My Digital Heart

Dave Douglas is MD at ebow, one of Ireland’s fastest growing and most established digital agencies. Founded in 1999, ebow has always been a trailblazing consultancy of new thinking, specialising in web design, development, social media and digital marketing; clients include the GAA, Disney, Irish Ferries, the Irish Independent, National Concert Hall, and Taste of Dublin.

At the next IMAGE Networking Breakfast, Dave will share insight on how to create a strong, responsive digital brand and how that translates into business. We sit down with him for five minutes and ask?

You started ebow in 1999. What sort of business were you doing then?

Back then it was straightforward web design for brochure sites. Our first major clients were a|wear and Budget Travel.

What’s the biggest mistake people make when creating/commissioning a website?

Thinking it’s easy and treating it like an add-on. It’s not – the web has this hangover reputation of ‘sure put it online you’ll sell loads?.? You need to work constantly at online and you need to invest as it’s exceptionally competitive.

What project have you most enjoyed working on at ebow, or which one
did you learn the most from?

My favourite is Irish Ferries as it’s a great example of 360 digital, generating strong revenues. What that means is that we get to drive traffic from various sources (email and search being my favourites) and then monitor the various user journeys right through to a converted sale (i.e. from Google to the bank account). Irish Ferries is one of Ireland’s great examples of a thriving website. They are one of those special clients that let me do what I’m good at and trust me, that’s why they get the best out of us. Trust is essential to a great agency relationship. The GAA and our work with the Irish Independent are particularly close to my ‘digital heart? also.

Things are obviously constantly evolving when it comes to digital communication. What’s been the big ‘new thing’ in 2014? What does ebow do to tap in to this.

The big ?new thing? is the massive shift we have seen to digital, some of our sites are showing 70% mobile traffic. To deal with this we are adapting a ‘mobile first? strategy and treating mobile and desktop as two different business streams. Separate analysis of both and designing for them as their own entities is crucial.

One piece of advice you’d give someone who wants to sell on-line?

Unless you have exclusive product, you are in for a long battle. The web is exceptionally competitive so retailers who do well are generally selling what others don’t have.

Most amusing piece of digital communication you’ve seen?

Hey Cat on YouTube absolutely kills me. Every time.

Dave will speak at the next IMAGE Networking Breakfast in the Marker Hotel on Tuesday, September 9. Tickets are just €45 and can be purchased here. For more information on the event, email business@image.ie, call 01 276 9688 or click here.