The Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM) has introduced a series of virtual classrooms, to encourage professional marketers to continue learning and development from home.
As more businesses turn to digital channels to maintain relationships with consumers in response to the coronavirus pandemic. CIM is seeing an increased demand from members looking to expand their digital marketing capabilities, looking specifically at PPC, SEO, paid social and copywriting.
In response, CIM has developed interactive, compact and more informal virtual courses focusing on these in-demand areas of training. Marketers can opt to participate in two types of virtual classroom:
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Six week courses: Weekly 90 minute live and interactive sessions with fellow participants and a CIM course leader.
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Intensive workshops: Designed to simulate the traditional classroom learning experience with interaction between fellow participants and a CIM course leader.
In total, there are 38 new virtual classrooms spanning brand strategy, digital marketing, planning, product management, customer experience and paid social. This follows CIM’s recent move to redevelop a wide range of courses for virtual delivery, including moving its most in-demand courses online.
With marketing budgets declining at their fastest pace since the 2009 financial crash, it is critical that leadership teams recognise the impact training plays in their businesses’ capability to adapt during this crisis, and thrive afterwards. Training such as this, is also under consideration from the Government, as pressure increases to extend the apprenticeship levy to cover digital training for homebound and furloughed staff.
Discussing the new virtual class Olivia Marsh, Brand Manager at Glenmark Pharmaceuticals said: “I really enjoyed the managing the brand course, the content was excellent, with the right balance of theory and real-world examples. The templates for ‘brand on a page’ and ‘strategy on a page’ are tools that everyone can implement quickly and are a great physical take away. Encouraging webcam use and individual participation worked well and kept every member of the class engaged throughout.”
James Sutton, Director of Training at CIM said: “The feedback we’re getting from businesses is that people need a different type of training course at the moment. They need to be digital of course, but in a way that still allows that two-way interaction with the course leader. People are also looking for shorter courses, that allow them to upskill quickly in the short term, perhaps to make the most of a period being furloughed, for example. Our new offering responds directly to this need.
“It is therefore absolutely necessary that we adapt our training needs too, to ensure that marketers are equipped with the skills to thrive post-pandemic. Our virtual classrooms are available to all levels, and look to address this.”
The new virtual classrooms will add to CIM’s growing portfolio of online services, which include: webinars, podcasts and training materials and online courses like the recently launched ‘Digital Marketing Channels’ course.
To find out more or to book a virtual classroom, visit: https://www.cim.co.uk/training/list-courses/#training-courses
