox and a new confidence to give it a go.  I quickly purchased the software and equipment I needed to start a series of design podcasts.  Within days I had recorded the first part of my new podcast series.  With some more work I will soon be ready to launch myself as an official podcaster.  From this first endeavour, I plan to gradually develop my skills through practice using tips and advice provided in the class.  My first efforts may well prove real amateur hour but I don’t mind because I know that this time next year I’ll be much better. 

While the workshop was just what I wanted, I was initially put off by the high cost of the training.  In my opinion, I think the classes could be less expensive through clever marketing and sponsorship.  The Irish Internet Association (IIA) should be able to attract such help through their impressive corporate connections.  Certainly, if the workshops became more affordable I would definitely recommend them to all my students, colleagues and friends. 

Finally, Krishna De orchestrated a really great workshop.  Well done IIA!

Derek Mc Garry
Deputy to Head of Design Faculty
National College of Art and Design, Dublin

 A big thank you to Derek for taking the time to write this review. A quick note in relation to Derek’s comment about cost is that the cost of  IIA events or membership hasn’t been increased for three years. If that isn’t inflation busting, I don’t know what is! Krishna also writes on her blog about assessing the value of training. Another of our members Clickstream (who recently revamped their own website) also attended this event and wrote about it on their Blog.

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