The Alabama Small Business Development Center (Alabama SBDC) at the University of Alabama is bringing its Digital Marketing Bootcamp program to rural communities in Alabama this fall.

The training is being offered by the Alabama SBDC through the U.S. Small Business Administration’s Portable Assistance program. These funds support business education programming in rural areas affected by weather-related disasters.

Reporting for duty

The Digital Marketing Bootcamp is a three-hour training program that guides attendees through setting measurable marketing goals for their business and instructs how search-engine optimization, social media and technology can help them reach their goals. The expanded offerings build on a successful pilot program in 2023.

“As we all witnessed during the pandemic, companies with a robust digital marketing presence were in a better position to remain connected to their customers and to remain relevant. The Digital Marketing Bootcamp will help small businesses connect with a wider audience, providing them with a foundation for increased business growth,” said Michael Brooks, associate state director of the Alabama SBDC at the University of Alabama.

In Alabama, the program facilitators include Jacqui Jones, CEO of One Degree Marketing and founder of Elevation Academy, and Larkin Jones, a business adviser at the Alabama SBDC at Auburn University.

“Nationally, and especially in the Southeast, SBDC programs often collaborate to address emerging issues and share best practices,” Brooks said. “This type of collaboration helps to drive high performance. The small businesses we serve can be confident that they’re receiving top-notch content from a trusted and proven resource.”

Southern SBDC squad

Program attendees will benefit from collaboration with similar programs in Georgia and Mississippi as marketing experts from SBDC programs work together to address the ever-changing digital marketing needs of small businesses.

The Digital Marketing Bootcamp has presented programs in Mobile, Ashland and Clanton this fall and has events scheduled in Monroeville, Demopolis, Enterprise, Robertsdale and Brewton over the next two months.

Additional information about the program and registration is available on the Alabama SBDC website.

The Alabama SBDC Network is funded in part through a cooperative agreement with the U.S. Small Business Administration and is hosted by the University of Alabama’s Office for Research and Economic Development. The Alabama SBDC is nationally accredited by the America’s SBDC national association, the most comprehensive program of its kind in the United States. The Alabama program serves businesses from all 67 counties, in any industry sector and at any stage of business development.

This story originally appeared 0n the University of Alabama’s website.