Posted 26 Oct 2011 in Activate | No Comments
Activate Client Fota Island have just launched their new website. There is a new photo gallery to show off the stunning surrounds of this Luxury Cork Hotel and special offers and packages have been brought to the fore.
As one of the foremost luxury hotels Ireland Fota Island is a welcoming, relaxing and utterly stylish retreat set on a private Island. Partake in a round of golf, or soothe your soul in the luxurious spa.
Posted 18 Mar 2011 in Activate , Appointment Reminder Software , Diary Monitor , Launch | No Comments
Appointment Reminder App
Launching in April is Diary Monitor, new appointment reminder software. The website is live, although sign up won’t be active until April. This is something myself and my brother Mick Skelly have been cooking up for the last while together.
This appointment reminder system differs to other in a few ways. First and foremost, we wanted to make it easy to use. It’s online, so there is no download, system integration or specialised IT expertise required. We’ve built in a smart import system that allows you to update missing records during upload. Making an appointment is as easy as clicking and dragging, and the smart bit is that this systems enables responses. Your clients can respond and the system will display whether or not a client is coming.
Appointment reminder systems typically reduce no shows by 30%. This system allows you to reduce your waiting lists further by re-booking vacant slots. If your business could benefit from an appointment reminder system, contact us to talk about your requirements or trialling this solution.
Any comments or feedback is welcome.
Tags: Appointment Reminder Software, Diary Monitor, Online Tools, Saas
Posted 28 Sep 2010 in Activate , Events , Social Media Marketing | 1 Comments
We’re delighted at Activate Marketing that our hotel booking website Hotel Deals Ireland has been shortlisted in 3 categories in the 2010 Irish Web Awards.
Thanks to the organisers, judges and sponsor who make these fun awards possible (and affordable!) for the Web Industry in Ireland. Best of luck to all shortlisted, if 2009 was anything to go by, we can look forward to a fun evening.
Posted 25 Jan 2010 in Activate | No Comments
Those working in Online Marketing will be aware that there are overlaps between Online Marketing and Online PR. Good online marketers can’t have a funnel-minded approach based solely on search engine rankings. It’s critical that you can take all the elements of online marketing and combine them with effective online communications strategies, to enable your clients successfully navigate the murky waters of online information management. The Internet has the potential to bite clients in the ass, you may need to know how to clean up the mess!
Cue Damien Mulley’s Online PR Training Course. I attended the inaugural one last Sat (23rd Jan 2010) in Dublin. Damien not only possess the theoretical knowledge, he’s also a hands-on practitioner and an avid industry-watcher. Addressed were the issues of getting your information out into the online space in terms of channels, approaches and etiquette. Also on the agenda were:
Bad crisis management remains evident on the Internet for a long time. Darragh Doyle, Community Manager of Boards.ie, spoke about how they dealt effectively with the fallout of their very recent hack attack.
There was a broad range of participants, some good questions and discussions. One topic that I wondered about afterwards and perhaps it’s something to touch on briefly in future courses was Truth/Ethics:
Good course, well delivered by a highly regarded practitioner.
Tags: Crisis Management, Mulley, Online PR
Posted 12 Oct 2009 in Activate , Events | 2 Comments
Congrats to Count Me Out on winning the Best Social Media Campaign at the Irish Web Awards on Saturday night! A worthwhile winner and great to see a smaller budget make such a big impact. See the full list of winners here.
The evening itself was greatly enjoyed by myself and my client Joanne Grehan of LookWest.ie. Compliments to Damien Mulley for organising it and Rick O Shea for presenting with such style. The focus was on fun and informality. The giant bags of all things ‘crispy’ (e.g. Wagon Wheels, Taytos, Chickadees, Onion Rings) and the t-shirts thrown by Rick into the audience caused much swapping and passing along. I didn’t see any fights, but I can’t vouch for what went on behind me.
I can also reveal here that there was almost a Kanyeesque moment. Sitting half way down the room, as the shortlist for the Best Practice website was announced, I spied a screen shot of what I thought was my brother’s website. My brother however had texted me a few hours earlier asking if I fancied joining him for few bevvies. So I thought that we had a situation whereby he was shortlisted and didn’t know about it. I wondered what would happen if his website won. Should I go up on stage and accept the award on his behalf? I texted my brother “What is name of your cars website” (yes I know I am a bad sister for not remembering). Before I got an answer CarsIreland.ie was announced as the winner. I scanned the room and initially didn’t see any takers. I steeled myself for walking right up there and making some excuse for my brother. I looked around one last time for good measure and saw the rightful owner of the award making his way to the podium. Stage invasion narrowly averted! My brother says CarsIreland.ie were worthy winners of the award by the way, but he thinks an invasion of the stage would have been a great guerilla marketing campaign for his site.
I got the opportunity to meet loads of people with whom I’ve communicated via Twitter but never met. Sabrina Dent, the offer of a meal, bed and lift from station was geniune, I will get in touch. Joe Scanlon amazingly remembered that I threatened a sulk if he didn’t make good on his promise to link to my blog. It worked well and I’m wondering if sulking as part of my overall link-building strategy has legs to it. It was lovely to meet Damien Mulley and I was very encouraged by his words about the LookWest campaign. I also met @IDAIreland who very deservedly won the Best Government & Council Website category.
At some silly hour of the night I found myself heading home in a taxi with many packets of tayto stuffed inside my handbag. The taxi driver was very appreciative of a late night snack. I myself placed a packet of Chickadees beside my pillow. You wouldn’t want to be overcome by hunger in the middle of the night.
Tags: Irish Web Awards 2009, linkedin
Posted 25 Sep 2009 in Activate , Activate Clients , Social Media Marketing | No Comments
We’re delighted to be shortlisted in the prestigious Irish Web Awards 2009 in the Social Media Campaign Category for our client LookWest.ie.
LookWest.ie is an iniative of the Western Development Commission, a State body which promotes Ireland’s Western region as a great place to live, work and do business.
2009 saw LookWest.ie take the social media bull by the horns and make a concerted effort to connect with their target demographics in engaging and meaningful ways. Social Media can of course be risky, in that opening up a two way dialogue with users means sometimes you may need to accept the criticism and rough and tumble of two-way dialogue. Something that government bodies are traditionally reluctant to do.
I am delighted that the spirited & dynamic approach of the LookWest team has paid off and that we’ve made the shortlist.
The awards take place on 10th October at the Radisson SAS Royal Hotel, Dublin. We’ll be there, keep your fingers crossed for us!
Tags: Irish Web Awards, linkedin, LookWest, Social Media Campaign
Posted 11 Sep 2009 in Activate | No Comments
I found this short funny via @davymac whose blog you can catch here and I imagine it’s a conversation that lot’s of us in the online & creative industries have had.
Posted 17 Aug 2009 in Activate , Google AdWords | No Comments
I ordered my 5 yr old’s schools books online last Thursday. I had lost her book list and, rather than face the shame of asking other (more organised) Mammies for a copy, I went online in the hopes that the 21st Century had not passed our Irish bookstores by.
I came upon O’Mahoney’s book store via a Google Ad. I found the booklist for my daughter’s school/class in less than a minute, and within less than 5 minutes my back to school book shopping was completed. I also opted for the option of having the books covered at a cost of €1 per book.
I had 3 automated emails from O’ Mahoneys – the 1st confirmed my order. The 2nd confirmed it was ready for dispatch and the 3rd informed me that it had been handed over to the delivery company and gave me the url to track my order status.
If only my mum could have done that x 5 when we were growing up! I remember her going to different bookshops, taking a ticket and queueing, buying some books, ordering others that were out of stock or not yet in and returning a week later to take another ticket and repeat the process. My parcel arrived today and I have to say the whole process was painless. I don’t envisage myself buying school books any other way again.
Tags: Books online, linkedin, O Mahoneys, School books online
Posted 13 Aug 2009 in Activate , Advertising , Social Media Marketing | 1 Comments
Nike+ is a fantastic innovation whereby users, using their Apple iPod and a Nike+ sensor, can track and upload their runs to the NikePlus.com website. Runs are compiled into charts and personal bests/goals achieved etc. With over 2 million users worldwide, it’s a great motivational tool. It’s also a fantastic marketing and up-selling tool for Nike and a great example of companies successfully collaborating.
Over the last few weeks Nike has introduced users to the updated NikePlus website. The new version is less Flash heavy and loads faster. The layout is clearer, there is a strong emphasis on community and crucially Nike has made an important step to integrating social media.
Additionally Nike has introduced a new Nike+ running band with a lower price point than an iPod, which opens the Nike+ system up to a much larger potential audience.
Nike captured 48% of the market share for running shoes in 2006 and that rose to 61% in 2008. The Nike+ system is largely credited with that increase. Additionally, lets consider the data that Nike is gathering for free from over 2 million runners worldwide. Nike knows for example that runners in the US run more often in Winter than do runners in Europe, but for shorter distances. Nike has data based on age, location, sex and weight. Nike knows what music runners are buying via the NikePlus linkup to iTunes. Nikes knows the world’s favourite powersongs. All this places Nike in a very favourable position to respond to that data and develop future products and services accordingly.
Running is often a very solitary endeavour, and there is something encouraging as you log-in to see runners from all over the world log their runs. It gives a sense of being part of something bigger – of all us runners, the Nike+ Community, clocking up our kilometers on the Nike counter. For Nike the opportunity to harness this community spirit is golden.
Tags: linkedin, Nike Plus, Online Community, Social Media
Posted 26 May 2009 in Activate , Events , Online Marketing Training | No Comments
I’m delighted to collaborate with Sabrina Dent to bring you this two-part training day entitled Putting the Internet to Work. This full day seminar is designed to help SMEs build a comprehensive and integrated online strategy for their business. The course will cover Blogging, Social Media, SEO, PPC and Google Analytics, full course outline is available here.
The Social Media seminar runs from 10 AM to 1 PM and covers:
The Google Tools seminar runs from 2 PM to 5 PM and covers:
Designed to be hands-on and personal, we have limited each seminar to 8 participants.
Cost: €150 for full day. €80 for either half-day session
When: Friday, 12 June 2009, 10 AM – 5 PM
Where: Lancaster Lodge, Western Road, Cork
Register: Registrations are now open here
Course Outline: Available to download here
As mentioned by Sabrina, we’d like to make this day available to everyone who’d like to attend, so if you need a bursary, drop us a line and we’ll do our very best to accommodate you.
Tags: Cork, linkedin, Online Marketing Training
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