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Description
This project aims to empower artisans, particularly SME owners, by providing them with essential digital skills. Activities include blended training sessions, video development, and promotion efforts, with expected outcomes including improved ICT knowledge, enhanced marketing skills, and increased digital visibility and income for artisans, ultimately benefitting their businesses.
The project''s primary aim is to enhance the competitiveness of artisans, specifically SME owners, by equipping them with crucial knowledge and digital skills. This empowerment is centred around three key competencies: creating a digital presence to promote their goods effectively, mastering digital design for photos and videos, and improving their digital communication and public relations abilities. By imparting these skills, the project seeks to enable artisans to thrive as entrepreneurs, adapt to the digital era, and reach a wider audience, ultimately contributing to the growth and sustainability of their businesses in an increasingly digital marketplace.
To achieve these aims the project will undertake a series of key activities, including:
- Project Management
- Project Publicity
- Training Events
- Developing Project Results
Summary of project results
The project aimed to address several key challenges faced by artisans in Romania. Firstly, artisans often struggled to maintain financial stability and compete with larger corporations in the industry. While they possessed excellent manufacturing skills, they lacked essential business-related skills such as marketing and digital marketing, which are crucial for increasing their competitiveness. Additionally, there was a significant lack of investment in their business and entrepreneurial education, contributing to their need for continuous education.
The COVID-19 pandemic further exacerbated these challenges by impacting their ability to sell products at fairs and local markets, leading to a shift towards online promotion and an increased demand for digital marketing skill.
The project implemented blended training sessions for artisans, organizing four training sessions on different topics. These sessions included five-day face-to-face training events with a three-month consulting period and monthly follow-up meetings. The main outputs were the increased ICT knowledge and practical skills of at least 60 SME owners/artisans in areas such as social media management, visual marketing materials production, website and webshop creation, and digital public relations.
The project focused on the development and dissemination of project results. This involved generating 15 short videos on four main topics, along with self-study materials for each video. The outputs included the creation of 15 videos and attachments, which had positive long-term effects on SMEs, such as improved social media platform selection, quality visual material creation, efficient customer communication, webpage creation, increased digital customer reach, higher incomes, and improved marketing strategies. Additionally, the project promoted its results through a dissemination plan, achieving at least 200 viewers per video, and promoting the project through a website presentation, social media posts, and media articles
The project achieved significant results, primarily benefiting artisans and SME owners in Romania. One of the key outcomes was the enhancement of their digital skills and business-related competencies. Through the blended training sessions, at least 60 SME owners/artisans gained valuable knowledge in social media management, visual marketing materials production, website and webshop creation, and digital public relations. This improvement in their ICT skills enabled them to better promote their products and services online, thereby increasing their competitiveness.
Additionally, the development of 15 short videos on various topics provided artisans with accessible self-study materials. These videos had a long-term positive impact, helping artisans choose suitable social media platforms, create quality visual materials, communicate more efficiently with customers, and develop their own web pages. As a result, artisans were able to reach a higher number of customers digitally, leading to increased incomes and improved marketing strategies.
The project''s promotion and dissemination efforts also yielded significant results. By achieving at least 200 viewers per video and promoting the project through a website presentation, social media posts, and media articles, the project increased the popularity and attractiveness of artisans'' products among the target group. This led to greater financial stability for artisans, as they were able to retain constant customers and maintain a stable income.