Myself and Caroline attended a Google Partners Event in Dublin last week. The event was called Momentum and it was the first Google Partners event exclusively aimed at Irish Agencies. The session was on the 11th floor with great views of Dublin.

During the session a number of key challenges and opportunities emerged for Irish Agencies.Here were the main outputs from the combined group

Opportunity 1 – Mobile

While it can be a challenge to convince all clients of the important of a mobile strategy it certainly remains one of the biggest opportunities for growth. Denise Browne, Agency Development Manager for Ireland and Mobile lead gave a very interesting presentation around the mobile opportunity.

The use of Beacons and Messaging Tools to deliver the right message at the right time to customers in or near your business premises was one example of how mobile can become a game changer. For example, in the hotel industry it is possible to use beacons and messaging tools to contact people who have been in the lobby of your hotel using wifi and informing them of lunch options.

Ireland is ahead of the curve with Mobile adoption with more than 50% of Searches on Google coming through Mobile. We are in the top 10 worldwide for this stat.

However there are challenges and Mobile friendly design is still an issue.

Mobile and Video are also inextricably linked with 50% of Youtube visits coming from Mobile.

Opportunity 2 – Video

There were some great stats shared on Video by Sarah Byrne. These including

• 35% of people are more likely to search for a brand after
  seeing a Video/Display Campaign
• 8% increase in purchase intent when combining Search and
  Display/Video
• 1 Billion monthly users of Youtube
• 400 hours of content uploaded every minute on YouTube

It is clear that Video will continue to grow in the coming years as evidenced by the below stat.

While Video is a huge opportunity there are challenges with the majority of our clients slow to get the necessary Video Assets in place. The good news is that there has been improvement in Video editing tools and there are whispers of a new Google Product coming in this area,

Opportunity 3 – New Ad Changes

Google Announced last week that there are a series of improvements coming down the track in the second half of the year. These included:

• Expanded Text Ads with up to 50% more Ad Copy
• Responsive Ads for Display
• Enhanced Device Bid Adjustments – Mobile, Tablet and
  Desktop
• Click To Message – Clients can connect with perspective
  customers who wish to text before purchasing
• Online to Offline Measurement using Beacons
• Display Location Extensions
• Similar Audiences for search

There are certainly a number of interesting opportunities included in the above and they do focus in on some of the challenges – for example improving Online to Offline measurement will help convince more clients of the importance of Digital and Mobile.

Challenge 1 – Lack of Education in Digital

I have been working in the digital industry since 2003 and this has been a challenge since day 1. However I would say that there has been a big improvement in this area in the past few years with digital training courses becoming more popular.

However as the digital landscape changes so quickly it is very difficult for Training Courses to keep up with the pace of change. Ongoing training and mentoring for new employees is key and there is an onus on the agency to develop their talent.

Challenge 2 – Ad Blocking and Viewability

In terms of Display there were a number of concerns raised about Ad Blocking and Viewability. Philip Coyle made a valid point that while this is a challenge there is also an opportunity to improve our ad quality so users are less likely to use ad blockers. Ad blockers are becoming prominent due to consumers becoming irritated by aggressive and intrusive advertisements.

Challenge 3 – Convincing Clients of Important of Digital and Mobile

This is a challenge where clients have come from a traditional business background and it can take time to change the mindset. In our experience this is more of an issue for B2B clients who have not had to rely on Digital to the same extent to grow their business. Where there is uncertainty we often find that a trial campaign can be effective. If we can convince a client to give us budget for a campaign over a 2 – 3 month period and report back on the impact.

Measurement is the key here and this means measuring impact at the various stages of the buying cycle and also including Brand Lift measurement to ensure you are giving a 360 view on performance.

I am also seeing a significant change in mindset for our customers when it comes to mobile. It is probably the number 1 priority for alot of our clients in the last year as they hear more about the importance of mobile in the media. However I would agree that while mobile experience is begining to improve there is still further investment required in mobile strategy in the Irish market.