BUSINESSES in Dorset are being given the chance to skill up their workforce with a fully funded online digital marketing course.
Offered by Digital Dorset, a Weymouth College initiative, the Digital Promotion for Business course is funded through the European Social Fund and Skills Funding Agency and delivered with SERCO in the Dorset Local Enterprise Partnership Area.
The programme, the only one of its kind in England, aims to improve the skills needed to increase the competitiveness of SMEs in Bournemouth, Poole and Christchurch and give the best opportunity to grow the economy and create more and better jobs.
Course content includes units on social media and how to maximise a company’s profile on social networking sites, writing digital promotional content that gets across the correct message to new and old customers and how to use Search Engine Optimisation effectively to get your website found quicker by new customers on Google searches.
Last year a Government report highlighted the fact12.6 million adults in the UK lack basic digital skills, while 5.8 million have never used the internet at all.
It also claimed the digital skills gap is costing the UK economy an estimated £63 billion a year in the lost potential for additional GDP.
The Level 2 NCFE accredited distance-learning course aims to meet the demand for digital media for businesses and is online so employees can complete the course at their own speed.
A spokesman for Digital Dorset said: “The UK leads Europe on tech, but we need to take concerted action to avoid falling behind online.
“We are all spending more and more time on our mobiles, tablets and laptops, while many of our working days are also spent in front of a screen.
“That’s why businesses need to understand how working practices are changing, and this course has been developed to meet this need.”
Places and funding are limited and for more information about this offer visit www.digitaldorset.org or email [email protected].
