Small Businesses Getting 'Social' On-Line

With half the adult population of Ireland regularly using social media, such as Facebook and Twitter, the small business community are being encouraged to use social media tools to better connect with customers and suppliers.

The latest research from Ipsos-MRBI shows that social media tools are growing in popularity in Ireland, despite the recession: Facebook has around 1.75million active users in Ireland with 49% of adults over the age of 15 having an account; Twitter accounts in Ireland were up from 7% to 11% this year and 8% of adults have a Linked-In account.

"The research is showing that more and more Irish customers are going on-line to research, to buy and to share opinions around brands, companies, products and services," according to Oisin Geoghegan, CEO of Fingal County Enterprise Board.

He added: "There is now a real business case to be made for small businesses to engage more with on-line audiences, by adopting social media tools into their businesses.”

With that in mind, the Fingal County Enterprise Board, the small business support agency for North Dublin, is organising a free workshop for business owners, called: 'Social Media In Your Business,' as part of Fingal Enterprise Week in September.

Noel Davidson, a social media expert, is delivering the morning workshop at the Bracken Court Hotel in Balbriggan on Monday, September 26th, on the opening day of Fingal Enterprise Week.

Mr Geoghegan continued: “The social media workshop is aimed at non-technical business owners, to help more small businesses to effectively adopt these tools."

Fingal Enterprise Week takes place in various locations throughout the county from Monday, September 26th to Friday, September 30th. Organised each year by the Fingal County Enterprise Board, the enterprise initiative is supported by Fingal County Council and Bank of Ireland Business Banking.

(BMcN)