Alison Begas - Chief Officer, Dublin Well Woman Centre:
"Our collaboration with Tim Smyrk and the Digital Marketing students at FitzWilliam Institute has been nothing less than a game-changer for the Dublin Well Woman Centre.
I met initially with Tim and his class in April 2015; it gave me the opportunity to present them with the challenges we faced - although we are a long-established brand, we were concerned that we were losing our visibility and relevance to women in the 18-30 age group. Tim’s students grilled me with a thoroughness and exactitude which surprised and impressed me.
The result of this engagement was that several months later, I received a detailed Digital Marketing Strategy from the group, which had been written up by Tim Smyrk. The Strategy included valuable research into the needs / behaviours of the various demographics a new website needed to target. It made it clear that information on women’s health needed to be communicated across literacy levels. The site needed to be mobile-friendly as healthcare information is primarily accessed via mobile, and to ensure greater privacy for women accessing the site. Online appointment booking needed to be included, and the content hierarchy had to be clear so that women could find information quickly. On the basis of the strategy produced by FitzWilliam Institute’s students, we were able to engage a Digital Marketing Consultant as Project Manager, along with a Web Designer for our new website, which went live during summer 2016.
However, the Strategy went much further, and contained detailed recommendations on social media, Google Adwords, blogging and other ways of engaging the mobile generation. Our website is modern and colourful, and uses imagery and videos to help women identify with the service. There is a translation function, and an Appointment Booking form for clients who require discretion in contacting us, and which connects directly with the Reception Desk in the clinics. There are also some innovative features, such as a smear test calculator.
The value of the guidance and recommendations drawn up by Tim Smyrk and the students of FitzWilliam Institute was formally recognised in recent weeks, when the Dublin Well Woman Centre won the Best Charity / Not for Profit website at the prestigious eir Spiders website awards. As an organisation operating in the social economy, we have limited resources and do not have in-house marketing staff. Suffice to say, we would not have had the skill or expertise to create the route-map for Well Woman to negotiate the Digital Marketing environment as skilfully as FitzWilliam Institute did. We cannot thank the students, or Tim Smyrk for his guidance, wisdom and enthusiasm, enough".
Want to be part of 2017's Digital Marketing intake?
We are now accepting applications:
Diploma in Digital Marketing - Evening Course - Dublin City Centre
Postgraduate Diploma in Digital Marketing with Arranged Work Experience - Full Time - Dublin City Centre