At the launch of the survey results L to R: Inis Communications intern, Jennifer Kenny, an NWRC business student, Inis Communications director, Trish Hegarty, Digital Derry Champion, Mark Nagurski, Chamber CEO Sinead McLaughlin, Account Executive at Inis Communications, Donna McDadeOver three quarters of Derry businesses are now using Social Media like Facebook and Twitter, but most want help with what they should be saying online. That’s according to research by local PR specialists, Inis Communications.
The research was conducted in collaboration with Londonderry Chamber of Commerce and Digital Derry and is based on a sample survey of businesses in the city. Analysis of the results was conducted by Inis Communications intern, Jennifer Kenny, an NWRC business studies student.
“The results are promising and it’s evident that businesses are embracing digital media,” says Inis Communications director, Trish Hegarty.
“However, we found that local businesses are updating their social media more frequently than their website, whereas they could be doing both at the same time.” The Survey results show that over 70% of those using Social media update weekly – with 40% of them updating every working day. In contrast, only 43% update their website more than once a week
“Almost 45% find it hard to create fresh content and feel they don’t have the skills they need,” says Trish, “and nearly 85% say they would benefit from training or external support in this field.”
“It is excellent to see businesses becoming more involved with the growing world of digital media, but this survey also highlights the difficulties they face with selling themselves online” states Derry Digital Champion, Mark Nagurski.
Chamber chief executive Sinead McLaughlin welcomed the survey’s findings about online sales. “Over 42% of the respondents are now selling online, which is very encouraging and the Chamber are working with our members to help support and advise them on how to grow their online presence. Online retail sales are growing year on year and we want to ensure that our members are equipped to compete in this growing market place.”
Looking ahead, most business say they would benefit from staff training and support to help them both with website and social media content, says Trish Hegarty of Inis Communications. “To meet this demand we offer Corporate Website and Social Media Packages and Digital Content Training, and digital services now make up over 50% of our business. For further information on the survey, or to get a copy of the results, please email trish@iniscommunications.com or call +353 86 1740057.