With 62% of marketers polled believing that the marketing skill set has completely changed over the last ten years; it's clear that professionals need to catch up.

In today’s market, working in marketing involves keeping ahead of the curve, being up to date on technological/digital advancements, and providing ROMI (return on marketing investment) for the business. And as such, if an employer wants a forward-thinking and influential marketer in their business, they need to encourage and nurture this attitude through the likes of training courses and qualifications, not hold it back.

Qualifications, like those from the Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM), provide marketing and communications professionals with practical tools and techniques, as well as a more strategic understanding, which they can then apply to their job roles. For employers, training courses can encourage a more skilled and knowledgeable workforce, and increase employee loyalty amongst the most ambitious and keen to develop members of staff.

In times of uncertainty, marketing plays a fundamental role in securing long-term business profitability. Training will be needed to keep employees engaged, to keep your business current and guide your strategy through uncertain times. The time for training is now, and employers cannot afford to sit back, because employees are more than prepared to enhance their own learning.

So, is it time to invest in your marketing team skills?

If so, the Isle of Man Government Vocational Training Assistance Scheme (VTAS) provides financial assistance towards professional and vocational qualifications for employees.

There are also several on-island education providers that offer blended learning marketing qualifications, these include:

• The Marketing Partnership  
• UCM 
• The London Marketing Set

Kirsty Lawrence, founder of Mann Social, a social media marketing consultancy, explains how your business can use both organic and paid-for social media strategies to improve and grow its ecommerce capabilities.

Rhian O’Leary, founder of Regality Marketing who specialises in paid-for social and Google advertising for businesses, explains how Facebook and Instagram Shopping can benefit your business. Rhian provides a  ‘how to’ guide on how to set up the functionality along with business best practices.

If you’re looking for professional marketing advice or consultancy, there are a number of local organisations who offer marketing services from website development, to campaign planning and graphic design.

Once you have chosen your supplier and outlined the project you can receive financial assistance towards the project through the Department for Enterprise’s Business Improvement Scheme. The Department offers grants of 50% towards the cost of the marketing projects up to a max of £5,000 per project.

 Through the scheme, there is also a free business advisory service available to help guide you with your marketing strategy.

A typical marketing strategy should cover:

· Background to your new product/service

· Where you want to be in (x) month's time (your objectives)

· Who is your target audience – what marketing channels do they use and what voices do they trust?

· How will you reach your objectives?

· Are there stakeholders you should involve to help you reach your goals?

· What success will look like (ideally expressed numerically)

· What measures will you use to judge your success?

If you’re starting from scratch, an online resource called Smart Insights provides information on how to plan marketing and develop a marketing strategy. Google run a free Digital Marketing course which provides you with a great overview.

Creating an integrated marketing plan and understanding which online marketing channel is best suited to your business objectives is key to successful marketing. In this workshop run by Jess Le Merle from Afundi you will get to learn the essentials of digital marketing and better understand the powerful tools & channels that are at your disposal and how to make the most of them.

Check out the slides below.

Kirsty Lawrence, founder of Mann Social, a social media marketing consultancy, recently ran a number of small business workshops for businesses on the Isle of Man. This session focused on maximising the potential of your Facebook business account.

Check out the slides below.

Facebook Posting Checklist

Kirsty Lawrence, founder of Mann Social, a social media marketing consultancy, recently ran a number of small business workshops for businesses on the Isle of Man. This session focused on maximising the potential of your Instagram business account.

Check out the slides below.

Creating a website that meets all of your business and marketing objectives can seem like a dream. In this session with Jess Le Merle from Afundi we discuss how you can own an engaging, professional and functional website that meets all of your needs and helps you generate more business.

In a data driven world, it has never been more important to track and review your online activity in order to make data driven decisions. The key to success lies in knowing what to measure and how to evaluate it. In this workshop run by Jess Le Merle from Afundi you will get to learn the essentials understanding data analysis.

Check out the slides below.