Helpful Healthcare: What Are Clinics Doing Differently To Retain Clients?

Starting a new clinic can be quite challenging, and retaining patients is one of the many challenges new clinics face. Patients are often loyal to doctors they’ve been going to for years and just starting out it can be hard to generate reviews right away. Today there are many things new clinics are doing in order to retain clients, and below is a list you can adopt for yourself to get started.

Implementing a Referral Program

Implement a referral program where new patients who refer friends and family get rewards and discounts. These programs are not only great for recruiting new patients, but can also help the staff build relationships with their existing patients. If patients get a reward for referring other patients, then they will likely continue going to the clinic.

Surveying Patients

Clinics today are asking patients to give their feedback whenever possible. Surveys help give your business an idea of what they can do to improve their service. One of the key things is to offer quality care. If you are thinking about surveying new patients, it’s important to remember that a very short survey can give an indication of the patient’s opinion of their visit. Some clinics have patients complete a five-question survey about their visit before they leave which can be great for feedback on the clinic itself and the kind of care given by staff.

Reminding Patients of Their Appointments

People today are extremely busy and can easily forget about the appointment they have scheduled. It’s common practice now to call patients the day before in order to remind them of their appointment. Emailing and texting is also growing in popularity or you might consider hiring patient engagement solutions like Solutionreach to do the work for you. You can go even further by asking which reminder method they prefer, and what time of day wouldn’t be an interruption for them. Extra courtesies like these can be just the thing to win over new patients.

Convenient Waiting Rooms

Visiting any clinic is a stressful experience for many people. Try your best to make the waiting experience more convenient where you can. For example, you could have a TV and remote set up for patients to use or you could offer bottled water when they first arrive.

Follow-Up with New Patients

It’s always a smart idea for new clinics to follow up with a new patient. For example, a receptionist may call and ask about how their visit went. Patients may also receive an email asking about their visit. Calling and emailing help clinics build relationships and strengthen bonds with loyal customers.

It is not easy starting a new clinic since some struggle to retain patients at first. However, many practices are growing because they have implemented a referral program, follow-up with their patients, and ask them to take a survey. Small touches can be the key to giving new patients what they need and an experience they won’t forget.

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How These 4 Companies Made a Successful Comeback

Many big companies that have filed for Chapter 11 or been the brink of bankruptcy have been able to take incredible steps to organize hugely successful comebacks. The decisions made by company leadership during times of crisis and during restructuring have been crucial to the companies’ comebacks and provide critical lessons for businesses looking to transform challenges into opportunities for growth and improvement.

Apple Inc.

Steve Jobs orchestrated one of the best-known company comebacks for Apple, Inc. He negotiated a deal with Microsoft in 1997 that saved the company from bankruptcy with a $150 million investment and updated the Mac version of Microsoft Office. Jobs studied the organization and implemented a change management strategy that propelled Apple into developing cutting-edge technology for more than a decade.

Instead of banking on the success of the late 1990s, Jobs looked ahead. He connected the iPod, iPhone, and iTunes Store to open new markets that would change the way we interact with our personal technology and media. One of the keys to his success was good project and change management strategy. Change was part of his strategy from the beginning until the end. He adopted change as part of the company’s success. With excellent organizational consulting firms like Ruota Consulting, specializing in helping companies face challenges, companies can develop and pursue successful change management strategies like what Steve Jobs put in place for Apple.

Continental and United Airlines

Continental Airlines suffered two bankruptcies, one in 1983 and the other 1990. Though it continued to operate flights, thanks to the Bankruptcy Protection Law, the airline struggled into the 2000s. In 2002, United Airlines faced bankruptcy as well. The two airlines commenced negotiations of a merger that would pool together their resources and hopefully minimize the damages of bankruptcy. This merger finally took place officially in 2010, and the two became United Continental Holdings. By 2015, United Continental Holdings had become the 345th largest company in the world, according to Forbes Global 2000 ratings.

Marvel Worldwide, Inc.

Marvel entered bankruptcy in 1996, as it became clear that comic books were a dying medium. Though instead of allowing the company to join the ranks of forgotten heroes, the company’s leadership did a serious self-evaluation during this crisis and made critical decisions based on this assessment. Years later these good decisions paid off, with the company carrying a $4 billion price tag when Disney Company acquired it in 2009.

The key to Marvel’s comeback success was looking inward and carefully and accurately evaluating the strengths of the company. Marvel’s core business strengths included a highly loyal customer base, powerful brand, thousands of widely known characters, and even thousands more already-proven successful stories. Its executives keenly identified that profitability in a digital entertainment industry would come from proprietary content and banking on high-paying repeatable formulas for the digital medium. Today, Marvel is a movie giant, and its stories and characters are essential elements of popular culture.

Trump Entertainment Resorts

Donald Trump companies have bankrupted four times. Each bankruptcy though has provided an opportunity for Trump’s companies to restructure and improve their financial position. Trump has also lost the great majority of ownership and been forced to resign. However, this too is not necessarily a bad thing. Sometimes, it’s hard to fix mistakes with the same leadership. Change is not always bad, and with an estimated net worth of $4.1 billion dollars in June 2015, according to Forbes, it’s clear that Trump is not bad off after multiple bankruptcies and losing influence in his company.

Companies should always act responsibly in managing their resources. However, sometimes crises are unavoidable, and can bring on needed change. These moments provide critical opportunities for good leadership to take hold and effect changes that will put the company in a better situation down the road. A company that takes the time to recognize these opportunities, equip itself with support, and develop plans for change can actually come out of a financial challenge like bankruptcy even stronger than before.

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How Will The New Companies Act Affect Businesses In Ireland

The long awaited Consolidated Companies Bill that came into force on the 1st June 2015 has affected huge numbers of businesses throughout Ireland. The new law essentially consolidates the existing Companies Acts of 1963-2013 into a single piece of legislation that requires business owners to make a number of changes over the next 18 months.

It’s the largest reform of company law in over 50 years and is intended to make the process of registering and operating a business in Ireland easier. Some of the key changes include:

 

The creation of two types of Private Limited Company

Any business currently registered as a Private Limited Company (PrC) will have to decide between one of two new options.

Private Company Limited by Shares (LTD)

Expected to be used by corporations, under the new law an LTD company requires:

  • Only one director as long as they’re a member of the EU and over eighteen years of age.
  • If a LTD company has one director it must appoint a separate company secretary that can either be an individual, or a corporate body. If you chose an individual, this cannot be the same person who fulfills the role of director.
  • A new LTD company will have “Limited” after its name.
  • Previously, businesses had to state their business objectives in the Memorandum and Articles of Association document. This will be replaced by a single document (commonly referred to as the “constitution”) and businesses will no longer be required to state their objectives to the government.
  • The omission of the objects clause allows the company to trade in any lawful business or activity.
  • Companies are no longer required to hold an Annual General Meeting.
  • May pass written resolutions by the relevant majority.

 

Designated Activity Company (DAC)

Certain companies are expected to become a DAC including charities, management companies, regulated financial institutions and companies limited by guarantee.

  • You must have at least 2 directors both over the age of eighteen.
  • All DAC companies (except charities) will require a change of title that includes Designated Activity Company at the end of the company name.
  • A DAC must still hold Annual General Meetings.
  • Companies will have a two-page constitution that states the objects for which the company is incorporated.
  • A DAC can claim eligibility for an audit exemption.

 

Codification of Directors

To clearly outline responsibilities, under the new law there are now eight principle duties that all directors must adhere to:

  1. Act in good faith.
  2. Act honestly and responsibly.
  3. Act in accordance with the company’s constitution.
  4. Not to use company property unless approved by the constitution.
  5. Not to fetter discretion unless permitted by the constitution.
  6. To avoid conflicts of interest.
  7. To exercise care skill and diligence.
  8. To have regard for the interests of members as well as employees.

For anyone found to be breaking the new laws, fines will range from €5,000 – €500,000 depending on the severity of the offence.

 

Loans to and from Directors

The rules surrounding loans to and from a director has also been amended. If there is no appropriate documentation surrounding the terms of the loans, the following will be presumed:

  • Loans to a director will be subject to interest and repayable on demand.
  • Loans from a director will not be considered a loan and won’t bear any interest.

 

Foreign Companies

For foreign companies with a presence in Ireland, the new Companies Act has abandoned the concept of “place of business” cancelling the registration numbers of any existing business.

For foreign companies that meet certain requirements you may want to consider registering the business as a branch.

There will be an 18-month transition period from the 1st June 2015 and any company failing to act within this timeframe will automatically be deemed to be a DAC during the transition period, and a LTD after the transition deadline. Failure to convert to the appropriate company type may cause legal issues for the company, shareholders and directors.

This post was written by Open A European Company.com. Helping entrepreneurs, startups and businesses with company incorporation and formation in Ireland and the rest of Europe.

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John Jordan Photography profiled

John Jordan Photography delivers quality, creative, tailored photography for Irish businesses, big and small, in the area of portrait, location and still life. We deliver it with flair, experience and commitment and have been doing so for over 14 years.

Why did you start?

Photography was always a way of life for me. I had been shooting rolls of film since I was 8 or 9. It was a good business to get into (when I did) and I saw it as a way of working with other local businesses in a creative, fulfilling way. Visual story telling is the future.

Why are you unique?

We like to engage with clients at an early stage in projects, and push hard to realise them to their best. We listen carefully and always get a feel for the job before we do anything else. We have the skillbase to work in several different areas, and we always find an angle to make sure our clients stand out.

Visual communication is key

Every job is unique and an opportunity to bring creativity and experience to the table. Photography is a really key part in personal and business branding. Just telling your story. Its unfortunate that people sometimes don’t realise this – particularly for profile pictures on LinkedIn.

In the small amount of time and space that you get to convince your customers, as they initially check your website, visual communication is paramount and effective photography is key in those few seconds.

Transform how people are portrayed

We work to transform the way businesses portray their brand, their personality, their values. We believe that the right photography is a really essential part of telling and selling your story and growing your business.

We strive to show people how compelling photography, as with great design, can add value and credibility to their business, changing the way not just customers think about it, but staff and management also.

Clients

It’s always an honour to be trusted with the responsibility of being part of a company’s visual presence/ identity. It’s one that we take seriously.

We have worked for small Start-Ups and SME’s right through to large multi-nationals like Arup and Aviva, and Danone.

What are your plans?

Continue to build strong relationships with good clients. Continue to play to my strengths and be open to new opportunities.

Contact details

John Jordan Photography

T.00353-1-4450261

M.00353-87-2454871

email: isee@johnjordanphotography.com

web: www.johnjordanphotography.com

twitter: @johnjordansnaps

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The three National ClimateLaunchpad Finalists

One of the members of the Smallbusinesscan team had the pleasure to coach the participants in the climatelaunchpad. This are the winners that are going to Amsterdam. If you can help them in any way, contact ron@smallbusinesscan.com. All help, suggestions, ideas, introductions appreciated.

wasteNOT

is a technology to enable the consumer to efficiently manage their food by reducing waste and saving money. A combination of innovative labelling, ICT and a smart phone app will automatically maintain an inventory of current food by expiry date and send push notifications of food that needs eating with suggested recipes. The founders Eoin White, Tom Oldfield and Nick Holden, have a dream to enable sustainable food systems globally.

 The wasteNOT team

The three team members have a passion for system thinking and sustainability. Tom Oldfield is carrying out a PhD in sustainability, focused on the environmental impact of recovering nutrients from agri-food resources. Tom’s career has transitioned from the British Army to being a Humanitarian professional with Concern Worldwide to completing his PhD.   Eoin White is a sustainability consultant specialising in energy analysis and life cycle assessment. He also works as a part time researcher at UCD investigating environmental decision analysis. Prior experience includes working for Shell Global Solutions. Nick Holden is a professor in UCD, and is a global expert in agricultural and environmental research, specialising in the environmental impact of agri-food sector and soil.

Boltz Secret Seeds

are seedbombs enhanced with biochar. They are a platform to encourage people to garden at home, locally produce fruit & flowers and make a great occasion gift. The biochar enhancement promotes the growth of the seeds thus making them more efficient and environmentally friendly. The founder Elaine Doyle, has a dream to develop products that are environmentally responsible and the first product – secret seeds – will change the world one flower at a time.

 The Boltz team

Elaine is academically, professionally and personally passionate about sustainability, having worked in various organisations such as Engineers without Border, Food Cloud, and Wind Prospect. She has a background in engineering, specialising in materials and environmental education, development and social entrepreneurship. She is the founder of Bolts, an environmental product development company and the first product she has developed is called Secret Seeds.

Agri Grow Lights

is a state-of-the-art solution that, by controlling the light spectrum from LED lights, food producers can increase the nutritious content of crops. The founders – Brian Reilly – has a dream to provide solutions to address global challenges on food production; growing more nutritious crops will assist in productivity, encourage people to grow their own and reduce excessive food miles and carbon emissions. The added bonus is that the LEDs are super energy efficient.

 The Grow Lights team

Brian Reilly is a Horticultural Scientist with qualifications from UCD, and the idea being presented is based on his final year dissertation. Brian has keen interest in R&D to develop the agricultural industry worldwide to ensure security of food supply and nutritional value of food, and has established the company Agri Grow Lights to achieve this goal. Brian has completed a graduate programme with IPM Potato Group, a subsidiary of Donegal Investment Group.

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WasteNOT, Boltz Secret Seeds and Agri Grow Lights are business achievers

Minister Bruton announces finalists to represent Ireland at the European ClimateLaunchpad Final

The “A Green Space to Innovate” event kick started the “Sustainability Gathering 2015” and took place on Monday afternoon, the 22nd of June, 2015 at the CHQ Building, Custom House Quay, Dublin.

The event showcased innovative cleantech entrepreneurs, and hosted the national final of the ClimateLaunchpad competition.

The ClimateLaunchpad programme is managed by Climate-KIC, the EU’s main climate innovation initiative.

The three finalists wasteNOT, Boltz Secret Seeds and Agri Grow Lights were announced by Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Richard Bruton TD, and will represent Ireland at the European ClimateLaunchpad Final

The European Final will take place in Amsterdam on the 4th of September 2015 and Start-ups from 28 countries will compete in it.

Announcing the finalists, Minister Richard Bruton, T.D. remarked:The green economy is an important economic pillar for Ireland’s continued growth and prosperity and is a key sector which we have targeted as part of our Action Plan for Jobs. We are determined to nurture and support more entrepreneurs and start-up businesses in this area. Ireland’s participation in ClimateLaunchpad is a wonderful opportunity to position our cleantech entrepreneurs to take advantage of global opportunities.”

Cleantech entrepreneurs are establishing businesses that respond to global challenges such as climate change and resource (energy, water) scarcity.  By their nature entrepreneurs and start-up companies are demonstrating leadership by taking brave decisions to develop their business and have a global impact.

Frans Nauta, Deputy Director Entrepreneurship Climate-KIC and founder of ClimateLaunchpad: “Across Europe hundreds of good ideas were submitted for ClimateLaunchpad 2015. It’s great to see so many start-ups with outstanding cleantech innovations that combat climate change. This competition trains teams to develop and sell their ideas. We see lots of opportunities for them to achieve global impact with their businesses.”

 

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Entrepreneurship in Local-serving Industries and How to Carry Out SEO

Below are a few tips to guide you in establishing an SEO strategy that will be effective with both your target audience and the search engines.

Importance of SEO to local based practitioners

Studies in the field of law for instance have shown that Google, Bing and other search engines are the second most prevalent way people use to find lawyers. Roughly, 22% of potential clients start their search on their Internet homepages, while a further 11% start somewhere else on the Internet. Added up, it means roughly one third of all potential clients attempt to find attorneys through the Internet.

While the study was specific to lawyers, the figures are not much different for other locally serving professionals. As a dentist, chiropractor or other practitioner, it’s safe to assume that a significant percentage of new clients will come from search engines and other online sources.

Why SEO is difficult for local-based practitioners

The math seems quite simple – invest towards SEO and you will start seeing your business expand and grow. However, it really is not that simple. Like everything else related to business, SEO takes hard work and a lot of smarts in order to succeed.

The main challenge of SEO is the fact that Google as well as other search engines make continuous changes to their rules and algorithms. Therefore, what is applicable today may become inapplicable tomorrow. There’s no knowing when or what the next update will be, since any changes are wholly at the search engines’ discretion.

Given the frequency of algorithm updates, it’s very difficult for a fulltime practitioner to also invest time in learning SEO best practices and carrying them out. Just when you have learnt some technique, chances are that the rules might be changed, taking you back to square one. That’s why professional entrepreneurs need to have professional SEO services on board to handle that aspect of business.

Hiring an SEO Professional

There are several options available in this regard: you choose an SEO freelancer, an agency or hire an in-house SEO professional as part of your staff. In any scenario, there are millions of SEO and growth marketing service providers who can offer the service you need. However, practicing entrepreneurs have little knowledge about SEO and online marketing, which can make hiring the right service provider more challenging for them.

As a credible practitioner, you stand to lose much if you form an association with SEO service providers who are not conversant with or don’t follow the rules. You will either lose a lot of money or destroy your online reputation. Most likely, both will happen. Therefore, you have a big responsibility to find out what kind of SEO services your business will be best served by, and carry out careful assessment of potential service providers until you have the best one.

There’s a lot to learn about SEO, and the limited experience of local-serving practitioners makes them prime candidates for scamming by unscrupulous “experts” with little understanding of the inside workings of SEO. As you conduct your search, bear in mind that anyone can say anything about the skills and knowledge held, but concrete results are what you should look out for.

Google Hummingbird and why you should care

Prior to searching for SEO assistance, you need to have a rough idea of SEO basics. You may not have the time to delve into the intricacies of the trade, but at the least you must know what’s allowable and not, any new major algorithm updates and how they would affect your practice. This will make the foundation of your conversations with potential service providers.

First, it was Google Panda, followed by Google Penguin and in October 2013, Google Hummingbird joined the game, being the most complex algorithm released to date. There are many features of the Hummingbird algorithm, but the most important for local practitioners is the importance placed on local results and semantic search capability.

Below are a few rules to play by to continue winning in the Hummingbird era:

  • Remember that high quality and relevant content is still the best SEO weapon in your arsenal, regardless of any reports to the contrary. Ensure that your articles’ content base on your key practice areas, and make it semantically pleasing to hook readers.
  • Ensure your contact information is clear and consistent. Hummingbird tries to serve results based on searchers’ locales; hence appropriately displaying accurate contact information will enable you to nab searchers in your locality. You should also set up and maintain an active social media profile on major social networks, including Google Plus.

Keywords may have diminished in value, but they are still important to your SEO strategy. Be keen to note how potential service providers treat your keywords in the strategy they intend to implement for your practice. Have a healthy balance between long-tail and short-tail keywords, and don’t overdo any.

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Business Women Can – Health and Wellbeing Belfast Event

Over 30 business women joined Ulster Bank Business Women Can, to participate in the Belfast session of “Your guide to Health and Wellbeing ” at the five star Kingsbridge Private Hospital on Belfast’s Lisburn Road.

Business Women Can Ambassador Briege Bradley, hosted the event, and welcomed the attendees, inviting them to enjoy quality “me time”. Head of Ulster Bank Private Banking, Neil Cooke, outlined the ways in which Ulster Bank supports Health and Wellbeing of all employees. As a Senior Manager, he spoke about the importance of having a healthy, engaged workforce, and how ensuring a quality work life balance, is a major contributor to this. Neil advised the Bank’s commitment to flexible working options, was one of the many ways Ulster Bank support the wellbeing of their employees.

Prevention is better than cure

The first keynote speaker at the event was Dr Lisa Neligan, with over 14 years as a GP. Lisa specialises in women’s health and reminded us all that we need to have that all important health MOT, that prevention is better than cure. She explained those important numbers to us in relation to Blood Pressure, more than 90 over 60 (90/60) and less than 120 over 80 (120/80) healthy/ideal, cholesterol between 5mmol/L or less for healthy adults and 4 mmol/L for high risk, and a healthy BMI between 18.5 – 24.9. Lisa then gave us tips on how simple lifestlyes changes can have a huge effect, not just on our numbers but also on our mental health and well being.

Next, Brenda Shankey taught us how to “Be Fabulous”, . She explained how she learned the hard way the importance of taking time to look after herself first. As a highly sucessful businesswoman and mother, she always put everything and everyone else first, never taking the time to recharge her own batteries, she was prescribded medication. This was when she decided to research alternative sources to combat stress. Now fully qualified, Brenda shared her meditation techniques with a 10 minute demonstration that left us all relaxed and rejuvenated – remember to “breathe and smile”.

Nutrition

Before refreshments were served, Aimee Bremier, founder of Keen Nutrion, gave us food for thought. Again as a busy mum, Aimee wanted to give her children nutrional healthy snack alternative to peanut butter and other high sugar spreads, without compromising on taste. This resulted in the manufacture of her award winning nut butter range. We had a demo from Aimee on how to make a healthy smoothie using the nut butter, spinach and youghurt (to name a few ingredients) whisked up to serve in less than 5 minutes and tasted delicous. To get us in the mood for our canapes, she followed this with the rustle of a satay dip, (with a bit of fire in the taste) we all agreed a deserved “Great Taste Award” winner.

Following this we had the option of the fantastic tour of the impressive Kingsbridge Private Hospital, led by General Manager, Sarah Marks and a free numbers health check, from the nurse Aisling. No attention to detail is left undiscovered in this hospital, right down to menu choice from Deanes Resturant Belfast, for most of us who had a clean bill of health , we enjoyed the rest of the evening networking and finishing our refreshments.

Aside from the great speakers and plenty of networking, the event reminded us of the importance of our health and wellbeing. Everyone agreed this was quality “me time” well spent.

Business Women Can - Health and Wellbeing Belfast Event

Business Women Can – Health and Wellbeing Belfast Event

 

Business Women Can - Health and Wellbeing Belfast Event

Business Women Can – Health and Wellbeing Belfast Event

 

Business Women Can - Health and Wellbeing Belfast Event

Business Women Can – Health and Wellbeing Belfast Event

 

Business Women Can - Health and Wellbeing Belfast Event

Business Women Can – Health and Wellbeing Belfast Event

 

Business Women Can - Health and Wellbeing Belfast Event

Business Women Can – Health and Wellbeing Belfast Event

 

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Is the Recruitment Sector Underutilising Digital as a Marketing Channel?

Consumer trends within the recruitment sector shows that 43% of job seekers are now searching via mobile devices heavily suggesting a strong user journey is increasingly important for agencies. This not only relates to creating a responsive website but also the execution of online navigation, both of which are driving factors in building a clear, stable platform for brand engagement.

In fact, recruiters who invest in mobile platforms will witness great improvements to their business, there is evidence of this with some quoting a 14% improvement in time to hire, 19% increase in the quality of hire, and a 10% uplift in the quality of referrals according to industry research.

Encendo undertook a study to drill down further into the attitudes towards digital expenditure and investment among recruitment agencies in Ireland to determine whether the marketing services being offered align with consumer demand.

Marketing budgets

Generally speaking, 10-20% of marketing budgets are allocated to the digital marketing channel, although the study uncovered that 11% of respondents did not know what their financial investment in digital marketing was.

When considering that the expended amount is a 20% or less spend on marketing overall against revenue, and digital spend takes up a 10-20% portion of that, then overall digital can be said to equate to 1-2% against revenue, which can be argues to be a low investment for such a highly effective measurable and actionable marketing channel.

When taking a look at monthly digital marketing spend across the spectrum the survey found that 27% of respondents claim they spend less than €500 against to 35% saying they spend more than €1,000.

Data also highlighted that a significant 41% could knowingly confirm how much of their revenue could be attributed to digital marketing.

It may seem obvious to hear that that 96% of respondents are expecting to increase or stabilise their digital marketing budgets over the course of the next twelve months, an indicator of buoyancy in the industry and a desire to evolve with more efficient marketing behaviour.

Lead generation

Further prompting explored lead generation as one of the biggest areas of marketing focus for recruitment organisations within Ireland, with a large proportion of participants in the survey considering both clients and candidates as key target audiences (81%).

Not surprisingly, all organisations have a website, however there is an inconsistency between the perception of what it means to own a truly responsive website. Our results came back with 77% of webmasters believing that their website is responsive although Encendo’s manual research found as few as 64% of websites to not have a truly responsive website.

Further investigation into the functionality of said websites raised another red flag – regardless of their responsive nature, Encendo found that over half (59%) of them had poor design features, with less than satisfactory user journeys and limited use of social to increase reach and amplify the message. To this end, only 33% of sites dame the decision to display clear Social Media Share buttons.

From the research undertaken we can deduce that the findings are in tandem with the initial recruitment agency marketing survey. It appears the recruitment industry is still reliant on traditional methods, such as word of mouth and referrals as the top way of landing new clients and candidates.

Poor return on investment

In stark contrast, digital marketing is perceived as a bigger obstacle for recruiters for a number of reasons, and many having witnessed their digital marketing campaigns as producing poor return on investment. However, as industry experts on the recruitment sector Encendo can state with confidence that digital can unearth positive results both short and long-term as it has ability to measure bang-for-buck and have a transparent vision of how you are activity is influencing your business.

Webmasters should bear in mind that the application of digital monitoring is very much dependent on clear attribution and tracking. It also stands or falls on the quality of landing pages, user navigation throughout the website and such likes to optimise conversion opportunities during the onsite experience. The key take-home message here is no matter how strong the strategies and investments might be in digital marketing activity, your returns will always come up short if your conversion funnels do not cater for today’s users.

Francis Mac Aonghus

Head of Digital for Encendo, a leading online marketing agency based in Ireland. Francis’ area of expertise lies in formulating marketing strategy and activities including search engine optimisation, campaign performance, pay per performance advertising, email marketing and other digital activities and online marketing campaigns.

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Ulster Bank Fraud Seminar Reaches Omagh

Continuing with the Ahead for Business Programme and trying to help businesses get ahead in Tyrone, Ulster Bank held their latest Fraud Awareness Seminar in Silver Birch Hotel, Omagh. The objective of the seminar is to help businesses keep themselves safe, by understanding the threats from fraud and what measures they can take to counteract these risks.

Ulster Bank Fraud Seminar

Shauna Burns, Head of Mid Ulster & Fermanagh Business centre welcomed 50 local business people to the business suite of the hotel and introduced the first speaker Margaret Hunter, RBS Security & Resilience. Margaret gave an overview of trends that the bank are experiencing and discussed hints and tips on cheque and invoice fraud. Michelle Garrigan, Head of On line Operations was the second speaker and gave the audience a great feel for the sophistication of fraudsters and what the banks golden security rules are regarding bankline. With some surprising statistics for the audience:

  • 1m people are affected daily by cybercrime
  • 170,000 identities stolen each year
  • Online fraud costs the UK economy £27bn each year

Fight Against Fraud

After a series of questions and answers, Shauna Burns closed the seminar and recommended that everyone shared the information of the day to business colleagues, family and friend to help “the fight against fraud”.

The local business team who were also in attendance received very positive feedback from the audience who appreciated the event being held in Omagh;

  • “great speakers, good content and good length”
  • “Definitely something I need to consider more in my own business”
  • “Can we arrange another for all local solicitors?”
  • “excellent event, very informative & worthwhile”

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