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Do you own a business? Upskill and get support with your marketing and social media!

13 February 2023
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Do you have family or friends with a business?

Did you know they can now get support for marketing and social media through the college? You can even upskill yourself in digital.

As part of our ever-expanding digital offering, the College are now delivering several exciting new apprenticeship standards in digital.

According to the UK government’s Skills Funding Agency, 90% of all jobs will require some form of digital skill in the next 10 years before an applicant can obtain or even apply for a position.

Digital skills aren’t just about deep tech; they’re something most future jobs will require as standard. Basic digital skills are already crucial for many roles, especially since we’ve witnessed a general shift to virtual working.

TikTok Isn’t Just Dance Trends Anymore. Businesses have embraced it and you should too.

Some people and institutions write it off as something the “youths” are doing and don’t see how it can help expand their brand. However, already TikTok’s channel content is expanding to a wider demographic and advertisers are playing catch up to get content in front of their target audiences.

Our new apprenticeships include a Content Creator Standard, which is proving very popular with young people thanks to its focus around the skills required to create marketing content for platforms just like this. Businesses across the East Midlands are really benefiting from the emergence of platforms like TikTok, Instagram and MailChimp. Those businesses that don’t get on board or bring someone into the business to help with this, will quickly fall behind.

Platforms like Twitch, TikTok and YouTube are really starting to become realistic jobs for young people and this year they will continue to grow even further. Every successful marketing team utilises them and those that don’t would increase sales or reach by doing so.

Does it work for small businesses too?

TikTok is becoming an increasingly important tool for small businesses to advertise their products and services. Around three quarters (73%) of SMEs (Small and medium-sized enterprises) marketers believe the platform has helped them reach new customers. A social media or marketing apprentice in a small business can work on multiple projects and pilot new promotional platforms to propel your business goals.

Data is king and the cloud is taking over.

Data is important to every business and most of it is free. However, many businesses don’t use it enough to inform their decisions.

In short, the Internet of Things (IoT) refers to the rapidly growing network of connected objects that can collect and exchange data in real time using embedded sensors. Thermostats, cars, lights, refrigerators, and more appliances can all be connected to the IoT. The global IoT market is expected to reach $1.1 trillion this year (2023). It is a industry that is well worth any young person getting into when thinking ahead to their future.

At the college we also offer a Data Technician Standard, focused on the importance of data within a business and how it drives the key decisions that are made. These choices often affect every person within the company at some level and can lead to massive success. This apprenticeship is perfect for those businesses that could benefit from a data and Microsoft Excel expert to take profits/service to the next level by really analysing key data.

Businesses that are behind in digital could really benefit from a digital apprentice in 2023 to help drive the company forward and reach new audiences that they may have previously thought were not reachable.

What does Google say?

Google only said as recently as last year that they need businesses to be creating “people-first original content” to be rewarded in the search. How can any company or sole trader do that without having someone in the business with the time to create that content?

Gone are the days when digital was an added extra for those businesses that could make the time to accommodate it. Digital is very much here to stay and with year-on-year growth, we all need to stay ahead of the game to continue growing with it.

Get in touch and find out how we can help.

To see our full digital offering including our Information Communications Technician Standard which focuses on IT support apprentices for businesses, check out the apprenticeships section on the website.

Download our leaflet

explaining all the apprenticeship roles.

You can also contact Shaun Wheatcroft in the college at wheatcrofts@chesterfield.ac.uk

or register your interest with our team and find out more about how we support employers here. Author: Shaun Wheatcroft.