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“Irish businesses must mobilise for smartphone revolution…”

“With at least three-quarters of a million smartphone owners in Ireland, it’s time for mobile to become a core component of businesses’ marketing strategies”…

AMAS, State of the Net…

Extracts from Marketing Times & tigglobal

1. Mobile Screen Size

The size of a smartphone screen is nowhere near the same as a tablet, laptop, or desktop screen. If you direct mobile users to your main website, they are going to have to do a whole bunch of scrolling and zooming to make the site readable.

Sites essentially should be a miniature version of your main website and designed with the mobile user in mind. Navigation needs to be easy and something that can be done with the touch of a finger. By having a mobile friendly website, consumers can find the information they are searching for faster and easier, given the minimal screen size…

2. Faster Load Time

Let’s be honest, consumers are all a little impatient. We all want to see things load fast. A mobile compatible site is going to load light-years before the desktop version. Think of the mobile version of your site as the slimmer version of your main website, it’s going to load much faster since you’ve gotten rid of the unnecessary items hogging up the space. Speed matters on a mobile site, just as much as it matters on a desktop site…

3. Mobile Search is Different

If you didn’t already know, mobile search is a whole different ballgame. Mobile sites get indexed separately from non-mobile compatible sites. Another point, if you don’t have the mobile compatible site, you’re not coming up in the search results and potential customers aren’t finding you through search. However, if you’re one of the ones who already have a mobile site, you’re more likely to be found by local mobile users!…

4. Mobile Sites Drive Traffic to Location

The whole point of a website is to drive traffic to your location and consumers do research on the go, utilizing their smartphones to search for information. More relevant obviously for retail organisations and restaurants etc. but think about ideas to attract more potential members to your credit union e.g. new game launches, book launches, open days, wine receptions etc. Get people in and then upsell the benefits of membership at your credit union! They’ve got to be able to see you online first…

5. Provide a Place for eCommerce Transactions

If your credit union is not involved in online and mobile transactions, then there’s no other excuse – you are simply out of date.  The technology is available to do all of this efficiently and securely. Perhaps your present supplier will tell you it’s not available or you don’t need it – don’t settle for this – look around at other businesses and see the services they provide. Think outside the box and your members will reward you with loyalty and social media shares and referrals…

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Have you seen your recent web site Analytics?? Ask your current supplier to explain them to you… why your visitor numbers are decreasing and why your bounce rate is so high!

Even better, talk to the Award Winning Team at CU Internet about how we can improve your business with modern Smart Phone compatible web sites, Advanced Social Media integrated web sites, Google Apps and more!

Google announces new €75m investment in energy-efficient, air-cooled data centre in Dublin

New project to provide more than 200 jobs for local and national construction firms, and up to 30 full-time and contractor jobs once operational. (Source IDA)

Barry O Leary, CEO, IDA Ireland, on Ireland’s place on the Worlds Digital Map

Recent article posted on Marketing.ie

Irish online users spend about 8 hours a week or a whole working day on social media, with 18 – 24s spending up to 11 hours. The last thing social media users do at night and first thing each morning is to check emails, texts or social sites, a Behaviour & Attitudes survey of 1,470 adults for Edward Dillon’s Bacardi white rum indicates.

Despite the demand for smartphones – 38 per cent of the online population have one – Irish people still seek face-to-face contact as 76 per cent say that meaningful relationships only work in person. When asked how they prefer to interact with others, 88 per cent of people prefer face-to-face communication with family and 82 per cent with close friends.

When it comes to organising get-togethers with friends and family, 90 per cent of 18-24 year olds use social media. Social media may be helping 69 per cent of Irish people using Facebook and Twitter keep up-to-date with the social scene, but the downside is that social media is said to offer little in terms of meaningful personal interaction.

Time to get connected, visit CU Internet and find out more…

If you ever needed a better reason to consider implementing a Social Media presence for your business, check out a recent article on Digital Times which show that over 2 million Irish people (44% of population) are now actively using the social media web site.  CU Internet is offering unrivalled discounts to any business looking to move into Social Media. Talk to us today…

To the Apple Board of Directors and the Apple Community:

I have always said if there ever came a day when I could no longer meet my duties and expectations as Apple’s CEO, I would be the first to let you know. Unfortunately, that day has come.

I hereby resign as CEO of Apple. I would like to serve, if the Board sees fit, as Chairman of the Board, director and Apple employee.

As far as my successor goes, I strongly recommend that we execute our succession plan and name Tim Cook as CEO of Apple.

I believe Apple’s brightest and most innovative days are ahead of it. And I look forward to watching and contributing to its success in a new role.

I have made some of the best friends of my life at Apple, and I thank you all for the many years of being able to work alongside you.

Steve

Irish entrepreneurs can create their own marketing materials using a new service launched by Snap and Quark called MyDesignbySnap.ie, which has gone live today.

Built on the Quark Promote platform, MyDesignbySnap.ie is an online design and print marketing service that allows customers to choose from thousands of templates for business cards, brochures, postcards, posters, flyers and so on.

Users can select colour themes, add logos and images, add business information, and send their customised designs to one of 22 local Snap centres for printing. The design tool is free to use and a test print is included in the service. Customers are charged only when they place their print orders.

“This solution will give businesses the competitive edge, at an affordable price. With MyDesignbySnap.ie they can move to the next level in terms of marketing themselves,” said John Eager, CEO of the Snap Group.

Professional designers have created the templates and the finished product may be collected at the local Snap centre or shipped to customers directly. All the print will be produced in Ireland.

Article courtesy of Bizstartup.ie

Recent article on MarketingTimes suggests millions are joining the new social  network sharing web site ‘Google+’

It’s only been two weeks since the launch of Google+ , but already there are “millions” of users, according to chairman Eric Schmidt. Beyond that ballpark figure, Google has not disclosed any user or usage numbers.

But Ancestry.com founder Paul Allen has been publishing his own estimates of the growth of Google+ (on Google+ itself). His latest estimate is that Google+ will surpass 10 million users today, only two weeks after its launch. That estimate is up from 4.5 million on July 9 and 1.7 million on July 4. I’ve charted the growth above, with Allen’s numbers.

If these numbers are anywhere near accurate, Google+ could very well become the fastest growing product in the history of the Web. Then again, Google is simply turning on the product for the hundreds of millions of users it already has once they get an invite and sign up.

Read more at TechCrunch

Google believes that in three years or so desktops will give way to mobile as the primary screen from which most people will consume information and entertainment. That’s according to Google Europe boss John Herlihy who said that smart phones enhance Google’s mission to make information universal. Read more…

We have noticed more and more Credit Unions and other Businesses that have incorrectly setup a Facebook Profile instead of a Facebook Business Page. This is usually simply because they either don’t know how to setup a FB page or they had setup a FB profile years ago and didn’t realise that things have changed.

Difference between a Facebook Page and Facebook Profile

A Facebook Profile is a personal profile on Facebook. All Facebook Profiles should be an actual person and not a business or organisation. A few years back Facebook realised that business and organisations were setting up Profiles to promote themselves. This caused a lot of confusion for Users as it didn’t properly separate/distinguish a Personal Account and a Business Account. Facebook solved this problem by introducing Facebook Pages. These Pages were designed to allow  Businesses/Organisations to use Facebook to promote themselves while still allowing users to participate in these promotions.

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