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March 5, 2024
OSHKOSH — When the COVID-19 pandemic shut down classes at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh (UWO) in March 2020, instructor Kathy Fredrickson said she had two concerns:
How could she transfer her digital marketing class online?How would small businesses handle the shutdown?
Fredrickson said she came up with an answer to both by creating an end-of-semester project where students would pair up to help small businesses with their digital marketing needs.
She said it was a huge success.
“I decided it shouldn’t be a one-time thing and thought, ‘what if we could help small businesses using our students’ expertise?'” she said.
And with that, Fredrickson said she began working with Dan Brosman of the UWO’s Small Business Development Center to create the Wisconsin SBDC Digital Marketing Clinic.
The clinic, which was supported by CARES (Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security) Act funds, opened in January 2021.
After CARES Act funding ended, Fredrickson said the clinic began to receive funding through the Main Street Bounceback Grants program, which is run by the Wisconsin Economic Development Corp.
Since the clinic launched, Fredrickson said students have helped 329 businesses, provided 4,697 hours of consulting and supported 1,777 jobs.
In addition, she said each student consultant has landed a job after graduation.
How it works
Fredrickson said the clinic pairs two student consultants with small businesses looking for help with their digital marketing needs — such as SEO (search engine optimization), conducting website and social media audits, strategic recommendations and creating digital assets.
Each client receives 20 hours of support.
Fredrickson said all students are trained and certified in SEO and analytics.
AJ Preston, who has worked as a student consultant since last May and will graduate this spring, said taking the skills learned in class and using them to help businesses has been a great experience.
“I have learned so much,” he said. “It is implementing what we have learned to make a real difference for a business. Working on the deliverables, such as a short-form video, is a lot of fun.”
Owners and employees at many small businesses, Preston said, often wear multiple hats and some do not have a person dedicated to marketing, or they may not be up to date on the latest technology and trends.
“They can get busy and don’t have someone who can focus on this area, which is where we can come in,” he said. “We can provide them with multiple tools to get their digital marketing going. We hear people say they are doing online advertising, but it’s not working. Often, that’s because their website isn’t optimized or it is confusing and customers are not sure where to go.”
How to participate
Fredrickson said the clinic works in collaboration with SBDC consultants across Wisconsin who can refer businesses in need of digital marketing services.
Interested businesses should contact a consultant at their local SBDC center before applying.
To get started, Fredrickson said businesses fill out an application and list what assistance they need.
From there, the students and clients have a kick-off meeting to learn more about the business’ needs.
Then, students develop a plan and get to work.
Fredrickson said the clinic helps businesses throughout Wisconsin and is the only one like it in the state.
“The services provided by the digital marketing clinic made a greater impact for our business than the COVID-19 relief funds we received,” Steve Giese, vice president of sales at Gain Control, LLC in Pulaski, said.
Fredrickson said depending on the backlog, businesses might have to wait a little before they can be helped.
When the project is complete, she said student consultants create a PowerPoint describing what they learned and their plan to help the business.
UWO senior Anthony Preston walks through a PowerPoint presentation outlining the steps a business needs to take to improve its social media reach at the Wisconsin Digital Marketing Clinic. The clinic pairs businesses with student consultants who help them with their digital marketing needs free of charge. Photo Courtesy of Megan Tomasik
The presentation, Fredrickson said, is shared with the SBDC consultant working with the business in case additional follow-up is needed.
“For social media help, it can be anything from hashtag research and searching for relevant emojis to capturing photos and creating a stylized template businesses can use,” student consultant Megan Tomasik said.
Kaitlyn Wunderlich started at the clinic in November and said most businesses need help optimizing their websites and improving their SEO.
“(The consultants) enjoy working together and bouncing ideas off each other,” she said. “We have a weekly production meeting where we get together and determine who is working on what.”
Throughout the process, Fredrickson said she provides oversight.
“It’s the student consultants who are doing the hard work and helping the businesses,” she said. “It’s been great watching them as their skills develop.”
In addition to providing one-on-one assistance, Fredrickson said the team also creates videos and tutorials available for any business to access.
“Many businesses use Canva to create their social media posts, and we created a video tutorial to provide them with tips,” Wunderlich said. “The videos are not just for the clients but for anyone and are posted on our YouTube (channel).”
Students learn about the clinic while taking Fredrickson’s class and can apply for internships as they become available.
She said students not only receive hands-on experience and examples for their portfolios, but they also satisfy the internship requirement that several programs, including the College of Business, have in place.
“We take what we have learned in class and get to apply it in the clinic,” Tomasik said. “The clinic reinforces what we learned in class, plus there is the continued learning we receive from working with the businesses.”
For more information about the clinic, visit wisconsinsbdc.org.
