Does your Business have a Digital Team?
80% of Irish adults are now regularly accessing the internet and the number engaging on social media continues to grow.
80% of Irish adults are now regularly accessing the internet and the number engaging on social media continues to grow. Yet this does not translate into digital skills that can be employed in the workplace. Results from a recent ISkills Survey indicate that there is a skills and knowledge gap appearing which could potentially hinder digital progress in the longer term.
It finds that Digital Marketing is suffering from a skills shortage as senior roles are being left unfilled. Employees need to be educated in areas such as online business strategy, or managing sensitive information that could go viral. They need to learn how to grow targeted traffic, build online customer relationships and convert visits into sales. Many of the SMEs I work with typically contract out this work to web design and marketing agencies. Internal teams are commonplace in the world of work. They are set up to focus on business improvement, idea generation and cost savings and so on.
Yet according to the iSurvey, 48% of businesses do not have a digital team. With ecommerce predicted to grow exponentially, Irish businesses could benefit from engaging their employees and listening to their ideas on how to grow their digital footprint – rather than leaving this work entirely to external agencies. The first step? training and education – not just of owner/managers, but also of employees in organisations, so they can actively contribute to the discussion and provide ideas on the work that needs to be done.
This article first appeared on In-tuition.ie