Keen to take her business to the next level and further develop her digital marketing know-how, business owner, entrepreneur and creative Louisa Mallett signed up to the Digital Marketing Level 4 qualification and her business is now reaping the rewards!
As an artist, Louisa spins a lot of creative plates. While she’s often working on a variety of projects at any one time, her main focus is on her businesses, That’s Handy and Baked by Lou. Lou runs a private studio as a nail technician where she focuses on nail art, That’s Handy, as well as designing and making polymer clay jewellery for Baked by Lou.
Although Lou had already established a strong customer base for her businesses, the Digital Marketing Level 4 qualification appealed to her as it provided an opportunity to better understand her customers and increase traffic to her websites.
“The ‘making’ side of what I do comes much more natural to me, whereas all the other business stuff can seem a little daunting. Reading the course outline, as well as the types of units I could work on, including: SEO, marketing planning and website development, it appealed to me that I could get support to improve in these areas of my business.”
Despite the demands of running and juggling two businesses, the qualification fits well around Louisa’s workload and studying alongside has not only been manageable but beneficial too. The Digital Marketing Level 4 qualification provides real-life projects that you can practically incorporate into your workload, rather than work through as a theoretical concept.
“The qualification fits in really well around my current work load – even before the pandemic it didn’t impact negatively on the businesses I run. I can work on the course chunk by chunk, meet my assessor each month, as well as use real life scenarios as examples for my qualification. For example, when working on units about key words or analytics, I used my own website and social media platforms to provide evidence for these units. It’s made me look at things I wouldn’t necessarily have done before doing the qualification, so its actually provided me with really valuable information!”
The Digital Marketing Level 4 qualification recognises the rapid growth and changes within the sector and focuses on the use of digital media to attract and engage with existing and potential customers, e.g. online advertising, email marketing, and search engine optimisation. This knowledge enables learners to use digital marketing not just as a competitive business strategy and tool, but also know how to effectively use it and measure the results to benefit their business. From marketing planning and legalities, through to project management, metrics and analytics, the qualification covers it all. The benefit to Louisa’s businesses, That’s Handy and Baked by Lou, has really paid off.
The qualification has allowed me to really expand my marketing and business knowledge – outside of just posting photos on social media platforms. I now fully understand my target audience and know how to plan a marketing project and improve the traffic to my website with the content I post. It’s really broadened my ability to show people what I do and promote my work.
The qualification which consists of assignments, interactive workshops and remote delivery tools such as podcasts, videos and webinars, also features one-to-one support from an experienced assessor. This assistance throughout the course has ensured Louisa continues to progress comfortably, safe in the knowledge there is someone always on hand to offer guidance.
“I’ve had loads of support from ACT. My assessor has always got back to me in a timely manner and has always been there whenever I need them. They really care about both my wellbeing and my business and offer help by answering my business questions – even if it isn’t specifically about one of the units. Having targets set each month that break the qualification down into smaller chunks for me has also helped. It’s also allowed me to complete the work in a way that works best for me. For example, rather than having to write lots, we have done video recordings to record my responses. I’ve also really enjoyed the workshops, because I understand a lot more of the theory behind business now.”
With her businesses and customer base already growing, Louisa is looking forward to That’s Handy and Baked by Lou benefitting further from the skills and knowledge she is gaining from the qualification. Speaking about her learning experiences to date and her plans for the future, Louisa added:
“I really want to maintain and build on the digital knowledge I’ve learnt from this qualification so far, not only so I can increase my audience and promote my art, but also so I can help others by sharing the expertise I’ve gained. I would definitely recommend this course to other businesses and creatives – in fact, I already have done.”
There’s never been a better time to improve your online visibility and sharpen your marketing skills. Find out more about the Digital Marketing Level 4 qualification here.
Want to know more?
ACT offer a range of qualifications designed to help you and your business adapt, upskill and stay ahead of the curve. If you want to know more about your options, our Training Advisors are on hand to provide expert guidance.
Contact us today on 029 2046 4727 or email info@acttraining.org.uk
