On October 15, the Digital DNA Conference kicked off at the Titanic Centre in Belfast, bringing businesses together to hear about the latest digital developments and how they can help us. After a quick detour in the morning to my Entrepreneurial Spark interview (read more of that here!), Claire Savage Editorial joined the assembled crowd, nipping in quite handily at coffee break time.
A little box of freebies was waiting at our tables.
I was joined by Einna Harrison-Mellon of Shebelle Hair (pictured), who had also pitched for her E-Spark place that morning, along with Louise Brogan of SocialBee NI and a few others (and if I could remember their names, I’d include them here!).
The Titanic Centre was buzzing as we joined the assembled crowd and found spaces right up at the front. Not where I’d normally choose to sit I’ll admit, being more the kind who likes to observe from the back… but it turned out to be the best seat in the house – close to the lunchtime service stations and with an uninterrupted view of the speakers!
The theme of the day was clear from the beginning – the buzz word in the digital world is currently ‘mobile’. Yes my friends – it’s all about harnessing the power of mobile technology any way you can for your business. From having a mobile-responsive website (Google now prioritises these in the page rankings), to targeting potential customers with specially designed mobile ads and offers, it’s definitely all about networking and selling on the go more than ever before.
Kevin McElroy of Publishd, which launched at the event, told us all about how his business aimed to help clients convert their digital audiences into customers. For, as we all know, you might have thousands of Facebook or Twitter followers, but that doesn’t mean they’re all buying your products or services.
Eleanor McEvoy, of Budget Energy.
There were lots of speakers on the day, so I’ll pick out the bits and pieces that stuck with me afterwards. Eleanor McEvoy, of Budget Energy, was suitably inspiring when she took to the stage, and had a few key messages to depart:
1. Never let fear stand in your way if you want to start a business.
2. Do what you do best and outsource the rest.
She also pointed out to the tech community that there was a real need for them to be better at explaining what they do and how it can benefit businesses. As a copywriter, I totally agreed with this remark, as businesses can so often become bogged down in jargon which just doesn’t make sense to their target audience, who often aren’t technical wizards like them. Their content should be simple and straight to the point.
The SEO and PPC presentation.
The conference also included a morning and afternoon workshop, with my first workshop definitely the one I took most from. Well, it was all about SEO and PPC after all! Now, I’m not a PPC (Pay Per Click) kinda gal, so I was interested to hear more about this, but it was Barry Adams of Polemic Digital who I really connected with. As he said, you’ve got to earn your audience, and curated content is the way to do it.
He told us his three pillars of SEO:
1. Technology: You need a good website with the right content on it.
Barry Adams of Polemic Digital.
2. Relevance: Your content should be curated, that is, be useful to your audience and tailored to meet their needs. This includes creating meta data, good body content, titles, blogs and more.
3. Author: This relates to the quality of links back to your site. Again, you have to earn these, and it can come from blogging on other business sites, or from referrals on other sites, but they must be earned and they must be of value.
Oh, and one other thing that I know I’ve mentioned a time or two myself on this blog…
You must have a content strategy!
We also got buns!
Essentially speaking, you really must have the right content on your site to suit the needs of your customers. Are they looking for information, shopping around or are they ready to buy? You must think ahead and have all the relevant content there, so that they’ll always find exactly what they’re looking for.
Andrew Weld-Moore from Facebook.
After lunch, we also heard from Andrew Weld-Moor of Facebook, who underlined the importance of engaging the ‘connected consumer’. Embracing your customers and potential customers online through social media and through mobile technology is, he said, ‘the future of business networking,’ so ignore it at your peril!
This is but a snippet of everything that went on at last week’s Digital DNA event, but I’ve shared some of my highlights here, and the bits of information that really stayed with me. When it comes to creating written content, which is what Claire Savage Editorial does, it needs to be well thought-through, clear, concise and tailored to suit your audience. And, if you need any help with that, then just let me know!