With creativity and persistence, everyone can use social media to their advantage, Martin Eastwood

Interesting interview with Martin Eastwood

What is your own background briefly?

My educational background lies in the world of the music industry, which is one of my first passions! I completed an honours degree in Music Technology between Dun Laoghaire Further Education Institute and the University of Wales Trinity Saint David in Swansea. However, previous to this at the ripe age of 11, I set up a sweet shop in my front garden and spent my days (after school and weekends) running my little shop, the entrepreneurship life is something I caught on to very young!

Does it seem like a logical background to what you do now?

In some respects yes, I run an events and marketing company based in Dublin. I knew I wanted to open a business that was related to the entertainment industry so the events element of my company seems completely logical and relevant to that. However, the marketing element came afterwards.

I became fascinated with online marketing as a method of communication after I seen first-hand how powerful a tool it was when I built up my own business on the back of it. I certainly did not see that coming in my earlier days.

How was the last 12 months? What were your big wins?

The past year has been incredible. Apart from the excitement of working with some great clients right across the country, there was also some personal highlights for me. I was fortunate enough to be invited for an interview on to the Late Late Show in RTÉ and I also had the privilege of opening the main stage of Zeminar with my keynote. Both of which were incredible moments and great highlights from the past year.

What would you have done differently?

I think in such a busy world, it can be hard to remain focused on what’s most important. One thing I would have done differently is improve my focus on what brings results and spend less time on what does not. Thankfully with the gift of hindsight, I often look back to ensure I am not repeating any past mistakes now.

1 min pitch for what you are doing now?

My company is Wide Variety Events & Media. We specialise in event services and online marketing. Under events we provide a one stop solution for our clients to get everything they need for their event under one roof. And under Media we manage the online marketing of various businesses including hotels, bars & shopping centres to turn their online platforms into valuable assets.

Why did you get involved with social media marketing?

I was fortunate enough to grow up in the age when social media had just really started. I was one of the early users of MySpace and BeBo and then later on, Facebook etc. Thankfully with the knowledge I had gained on how it all works, I was able to build up my own business (Wide Variety) from scratch and I would credit about 70% of its initial growth to online marketing, which is huge. I am fascinated with how social media allows us to communicate our message, grow our businesses and reach people at scale. The opportunity it presents to all of us is unprecedented and I feel very lucky to be living during this era of communication.

Why do you think it is such a powerful idea?

I think social media is so powerful because everyone has a voice. One perfect example of this is the music industry. In the 80’s artists had to struggle so much to get a record deal, get in a studio and get their music on to MTV. Now, you can do all of that from home and have a chance of millions of people seeing your work for free. With enough creativity and persistence, everyone has a great shot of leveraging social media to their advantage and that seems really powerful to me.

What will the future of events look like?

I think the events industry is one of the best for embracing technological advancements. For instance, we introduced virtual reality into our own events 2 years ago and elsewhere I have seen everything from robot waiters to holograms. It would not surprise me if for instance at weddings in the future, there was an option to bring relatives who passed away to the event via hologram or something similar, just one of many things I think could happen but only time will tell. Either way I know that the industry will constantly embrace the modern world, which is one of the reasons why I love it so much.

How can people find out more about you personally & your work?

Connect with me on Social Media:

Twitter: twitter.com/martineastwood1

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/martin-eastwood-98194ba5/

Facebook: facebook.com/OfficialMartinEastwood/

Instagram: instagram.com/martineastwood1/

TikTok: www.tiktok.com/@martineastwood1

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