Results from the Digital Marketing Training Research Project
Results Summary
The Businesses are Growing!
Business revenue increased by 113% over the pre-covid yearly sales for Alpha and was even for Beta. Revenue was up 241% for Alpha and 121% for Beta from the previous year. Employees increased by 138% for Alpha and 129% for Beta. And inter-Canada or world customer expansion was up by 122% for Alpha and 127% for Beta.
The Digital Marketing Effectiveness is going SkyHigh!
Overall channel customer engagement is up 148% for Alpha and 290% for Beta. But the business owner’s work is only up 109% for Alpha and 197% for Beta resulting in a better ROI for their efforts. And they are even saving advertising spend; the use of paid media is down to 72% for Alpha and paid does not factor in use for Beta.
Owner Digital Marketing Mastery is Higher!
The business owner’s confidence in their digital marketing skills is up by 112% after 12-months for Alpha and 128% for Beta.
Detailed Information Contents
- The Research
- The Training Course
- Owner and Business Profile
- Digital Experience
- Additional Qualitative Information
- Overall Insights
1. The Research
Who and What?
The Team
Garrett Hall
Co-Principle Researcher
Professor of Digital Marketing
Sheridan College
Dr. Sujinda Hwang-Leslie
Co-Principle Researcher
Professor of Digital Marketing
Sheridan College
Dr. Bethany Osbourne
Researcher
Education Development Consultant
Sheridan College
Two Fundamental Research Questions
Q1: Curriculum design and training methodology. Applied course design for adult learners; adapting learning materials and teaching styles from the classroom to adult education and taking insights back to the classroom.
Looking at the course build through an academic teaching lens.
Q2: Effectiveness of the training course for business digital marketing performance. Looking at tangible business outcomes including ROI,
revenue and profit, digital performance (audience reach and engagement).
How well the digital marketing training works in terms of the business success.
Information To Answer The Two Questions
In Depth Personal, Business & Digital Marketing Metrics
Digital Marketing & Business Outcome Metrics
1) Prescreen Entry Metrics
2) 6 Months After Course Metrics
3) 6 Months After Course Focus Group
4)12 Months After Course Metrics
5) 12 Months After Course Focus Group
Course Methodology Evaluation
Course Content & Structure Feedback
1) Pre-course Focus Group
https://digitalmarketingresearch.ca/bsbr-research-stage-2-program-development/
2) 4 Week Course Survey
3) 8 Week Course Survey
4) 12 Week Course Survey
5) Course End Focus Group
* Also ongoing individual exploratory discussion through out.
2. The Training Course
Digital Marketing Training for Small Business Owners
The Course
The 12-week course was created in part using material from our two owned-organic/earned and paid Sheridan courses.
The course content was designed to follow an end-to-end workbook that would be used to guide the businesses and supporting student through the client digital marketing. The course elements are shown in this chart.
The Course Workbook
GUIDED CONTROL – All-In on Backward Design
The course has a workbook that guides the students in a linear fashion of A to Z.
All lessons and resources directly follow and support undertaking the the document.
3. Owner and Business Profile
Owner Profile
During the Program Design stage, we conducted three data collection points: online survey, online discussion board and focus group discussion to gain an understanding of our target market so we can develop a training program that is responsive to their needs.
Our target market is underrepresented small business owners whose businesses have been negatively impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic and are looking to develop their digital marketing skills.
Our research findings revealed the majority of participants identified themselves as women, immigrant and racialized peoples whose employees are also women, immigrant and racialized peoples. Their median age is 43 years old. English is their first language. They are highly educated with 58% having a bachelor’s degree or higher, and 19% having a diploma. They also have high computer literacy with 81% rating themselves as intermediate or advanced level in Microsoft Office.
Business Profile
Almost all of the businesses (97%) are based in Ontario and the majority are from Arts; Educational Services; Health Care and Social Assistance; Professional, Scientific and Technical Services; and Retail industry sectors. Their current customers are based locally or in the same province, but they are looking to expand their customer base nationally and internationally.
Their revenue has been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. 77% of the businesses experienced a negative growth in their annual revenue with an average of 58% reduction. The rest had a positive revenue growth of around 162%.
Digital Profile
The research shows our participants are relatively new to digital marketing. On average, they have been operating a business website for 3.5 years, a blog for 0.8 year and an e-commerce site for 1 year. Regarding social media, they have been active on Facebook for 2.6 years, Instagram for 2.4 years, Twitter for 1.4 years, LinkedIn for 1.7 years, YouTube for 0.8 year and email marketing for 2.3 years.
They have a low level of online activities with an average of 2 updates per month. Most frequent updates are on Instagram 6.9 times and Facebook 4.6 times a month. Consequently, their online reach is low with an average 1,126 pageviews, 1,257 Instagram followers, and 427 email subscribers.
38% did not engage in any forms of online advertising. For those who did, Facebook and Instagram advertising were preferred (25%) followed by Google advertising (12%). For non-digital promotion activities, word of mouth was the most popular (65%), followed by store signage (16%), flyers (14%), and direct mail (11%).
Digital Knowledge and Skills
From the online survey, participants ranked social media marketing as knowledge and skills most important for their business, followed by content marketing, and digital strategy. They ranked influencer marketing and graphic design as least important. Figure 6.
Participants rated themselves mostly as beginners in all aspects of digital marketing with more intermediate skills and knowledge in social media marketing and content marketing. Figure 7.
Digital Skills and Knowledge Focus Groups
In the focus group discussion, we asked participants to further identify the knowledge and skills needed in their business and perceived gaps in their current skill set. Participants’ feedback was tagged and grouped into learning paths, topics and elements, which will form the learning outcomes of the training program.
- Overwhelmed by everything… find it hard to prioritize or implement any kind of growth strategy
- Had an agency but low ROI and quality
- Can’t analyze my target market properly
- Have Google Analytics but what to do with it
- Which social channels to choose to find my customers
- Where best to spend my marketing dollars
The topics that are emerged as priorities with the most comments are:
- Implementation and tactics: Technical how-to information (24% of the comments)
Participants would like DIY information on how to implement the tactics themselves. - Strategy and Planning: Overall planning (16% of the comments)
Participants need help formulate overall marketing strategy and plans that are purposeful, focused and result driven. - Strategy and Planning: Sales funnel and customer relationship management (12% of the comments)
Participants have problems finding new customers, converting leads (social followers or email subscribers) to customers, and retaining existing customers. - Strategy and Planning: Target market, target audience and persona (11% of the comments)
Participants would like to know who their customers are, where to find them and how to engage with them. - Strategy and Planning: Unique selling proposition (USP) and value proposition (10% of the comments)
Participants have difficulties creating promotional messages, and developing content and stories around the messages.
Program Delivery
From the online survey, participants preferred the training program to be delivered online (65%) over hybrid (20%) and face-to-face (15%) with the recommended class length to be 2.1 hours and the proposed frequency of 2.6 classes per week.
From the online discussion board and focus group discussion, participants voted for 1.5 to 2 hours, twice a week as their preferred class length and frequency. Weekday morning sessions (39%) are preferred over lunch (19%), evenings (17%) and Saturdays (12%) or Sundays (13%).
To give them the best chance to succeed, participants suggested the program should:
- Be flexible: offering alternative class times, video tutorials or recorded sessions for those who miss the class
- Be hands-on: explaining the concepts, showing real and relevant case studies and examples, and working on assignments that are related to their own businesses
- Be result-oriented: if participants can see results or progress, they will be more motivated to continue
- Be accountable: sharing and commenting on each other’s work, learning from each other’s mistakes
- Include coaching time: one-on-one or group sessions after class to help with homework and catch up with lessons
- Offer technical support: especially when using software
- Have learning resource available prior to class so participants can study in advance and use the class to discuss issues
- Include resources like planners, workbooks, tools, and systems to help complete assignments
- Have a peer-support system: class buddy, groups of similar businesses to help and encourage each other and networking opportunity
- Encourage to experiment and not be afraid or worried about failing
- Provide participants with constructive feedback from mentors and peers
Alpha Business Program Findings
The changes of note are the following:
– Business yearly revenue increased by 132% 6- months and 242% 12- months after the course. There is more to this than post covid, revenue is up 113% over pre-covid sales.
– The number of employees increased by 106% 6- months and 138% 12- months after the course.
– After 12-months the business locations increased by 110%.
– Customer expansion from Ontario to/or Canada to/or World increased after 12-months by 122%.
Beta Business Program Findings
The changes of note are the following:
– Business yearly revenue increased by 137% 6- months and 121% 12- months after the course. Revenue is even with pre-covid sales.
– The number of employees increased by 112% 6- months and 129% 12- months after the course.
– After 12-months the business locations decreased to 90%
– Customer expansion from Ontario to/or Canada to/or World increased after 12-months by 127%.
4. Digital Experience - Results
Channel Engagement, Channel Marketing, Paid Channels, Channel Importance, Channel Expertise
Alpha Digital Experience – Channel Engagement
THE CHANGES OF NOTE ARE AS FOLLOWS:
– Engagement across all channels increased by 106% 6- months and 148% 12- months after the course.
– Most notably increases were in LinkedIn, Email, Twitter and Facebook.
– With the amount of work required to load content to YouTube, the increase there should be noted as well.
Beta Digital Experience – Channel Engagement
THE CHANGES OF NOTE ARE AS FOLLOWS:
– Engagement across all channels increased by 138% 6- months and 290% 12- months after the course.
– Increases are notable across the majority of the channels, with the lowest being Twitter, Instagram and Email.
– As per the Alpha, with the amount of work required to load content to YouTube, the increase there should be noted as well.
Alpha & Beta Digital Experience – Channel Engagement
THE CHANGES OF NOTE ARE AS FOLLOWS:
– Engagement across all channels increased by 219% 12- months after the course.
– Increases are notable across all channels, the highest being for Video, LinkedIn and SEO. The lowest being Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and Email.
– The amount of work required to load content to YouTube, the increase there should be noted as well
Alpha Digital Experience – Channel Marketing
THE CHANGES OF NOTE ARE AS FOLLOWS:
– Marketing across all channels increased by 134% 6- months and 109% 12-months after the course.
– The course emphasized the need to create quality content and that appears to be reflected here. If you look at effort versus the customer engagement, the effectiveness has significantly increased. 12-month Channel marketing work up 109%, while the customer engagement was up 148%.
– A high performance marketer shifted marketing efforts from website to YouTube video and that somewhat skewed the results.
Beta Digital Experience – Channel Marketing
THE CHANGES OF NOTE ARE AS FOLLOWS:
– Marketing across all channels decreased to 89% over 6-months and then and then an increase of 197% 12-months after the course.
– The course emphasized the need to create quality content and that appears to be reflected here. If you look at effort versus the customer engagement, the effectiveness has significantly increased. 12-month Channel marketing work up 197%, while the customer engagement was up 290%.
Alpha Digital Experience – Paid Channels
THE CHANGES OF NOTE ARE AS FOLLOWS:
– Paid channels decreased to 89% 6- months and 72% 12-months after the course.
– This decrease in paid is actually encouraging. Most of the participants had room to grow their organic marketing efforts. In addition many had been manipulated by unscrupulous digital marketing consultants pushing them into ineffective paid use and through the course the participants learned to better manage this process.
– Once again, the increase in customer engagement relative to the decrease in paid, shows better performance and cost effectiveness of the marketing efforts. Customer engagement was up by 148% while paid use is down to 72%.
Beta Digital Experience – Paid Channels
THE CHANGES OF NOTE ARE AS FOLLOWS:
– Paid channels are not be utilized, no data and only one limited use in the results.
– As mentioned in the Alpha for this a decrease in paid (or not too great a reliance on paid) is encouraging. Most of the participants had room to grow their organic marketing efforts. In addition many had been manipulated by unscrupulous digital marketing consultants pushing them into ineffective paid use and through the course the participants learned to better manage this process.
– Once again, the increase in customer engagement relative to the decrease in paid, shows better performance and cost effectiveness of the marketing efforts. Customer engagement was up by 297% while paid use is not being utilized.
Alpha Digital Experience – Channel Importance
THE CHANGES OF NOTE ARE AS FOLLOWS:
– Overall the participant view on the importance of the channels was little affected by the course.
– On an individual channel level, in order of increased importance was Email, followed by Video and Content writing. This is not surprising since the course did emphasis the growing importance of these digital aspects.
Beta Digital Experience – Channel Importance
THE CHANGES OF NOTE ARE AS FOLLOWS:
– Like Alpha, overall the participant view on the importance of the channels was little affected by the course.
– On an individual channel level, in order of increased importance was Email, followed by Video and Content writing (and Strategy). This is not surprising since the course did emphasis the growing importance of these digital aspects.
Alpha Digital Experience – Channel Expertise
THE CHANGES OF NOTE ARE AS FOLLOWS:
– Encouragingly, participants stated that their expertise increased by 101% 6- months and 112% 12-months after the course.
– The highest confidence recorded for Digital Strategy, followed by Influencer marketing, Video, and Social Media marketing. A significant part of the course was the digital strategy, so it is encouraging to see there is an uptick in participant confidence.
Beta Digital Experience – Channel Expertise
THE CHANGES OF NOTE ARE AS FOLLOWS:
– Encouragingly, participants stated that their expertise increased by 111% 6- months and 128% 12-months after the course.
– The highest confidence recorded for Social Media and SEO, Digital Strategy, followed by Graphic Design, Data and Strategy. However, everything is higher with email being the lowest gain at 117%.
5. Additional Qualitative Information
Verbal Feedback
Qualitative Results
Alpha Additional Selling Methods:
– Target cold calls
– Retail Sales
– Word of Mouth
– Offering online courses
– Pinterest
– Etsy
– Newsletter
– Google Business Profile (it should be noted that this was part of the course, but not tracked in the data)
Beta Additional Selling Methods:
– Direct mail
– Referral
– AdvisorStream – sends out blog updates daily.
– Eventbrite
– Networking
– Trade shows
– Free samples at events
– Podcasts
– Newspaper articles
– Cold calling
– Business cards
– Partner communications
– Virtual or inperson markets / pop-ups
– Magazine ads
– Themed (wedding) brochures
– Sponsorships
– Flyers / Promo Cards
– Public Relations
Digital Tools:
– Mailchimp
– Omni Send Email
– Wellness Living CRM
– SEMRush
– Ahrefs
Obstacles
What are the major obstacles for your business going online?
– It is difficult to get the time in a week and money to work on the digital marketing. Operations is always challenging the marketing efforts.
– It is difficult to figure out the digital marketing strategy to undertake the campaigns. Namely, the content approach, the method of communicating the marketing message and the technology (ie., SEO tools).
– It is hard to convert the customers to leads once you bring them into your digital marketing funnel. There is need to ensure the marketing has good ratio of business owner effort to good outcomes.
What are the major obstacles for your business going online?
– Conversions. And CTAs.
– Trying to find a unique niche. And finding the right messaging.
– Having trouble focusing on the start of the process.
– Low on funds and time.
– Paid.
– Dealing with the marketing, with the operations needing time.
– Creating content and repurposing it.
Alpha Focus Group Insights – 6-Months
At Six Months:
– The digital marketing content strategy and analytics/KPIs are time consuming and complex to figure out, there is a need to give it the necessary time. Also, you will need to keep going back to your strategy and retooling. A good strategy document will also help you to better manage your employees and outside consultants.
– The need to put your content creation into a work schedule to ensure you are consistent.
– The Pillar to Micro-Content formula works well. A focus on creating highly effective and conversion friendly landing pages was important.
– Each business will often have a different media channel and/or platform focus. And focus on quality over quantity.
– Go with Paid once your Organic & Earned marketing is working. For example one participant eliminated $12,000 per month in Google Ads and got the same results with a focus on Organic SEO.
Beta Focus Group Insights – 6-Months
At Six Months:
– The strategy is essential, without it you fall behind in the course. Strategy is essential for campaigns; it simplifies the process so it does not get overwhelming.
– The course has helped greatly with the outsourcing.
– The pillar to micro is a great approach. Also, a campaign versus one-time content.
– Catering content to different audiences is very effective.
– Still finding the metrics to be hard.
– The focus on conversions and objectives in the course was important.
– SEO and how to create landing pages is working really well.
Course:
– Need more space between the sections. Maybe with some type of checklist. More hands on guidance.
– Bring one of the businesses all the way through as a sample. Could also have focus on the scheduling process.
– More information on the actual use of the tools. Help with outsourcing.
– Have a community forum for members to help each other out. Also, courses and mentors support them. Tech support important as well.
Alpha Focus Group Insights – 12-Months
At Twelve Months:
– As per the 6-Month focus group feedback, the strategic planning was essential to digital marketing campaign effectiveness. Also, it allows you to manage the people around you much better. The Pillar to Micro-Content receipt works very well.
– SEO is so much more power than Social Media for many businesses. A SEO and the content messaging needs to focus on niches.
– Focus on quality content over quantity.
– Once again, the need to schedule in the time for digital marketing content creation and planning.
– Backlinks is a great way to drive in traffic.
Beta Focus Group Insights – 12-Months
At Twelve Months:
– Strategy is essential. Strategy closer to their industry, would be even better. Value proposition very important. Competitive review in strategy important.
– Guidance on how to write a blog.
– Metrics are essential.
– SEO and Yoast important. Then reading the metrics.
– Understanding the process and language important.
Course:
– Put paid by itself in the very end.
– Longer course with breaks between sections. Sections could be stand alone.
6. Overall Insights
What Did We Learn?
Overall Summary
The Businesses are Growing!
Business revenue increased by 113% over the pre-covid yearly sales for Alpha and was even for Beta. Revenue was up 241% for Alpha and 121% for Beta from the previous year. Employees increased by 138% for Alpha and 129% for Beta. And inter-Canada or world customer expansion was up by 122% for Alpha and 127% for Beta.
The Digital Marketing Effectiveness is going SkyHigh!
Overall channel customer engagement is up 148% for Alpha and 290% for Beta. But the business owner’s work is only up 109% for Alpha and 197% for Beta resulting in a better ROI for their efforts. And they are even saving advertising spend; the use of paid media is down to 72% for Alpha and paid does not factor in use for Beta.
Owner Digital Marketing Mastery is Higher!
The business owner’s confidence in their digital marketing skills is up by 112% after 12-months for Alpha and 128% for Beta.
Summary of Important Insights For Other Businesses
If You Do Things Right, Your Business will Grow!
By having a clear and focused digital marketing campaign strategy, you will work close to the same but will get much better results. The business owner needs to be aware that random unstrategic content does not necessarily sell products. It is through well thought out content and structured campaigns that you succeed with digital marketing.
Not All Digital Marketing Channels and Platforms are the Same!
The most successful areas were Video and SEO, and LinkedIn for Social. They found social media alone did not necessarily drive the business forward. Also, paid is better to bring into your mix once your organic marketing efforts are well established (a big part of this is having existing high conversion landing pages in place).