20 Entrepreneurs Attend Digital Marketing Workshop.
AT least 20 female entrepreneurs have received training in Digital Marketing under the Saint Lucian Women & Girls in ICT Campaign, which is a joint initiative of the Saint Lucia Coalition of Services & Industry (SLCSI) in collaboration with the Caribbean Regional Communications Infrastructure Programme (CARCIP).
The Women & Girls in ICT Campaign was developed as a means to dismantle barriers preventing equal opportunities for growth and development in ICT.
The campaign will result in young girls and women receiving specific support and opportunities to be educated and engaged in ICT tools. The outcome of which is greater empowerment in ICT processes and tools, and the ability to pass on these skills and knowledge to a wider sector of our community.
Entrepreneurs at the training workshop learned how to boost their ability to engage with customers through social media, increase sales and revenue through their enhanced ability to market their products and services.
Digital Marketing involves the promotion of products or services via one or more forms of electronic media and has become one of the most impactful marketing tools for entrepreneurs. Direct Marketing allows entrepreneurs to not only reach a large number of their target audience efficiently but also cost effectively.
The SLCSI and CARCIP collaboration to implement the Women and Girls in ICT programme was made possible because of the complementarity between the CARCIP and the SLCSI’s Development of Saint Lucia’s Services Sector Project now underway.
SLCSI, with its mandate to organize and create pathways to business competitiveness for service producers, seeks to improve the operating environment for that sector. One component of the SLCSI project focusses on deepening gender equity and increasing access by women and girls to employment and entrepreneurial opportunities in the ICT industry.
According to SLCSI Executive Director Yvonne Agard, training is an early component of the Women and Girls in ICT campaign, the official launch of which has been deliberately set for April, the month dedicated to the international observance of Girls in ICT.
She said: “Two major highlights of the campaign will be an exhibition featuring the beneficiaries of the training and their work, and small grant initiative towards assisting female entrepreneurs to procure ICT tools to boost their business efficiency and ultimately, generate more sales.”
Another training workshop in Digital Marketing is scheduled to be held in Soufriere at the beginning of April.
Other sessions scheduled for April include a workshop on Grant application, another on Effective PowerPoint Presentations and a Women in ICT Conference.