A group of Quesnel residents who are just about to graduate from a Digital Marketing Bootcamp will be offering their services for free to support local businesses.
Over the past 12 weeks, Community Futures North Cariboo (CFNC) has partnered with Alacrity Canada to bring a Digital Marketing Bootcamp to Quesnel.
This intensive program focused on daily experiential learning, as well as weekly mentorship sessions with marketing experts, to equip the participants with the knowledge, tools and resources they will need to succeed as a digital marketer, according to a press release from CFNC.
“Our participants have worked hard and challenged themselves over the past 12 weeks,” Elizabeth Ross, CFNC’s marketing and project co-ordinator, said in the release. “They have learned a variety of digital marketing skills and explored many tools available to promote businesses, products and services. I feel very fortunate to be a part of this program.”
Alacrity Canada delivered the bootcamp remotely to four British Columbia communities — Victoria, Canal Flats, Campbell River and Quesnel. Each community gathered as a group, allowing for participant support and connections.
“The Alacrity Digital Marketing Bootcamp was created to help prepare students, regardless of previous experience, to hit the ground running in careers as digital marketers,” Ania Wysocka, Alarcity Canada’s digital marketing program director, said in the release. “During our 12-week course, we’ve dived deep into topics that would help any small business scale their online presence and sales — from branding, to content marketing strategy, to Google and Facebook ad campaigns to landing pages, email marketing and more. The bootcamp is being run simultaneously across Victoria, Campbell River, Canal Flats and Quesnel, and we’ve witnessed incredible growth and aptitude from all of our students. It’s inspiring and rewarding to hear that our soon-to-be graduates [in Quesnel] are already planning how to leverage their new skills in support of their communities, and they’ve proven they are ready to make a real impact.”
The Quesnel participants have banded together to create Digital Today, an organization that will voluntarily provide local businesses with digital marketing support and assistance over the next three months.
“I think the timing of the course was coincidentally very fortunate, given the circumstances surrounding the virus outbreak,” said Vickky Malone, Dragon Lake Veterinary Hospital digital marketer. “We have a good opportunity here to lend a hand to some struggling small business owners.”
Quesnel’s Digital Today will offer local businesses support and assistance with content creation, advertising platforms, finding their target audience, social media ads, Google ads, email marketing, free digital marketing tools, and tips and tricks on how to stay connected digitally.
“Because of COVID-19, I believe that I will always think of 2020 as the year the world changed,” said digital marketer Gloria Brown. “The quote from Zig Ziglar comes to mind, ‘Stop Selling. Start Helping.’ This is a perfect opportunity to help businesses in Quesnel as they look at how they can do business differently. Community Futures brought the training to us for free, and this is our chance to pay it forward.”
Digital Today will work with business owners and managers over the phone and through video conferencing to assist businesses with their digital marketing. Appointments will be made through the Community Futures North Cariboo office, and CFNC has offered the use of its reception and video conference services to book and host the sessions. All video conferences will be held using Zoom, allowing each party to share their screens for live assistance and coaching.
All appointments will be free to all businesses in the Quesnel and surrounding area.
“We wanted to be a part of the Digital Marketing Bootcamp cohort, knowing that this initiative would support our local businesses.” said Greg Lawrence, general manager of Community Futures North Cariboo. “We are thrilled to see these skills are being provided for free during this particularly difficult time.”
Businesses that would like assistance with digital marketing can call Elizabeth Ross at Community Futures 250-992-2322 to book an appointment with Digital Today, Quesnel’s newest digital marketing team.
READ MORE: Community Futures brings in consultants for local businesses
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