The Welsh Food & Drink Skills Project is offering businesses across the food supply chain an opportunity to up-skill their staff and revitalise their business, embracing digital marketing to grow their business.
Eight new accredited training courses, have been developed in response to extensive research conducted as part of the Food & Drink Skills project to identify skills gaps across the food supply chain – online retailing and marketing skills deficiencies being one of several areas that will be addressed by the project over the coming months.
Delivered by InSynch Digital Marketing consultancy, delegates will learn how to convert more website visitors into buyers, improve ranking in search engines, develop ‘twitter strategies’ and
learn how to maximise the benefit of facebook to your business.
Black Mountains Smokery is one business that has already embraced the opportunities digital marketing has to offer, a family run award-winning smokehouse they have experienced significant increase in sales after undertaking extensive e-marketing and social media training.
Jo Carthew of Black Mountain Smokery commented “we have regularly undertaken a number of digital marketing in-house training courses which has been incredibly useful and this has paid off in our business as we have experienced a quadruple in sales in the last 12 months”.
Over 100 training places have already been booked on a range of courses from Social Media, Analytics, Email Marketing and Search Engine Optimisation. Courses are currently being held in Builth Wells (4 & 5 March); Aberystwyth (6 & 7 March) and Conwy (18 & 19 March) and include:
- Facebook Beginners – Social Media for Business
- Advanced Facebook – using social networks to market products and services
- Twitter – micro blogging for business
- Using Twitter to market products and services – advanced use of Twitter
- Google Analytics – using website statistics to measure marketing performance
- Using Google Analytics to make your website more effective
- Email marketing
- Rank higher in Google – search engine optimisation
Businesses are urged to take advantage of accredited courses at a 70% intervention rate. Course cost is usually £60, but offered at £18* as part of the Food & Drink Skills Project. http://foodanddrinkskills.co.uk/events/training-courses/. The project can also work with businesses to develop accredited in-house training.
Caryl Tudor-Jones, Project Co-ordinator, noted:
“These digital marketing and social media courses are part of the wider campaign for accredited courses by the Welsh Food & Drink Skills Project, as our research has found that significant skills gaps exist across the food and drink supply chain. In response to this research the Sector Skills Councils which represent the industry have come together to encourage the up-skilling of thousands of existing workers as well as finding new entrants for the industry by 2020.”
Eddy Webb, In Synch training provider stated:
“It is vital that employers understand the direct benefit of providing training, and the tangible outcomes it will bring their business. The social media training courses on offer will open a gateway to new customers and thus increased profit, with over 1 billion users worldwide, 32 million UK users and 750,000 users in Wales alone, many of your customers are on Facebook. It is a crucial marketing tool, and getting properly trained in order to utilise it can only be an advantage.”
The Welsh Food & Drink Skills Project is a new collaborative project, working with a network of approved training providers throughout Wales, to ensure business have access to the training they require to help their business grow.
The Welsh Food & Drink Skills Project is supported by the Sector Priorities Fund Pilot programme with funding from the European Social Fund through the Welsh Government, and delivered in partnership between Lantra, the Land Based Skills Council, Improve – the Food and Drink Skills Council and People 1st Cymru, the Hospitality and Tourism Skills Council.
