THIRTY Richmond area business people enjoyed a free day’s training in digital marketing thanks to Google and Rishi Sunak MP.
The global internet giant brought its Digital Garage Market Towns Tour to Richmond with the support of the area’s MP offering local businesses the chance to improve their online skills.
The day’s training was held at the recently refurbished Fleece Hotel. Small businesses and sole traders enjoyed sessions on building a digital marketing plan, using social media, improving the online visibility of a business and using data to make better decisions about reaching target markets.
Delegates were welcomed to the Garage by Mr Sunak who thanked Google for providing the training.
He said: “We all know the future is increasingly digital but many small businesses find it hard to harness the power of the internet to grow their enterprises.
“This course provides a start for those dipping their toe in the water for the first time and those who may have made the first steps but want to release the potential of digital marketing to reach out to more customers.”
Alissa Davies, Google’s UK Policy Manager, attended the event. She said: “Government research shows that SMEs with a strong web presence grow more than twice as quickly as competitors, create more than twice as many jobs, and are 50% more likely to sell outside of their immediate region.
"Our own experience with the Google Digital Garage has found that 68% of businesses who have upskilled digitally have seen positive results – in sales, bookings, traffic or followers.”