DIGITAL MARKETING
Council focuses on Digital
With 205,000 residents and almost 8,000 businesses , Armagh City , Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council boasts a total workforce of 123,000 and is home to some of Northern Ireland ’ s largest businesses including Almac , Moy Park , Tayto , Thompson Aero Seating and Fane Valley .
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entrally and ideally located , the Council ’ s number one priority is to proactively build the economic prosperity of the area by supporting business development , business growth and entrepreneurship . Two years on the new borough is fast becoming the leading economic force in Northern Ireland .
A hub for the Life Sciences and Advanced Manufacturing sectors , it is also Northern Ireland ’ s official , awardwinning Food Heartland , proudly hosting hundreds of organisations excelling in food production , sales and in tourism and hospitalityrelated fields .
Digital
Not content with this success Council is also focusing on the digital sector . There are 130 digital tech businesses located in the Borough , or eight per cent of digital tech businesses in Northern Ireland , making it one of the largest digital tech sector bases outside of Nortehrn Ireland ’ s two main cities .
A recent scoping study commissioned by Armagh City , Banbridge and Craigavon
46 www . businessfirstonline . co . uk
Borough Council showed that there is a significant potential for this vibrant Digital Tech Sector to expand across the Borough . The sector has the potential to create new high value enterprises , grow existing businesses and promote high quality jobs , making a valuable contribution to the Borough and wider Northern Ireland economy .
Recognising “ Digital ” opportunities , Council is adopting a strategic role in supporting and nurturing this exciting potential for growth .
It has introduced a suite of DigiTech programmes aimed at both traditional and digitaltech businesses and the emerging workforce . These programmes are providing opportunities for digital startups , digital innovators , existing digitech businesses , and traditional nondigital businesses .
Ninety Businesses Benefit through Connect & # optimise
Over 90 businesses across the Borough have benefited from tailored digital marketing and social media support over the past 15 months through both the Connect and # optimise programmes .
The two different programmes have helped businesses take advantage of the online opportunities available through strategic use of online advertising , web development , search engine optimisation , video marketing and social media .
Participating businesses report a tangible increase in sales with some companies starting to export to the USA and Asia for the first time based on Facebook Advertising campaigns .
Lisa King of King ’ s Baby Shop clarifies , “ The optimise programme really helped to develop a digital marketing strategy to improve our online sales . Over the past year we have seen our sales increase and have now employed a full time digital marketing officer as a direct result ."
Claire Meland of Rolltack also comments , “ The optimise programme helped us develop our Facebook advertising skills and strategy . Through targeting and retargeting different audiences we have managed to increase our sales and have sold to America and Australia