Affordable Marketing Support and Training for SMEs.
Join the SME Marketing Academy Today.
WHAT IS THE SME MARKETING ACADEMY?
The SME Marketing Academy provides affordable, on-going support with all aspects of marketing for Small and Medium Sized Businesses.
ABOUT THE ACADEMY
Having spent 25 years working within and for SMEs, The SME Marketing Academy Founder, Sarah Lambley FCIM CMKtr, knows one thing to be consistently true.
SMEs simply don’t have the budget to pay high level strategic thinking either by recruiting a senior marketer or hiring external agency support.
Often, smaller businesses have very small, relatively junior marketing teams who work directly for the founder or MD. These marketers are often lonely, have no-one to learn from, have limited experience and are struggling with how to grow the business.
This conundrum often leads to high staff turnover of marketers in smaller organisations and stunted business growth.
Identifying an opportunity to kill two birds with one stone – provide access to great marketing thinking and elevate the marketing discipline by providing training and mentoring to SME marketers everywhere – Sarah founded the SME Marketing Academy.
An affordable and supportive solution providing access to quality training materials and expert strategic, creative and tactical insights every month.
THE SME ACADEMY IS FOR YOU IF:
- You work in marketing and have less than 5 years’ experience
- You work in marketing and have no formal training
- You’re the sole marketer in your organisation
- You’re a business founder who hasn’t yet hired any marketers in-house
- You’re a sole trader who wants to learn how to market your business for growth
WHY THE SME MARKETING ACADEMY IS A GAME CHANGER
Flexible
Learn at your own speed, attend Q&As live or watch the recording, submit questions via email when you can’t be there in person.
Effective
Delivering the right message to the right customers at the right time is easier said than done. Learn from our experts so that your marketing plans are on point and effective.
Career Development
Marketing is ever evolving. Don’t get left behind! The most successful marketers are the ones who set time aside to learn.
Affordability
For a small monthly fee you get access to marketing experts providing practical ways you can grow your business.
Community
As we’re launching in January 2023, it’s early days. But we’re on a mission to grow our community from day one – and you could be a part of that movement!
Confidence
We all doubt ourselves sometimes, but access to knowledge and expertise within the academy will give you the confidence to silence that inner voice.
ROI
The SME Marketing Academy will help reduce staff turnover (and recruitment fees), improve productivity from marketers and ensure they’re focused on what really matters – commerciality not just campaigns. At just £100 + VAT per month, you’ll get a return on your investment in no time.
Tenure
Marketing in a small organisation is often a thankless task. You can often feel like a jack of all trades, master of none. And often, there’s little support available for your career development. The SME Marketing Academy will be your guide and mentor, meaning greater job satisfaction for you and reduced staff turnover for the business.
Peace of Mind
Are you doing the right things? Should you be doing more? Are you wasting money? With access to expert advice and our emergency email helpline, you can rest easy!
THE SUPPORT I WISH I'D HAD...
Sarah Lambley FCIM CMktr, Founder of the SME Marketing Academy
I started my career in 1999. It was an interesting time – the dot com boom was underway and marketers were finding their way in ‘new media’. It was an interesting and exciting time, but difficult to navigate. Should I specialise in a particular area of marketing execution or be a generalist marketer? Should I stay agency side or move client side?
When I landed my first significant role as Marketing Manager at ghd, the hair superbrand, I was a lone marketer in a small but fast-growing organisation. It was an exciting but lonely place to be. Big responsibility, big decisions and ultimately being accountable for a brand that had enormous potential.
I was terrified I might f**k it up!
I struggled with imposter syndrome and had to be strong not to doubt myself. I was fortunate enough to be able to find support from other external marketers who became trusted mentors.
My time at ghd was ultimately a huge success – as a shareholder, I exited the business in 2013 having grown the brand to be worth £300m.
Since then, I’ve been working with SMEs to develop their marketing strategies.
And I regularly hear from marketers that they feel lonely or unsupported.
In organisations where founders are doing the marketing themselves or they haven’t yet hired a marketer, I hear the same concerns and see the same problems on a weekly basis.
I decided enough was enough.
The SME Marketing Academy is borne from a passion to see smaller businesses and the marketers within them succeed. To elevate the marketing discipline within smaller organisations to be as effective and successful as it is in the large corporations who have 7 figure budgets.
Marketing success shouldn’t be restricted by budget.
With the right thinking and access to affordable support, all businesses, no matter what their size, can become marketing powerhouses.
Hope to see you inside the academy soon,
WHY SHOULD YOU TRUST IN THE SME MARKETING ACADEMY?
SUBSCRIPTION TO THE SME MARKETING ACADEMY INCLUDES:
- 12 core modules – taking you through the core principles of marketing
- Methodologies, tools and formulas broken down into digestible lessons
- Monthly Q&A with Sarah Lambley FCIM CMktr
- Email support for marketing emergencies or burning questions
- Regular presentations and clinics with a wide range of marketing experts – covering everything from research to copywriting
- Access to the SME Marketing Academy community
- The option to buy affordable reduced rate consultancy by the hour when a little more support is required
THE 12 CORE MODULES
Brand Pack
The Basics
BURNING QUESTIONS? HERE ARE SOME ANSWERS
The 12 Core Modules in The Academy are currently being assessed.
We expect to announce accreditation by late Spring 2023.
The SME Marketing Academy consists of two parts:
- The 12 Core Modules
- Additional expert content
The 12 Core Modules are currently being assessed for accreditation by the CPD Standards Office.
The Learning Objectives for the 12 Core Modules are:
· Develop your strategic brand and marketing planning skills
· Understand the three elements that make up a marketing strategy
· Learn how to write a strong proposition
· Build skills in critical marketing techniques such as segmentation, category creation & communications planning
· Understand how to deliver an effective marketing plan
· Eliminate imposter syndrome
The subscription fee is £100 + VAT per month for a minimum of 12 months.
After registration, you will receive your Login details directly from Teachable.
Your subscription is for your whole organisation, therefore you are permitted to request additional logins.
Please contact us at hello@smemarketingacademy.com to request additional user access.
After sign up, you’ll be sent a welcome email with all the Q&A dates included.
New clinics will be announced via email and details will be provided on how to book.
The SME Marketing Academy is available to anyone who wants to develop their skills in marketing – whether you have 10 years’ experience or no experience at all.
The 12 core modules are aimed at marketers with less experience, but you may find them a useful refresher. The Q&As and clinics will cover a range of topics and represent an opportunity for you to check your own thinking or bounce ideas around, which is useful for everyone, no matter how much experience you have.
Unfortunately not. The SME Marketing Academy has a minimum sign-up term of 12 months.
You will be sent a link to subscribe via the Stripe payment system. Every month, we will take payment from the credit card provided.
Not at the moment. The Academy is currently set up to accept monthly payments.
We don’t offer any discounts on the monthly fee. The price is set to reflect the quality of the materials and expertise on offer, but it is also set at a realistic and affordable price for smaller businesses. Our fee is extremely competitive when compared with other training courses and consultancy fees.
If you are interested in sharing your marketing expertise, please contact Sarah in the first instance to discuss what you can offer.
Your login will be sent via email, usually within 24 hours of sign up. If you don’t receive it, please check your junk mail. If you don’t receive your login credentials within 2 working days of signing up, please get in touch so we can investigate.
Teachable is the online learning platform we use to deliver course materials. When you join The Academy you will be sent your own Teachable login to access our course system.
You can go through the course at your own pace. We recommend at least one module per month.
You will continue to be able to access all of the course materials and recordings until your subscription ends and you no longer pay the monthly fee.
At our regular clinics, you will be able to book a 30 minute slot with our experts to ask specific questions relevant to your business.
The 12 core modules will take just under 7.5 hours in total.
Each module video ranges from 5 minutes to 75 minutes depending on the subject being covered.
Beyond the 12 core modules, additional content is being added all the time and these videos typically last 30-45 minutes