SLO Partners receives grant to expand Digital Marketing Bootcamp for Central Coast businesses

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Digital Marketing is one way businesses can stay in touch with customers during uncertain times.

SLO Partners, a local nonprofit that supports businesses and local residents by aligning workforce needs with training opportunities, is now expanding their Digital Marketing Bootcamp on the Central Coast.

SLO Partners first recognized a need for digital marketing skills after assessing the challenges individuals and businesses are facing during the pandemic.

“We saw that businesses that had some experience in that area were more apt to succeed during COVID – just letting their clients know if they were open or closed,” said Paula Mathias-Fryer, the program director for SLO Partners.

She said it is clear that businesses need digital marketing skills now more than ever.

“We wanted to offer this program to them to really beef up their marketing power and engage with their customers more,” Mathias-Fryer said.

The level of interest in the January course exceeded expectations, according to Loreli Cappel with the Economic Vitality Corporation (EVC). She works closely with SLO Partners to support local businesses in the county.

Cappel said the first bootcamp had a waiting list and, seeing the need for more courses, EVC joined with the Economic Development Collaboration in Ventura to secure a grant from the Morgan Family Foundation.

Cappel said the grant allows for people from San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara and Ventura counties to participate in upcoming courses. She said the grant enables SLO Partners to serve many more people and offer the digital marketing skills that can be a make-or-break situation for businesses.

The grant triples the number of bootcamps, with the next one starting April 1. The courses are virtual and last ten weeks. The cost is $899, with $500 scholarships available to individuals and businesses that have been negatively impacted by the pandemic.

Cappel said the bootcamp covers social media, marketing analytics, strategy and more, and is appropriate for a broad range of people and businesses.

“It can be a business owner, it can be an employee of a large company [or] it can be an individual who wants to grow their skills,” Cappel said.

To find out more about upcoming Digital Marketing Bootcamps, visit the SLO Partners’ website.