Today marks the countdown to the district’s free Digital Marketing Conference hosted by the Stray Ferret and sponsored by York & North Yorkshire Growth Hub and Yorkshire law firm Ison Harrison.

The event brings together industry leaders who will deliver insights, strategies and best practices for delegates looking to grow their business through digital channels.

Not sure if this event is for you – here’s a snapshot of what’s being covered during the day.

Emma Harris of the Stray Ferret will open the conference with why it is so important to embrace digital marketing in your promotional activities as well as signpost areas to focus on throughout the day.

Head of marketing at Next Chapter, Daniel Swepson will take you through the key elements to developing a strategy to meet your business goals. Spending time working out what you want to achieve helps to save you money and succeed in the long run.

Once you’ve established what you want to achieve, Charlie Hartley, Founder of Impressions is covering how brand and digital innovation drives growth. He will give you tips on how you can stand out in a crowded digital market, ensuring you embrace the latest technology as well as provide you with success stories to inspire.

Ben Foster, CEO of SEO Works will be talking SEO strategy, how to identify keywords and how you measure success.

Social media is a vital part of any business strategy, Rachel Moore will run through platform demographics to help you identify which platforms you should be engaging with, how the algorithms work and how to create a simple but realistic content plan. Rachel will also cover when to use paid content.

Lauren Cooper and Georgie Harmer from Intandem Communications will guide you through creating content that works including video. They’ll share top tips on how to reversion content to save you time but still deliver results.

The digital world changes at pace so Chloe Byrne, Creative Director at Audience will take you through consumer trends for 2023 and how consumers are spending differently and what is influencing their buying decisions.

The day will be rounded off with a guide to influencer marketing and how and when to engage them in your efforts. Chelsea Talbot will answer questions from the floor.

Tamsin O’Brien of the Stray Ferret will be leading a question and answer session with two local business owners who have used digital to significantly grow their businesses. Fiona Martin, Founder of Best Kept Secret, a women’s clothes shop in a rural village will answer questions on how she successfully uses Meta to drive footfall to an out of town destination.

22 year old Mia Willamson has grown her business from a one woman band to now employing 4 staff with a six figure turnover. Mia, used social media and in particular Instagram to achieve this impressive growth. Tamsin will be delving into the tricks and strategies Mia adopted.

During the day, there will be the opportunity to ask questions from the speakers and browse the exhibition stands.

Thanks to the sponsorship of the York & North Yorkshire Growth Hub and law firm Ison Harrison, the event is free to attend.

To secure your place at the event, please register here.

The Stray Ferret Business Awards 2023 are for businesses across all sectors in the Harrogate district.

In these final few days before entries close, we are revealing the last of what our judging panel is looking for when it comes to each of the 10 categories.

The final category up is the Best Digital Marketing Campaign Award, which is sponsored by Next Chapter.

Digital is clearly the way forward. This award recognises the work of businesses that have run incredible campaigns on purely digital campaigns.

Companies looking to enter need to provide information on the digital marketing plan, including its aims and objectives. Also provide statistical information on why the campaign was a success.

Does your business deserve to win the Best Digital Marketing Campaign Award at the Stray Ferret Business Awards? Entries close at 12pm on January 16. It’s simple and quick, so enter today!

Click here or the banner below to enter for the Stray Ferret Business Awards, sponsored by Prosperis.

The Stray Ferret Business Awards 2023 are for businesses across all sectors in the Harrogate district.

Over the next few weeks we will reveal what our judging panel is looking for when it comes to each of the 10 categories.

Next up is the Digital Innovation Award, which is sponsored by ASE Computers.

This award is designed to highlight those businesses which are leading the way in the digital world.

These businesses have embraced digital and grown the business as a result.

This innovation can come in many forms, including putting your business online, developing an app or using other digital applications like social media.

Companies looking to enter for the Digital Innovation Award need to provide examples of the success your business has had with digital, including any statistical data to support.

Do you know a business that deserves to win the Digital Innovation Award at the Stray Ferret Business Awards? Entries close on January 16. It’s simple and quick, so enter today!

Click here or the banner below to enter for the Stray Ferret Business Awards, sponsored by Prosperis.

Business Breakfast is sponsored by Harrogate law firm Truth Legal.

A Harrogate digital agency has announced the appointment of a new commercial director.

IDHL Group, which is based on Otley Road and specialises in e-commerce, digital PR and social media, has appointed Tom Rigden to the newly created role at the company.

Mr Rigden will be tasked with overseeing the company’s web division as part of the new position.

He said:

“Idhl is an exceptionally well-run agency group with a proven growth model. The clear vision and ambition presented to me by the board made it hugely compelling for me to join. 

“I’m looking forward to bringing my experience and energy to the talented team here and am excited about what we can achieve together.”

Dennis Engel, chief executive of the company, added:

“As we continue to see tremendous growth within the digital space, this latest appointment signifies our commitment to bring onboard people that strengthen who we are and what we offer. Tom has the expertise and know-how to bring a new proposition to the business.

“We’re delighted to welcome him to IDHL and to get started on this new chapter within the group.”

Harrogate business event to focus on hospitality support

Support for the hospitality sector in Harrogate will be discussed at a business event this week.

Organised by Philip Bolson of Mr B Hospitality in partnership with York & North Yorkshire Growth Hub, the event will hear from experts and politicians on how the industry can grow in the coming years.

Harrogate and Knaresborough MP Andrew Jones and Helen Suckling, partnership and commercial manager at Destination Harrogate, will be among the speakers.

Mr Bolson will also address the discussion, as well as Danny Wild, principal of Harrogate College, and Ross Tatham, general manager of Goldsborough Hall.

There will also be an opportunity for attendees to network and develop contacts.

The event will be held at Goldsborough Hall on Friday, November 25, at 1pm. You can find out more information on how to register here.

Read more:

• Sneak Peek: Starling shows off new spacious bar after major renovation
• Betfred to open bookmakers in Harrogate

It is rare for someone to not own at least one form of digital device. The majority of people including Grandma own either a smartphone, tablet, laptop or computer. This creates huge opportunities for advertising. So why not use this to your advantage?

Here are eight reasons why you should capitalise on digital:

Lower cost

Digital advertising provides a number of price points which can be minimal compared to traditional advertising spend, meaning whatever your budget is, you can reach your target audience.

Greater Return on Investment (ROI)

Digital advertising can deliver excellent return on investment (ROI). It is important at the outset that you are clear on what you want your digital marketing to achieve, eg brand awareness, increased footfall, more hits to your website etc. Advertising digitally means your target audience is only one click away from your business giving you far greater ROI.

Easy measurement

Digital advertising makes it far easier to measure the performance of your adverts. With traditional advertising you must make assumptions on who has seen, remembered and acted on your advert. With digital, you receive instant analytics on how well your activity is performing including how far it has reached, how many people have seen it and how many people have reacted/engaged with it.

Flexibility

Unlike traditional advertising, which is difficult to change once it has been printed or aired, going digital gives you the advantage of being able to stop or tweak a campaign. If something isn’t quite working, you can make adjustments to improve it. This is only achievable due to the data you receive from digital advertising channels.

Better engagement

Engagement is vital for a successful digital campaign. On social channels, the more engagement a post receives, the more people will see it due to how social media algorithms work.

Precise targeting

Going digital enables you to target your audience far more easily than traditional advertising, especially when advertising on social channels. Targeting your audience means you do not waste money putting your brand in front of people who are not interested in it.

Easy to share

With the click of a button your advertisement can be shared by one person to their network, who then share it to their network and so on. With traditional advertising methods, it is more difficult to expand the audience without it costing money.

Make the switch

The idea of changing from traditional advertising to digital advertising can seem daunting, however the benefits to going digital should not be ignored. Going digital gives you a measurable, flexible and cost-effective way to advertise your business to a targeted large audience.

Find out how the most-read news service in the Harrogate district can help your business grow today.