Sometimes I get invited to do some very interesting things, and sometimes they are a bit scary, but I’m always someone who will try different things, even if they do scare me. I was delighted to be invited by The Food Hub to take part in the Dot.Rural Digital Bites webinar series recently, it gave me a wonderful opportunity to share the voluntary work that I do promoting Sligo and beyond. You can watch the webinar here:
For anyone working away in the background, building something piece by piece, often without fanfare (and very often without budget), it’s a reminder that the work does travel further than you think. The webinar fireside chat centred around something I’ve come to know quite well – running social media campaigns with little to no budget.
The social media campaigns that I run, like #HeartofSligo and #HeartofIreland were never about polished marketing plans or paid reach. They were about connection, about capturing a sense of place, community, and pride in a way that felt natural and shareable. The kind of content that people want to be part of, rather than something that’s simply put in front of them.
What began as a simple idea with no budget grew into something much bigger than I could have anticipated, with the #HeartofSligo campaign going on to receive award recognition. I’ve won two national awards for my work on social media, and one local award.
What I’ve learned over time is that people don’t engage with campaigns, they engage with meaning. At a time when social media is filled with doom and gloom, my campaigns aimed to lift the spirits, and give people something positive to focus on.
I find that people engage with authenticity, not the curated version of it, but the real thing, the honest stories.
Speaking at the webinar gave me the opportunity to reflect on that journey. On the small beginnings, the experimentation, the moments where something resonated far beyond what I expected. It’s never a straight line. It’s a series of small steps, taken consistently.
There’s often an assumption that impactful digital campaigns require significant resources. But in reality, some of the most effective work comes from understanding your audience deeply and showing up with clarity and intention.
No budget doesn’t mean no value. If anything, it sharpens your focus. It pushes you to think differently. To listen more closely. To create content that earns its place rather than buying it.
I left the conversation feeling grateful for the invitation, for the opportunity to share what I’ve learned, and for the reminder that simple ideas, done well, still have the power to travel, and you never know who is watching.
And perhaps that’s the takeaway. You don’t always need more. Sometimes, you just need to start with what you have – and trust that it’s enough.
You can find out more about DOT.Rural here: https://dotrural.eu/ and you can watch all the Digital Bites videos here: https://dotrural.eu/best_practices.html Thanks so much to The Food Hub, Drumshanbo, for the kind invitation.
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