DIMMY – Training Project for Digital Sales and Marketing

The Dimmy 2.0 training is the most comprehensive and free-of-charge 30-credit digital marketing and sales training offered within the framework of Oulu University of Applied Sciences’ DigiLii project. The main goal of the training is to strengthen the digital sales and marketing activities of SMEs and micro-enterprises in the Oulu region and to create profitable customer relationships.

• Individuals interested in enhancing their skills in digital business and marketing,
• Management of SMEs,
• Entrepreneurs, and
• Unemployed individuals and those at risk of unemployment.

The DigiLii project is funded by the European Social Fund and the Centre for Economic Development, Transport and the Environment, with the aim of increasing and developing the digital business and marketing skills of those already working in the field and, at the same time, developing the digital business capabilities and competitiveness of SMEs in Northern Ostrobothnia. Additionally, the project aims to improve the ability of the Oulu University of Applied Sciences and possibly other educational institutions to respond to the digital business skills challenges of the workforce.

In the project, a digital marketing and business training program lasting approximately six months and based on the latest knowledge is planned iteratively in collaboration with companies, primarily for those already working in the field. The program will be implemented primarily through online studies, and it will be aimed at the entire Northern Ostrobothnia region. The studies are sector-independent. The project begins with the planning phase of the training model, which will last until autumn 2019. After this, the training will move on to the pilot phase. During the pilots, feedback will be collected, which will be used to improve the training model on the principle of continuous development. The development will also utilize the digital business and marketing research conducted during the project to ensure the timeliness of the training. The DigiLii project also organizes training sessions for teachers on key themes of digital marketing, thus supporting the dissemination of expertise within educational institutions.

Between 2020 and 2022, five pilot trainings will be conducted, aiming to provide further education or retraining for at least one hundred individuals already working or unemployed in the field of digital business and marketing. Alongside their studies, the participants will carry out development tasks related to their own work, thus improving the digital business processes of companies. The development of the training model will also serve as a pilot, enabling the flexible implementation of short supplementary training courses for those already in the workforce, in line with the new national higher education strategy.

The project staff will research and monitor the rapid development of digital marketing and business and transfer the accumulated new knowledge directly into the training and publications for use in the workforce. Based on the generated knowledge, a toolkit for developing digital marketing for micro and SMEs will be produced online, allowing them to more easily develop their processes and competitiveness.