Core Online Marketing is proud to announce we have been approved and recognized as a qualified Digital Advisor under the Canadian Digital Adoption Program (CDAP). The program is funded by the Government of Canada, and is designed to help small and mid-sized businesses (SME’s) develop and execute digital strategies in support of their revenue growth objectives.
The role of the Digital Advisor is to work with businesses to develop a strategic digital adoption plan. Plan elements include recommendations related to online marketing tactics and best in breed digital technologies, and a roll-out plan to implement the recommendations with an associated implementation and execution budget.
What Funding Does The CDAP Program Offer?
SME’s can benefit from two distinct sources of funding under CDAP’s Stream 2 (Boost Your Business Technology):
- Grant funding that covers 90% of plan development, up to a maximum of $15,000. The cost to an SME would therefore be approximately $1,500.
- An opportunity to secure up to a $100,000, 0% interest loan from the Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC) to implement and execute the plan and to help with the purchase of new technology.
How Do You Apply For CDAP Program?
Before applying for CDAP, your business must meet all of the following criteria:
- Be incorporated federally or provincially, or be a Canadian resident sole proprietor
- Be a for-profit, privately owned business
- Have between 1 – 499 full-time equivalent employees
- Have at least $500,000 of annual revenues in one of the previous three tax years
If you meet all four criteria above, start your CDAP application here.
How Core’s Strategic Planning Process Aligns With The CDAP Program
At Core Online Marketing, we specialize in helping SMEs transform their marketing and sales activities for the digital world.
Over the last 15 years, Core has developed a unique and proprietary online marketing planning methodology designed to empower businesses to make investments in digital marketing with their “eyes wide open.”
Our comprehensive planning method helps small and mid-sized businesses gain an understanding of how their prospects are using the internet and digital technology to make purchasing decisions, and how to best align with the modern buyer’s journey. Plan deliverables are focused on how to strategically use digital technologies and processes, to the greatest extent possible, to increase brand awareness, lead generation, and ultimately sales.
We have completed over 250 digital transformation plans for SMEs of all sizes and in every industry across Canada.
Core’s Planning Process
Plan development takes 30-45 days of elapsed time to complete and requires roughly 8-10 hours of a business’ time.
Seven digital experts in key specialty areas are assigned to every plan: A Digital Business Strategist, Content Strategist, Social Strategist, Email Marketing and Marketing Automation Strategist, Digital Ad Strategist, Analyst/Technologist, and a Creative Strategist.
Together, they work with you to understand your goals and then conduct extensive research into your business development process, your existing marketing and sales technologies, your prospects, and the competitive environment, in order to develop recommendations that can help you transform your business development processes to compete in a digital world.
Plan Implementation and Execution
While the plan stands alone with its practical and detailed recommendations, Core Online Marketing specialists can also bring our expertise, skill sets and resources to the table by putting the plan into action – in effect becoming an organization’s outsourced digital marketing team. This allows for a seamless transition from planning to execution.
Core builds and manages digital activities and infrastructure for over 60 companies across Canada.
Which CDAP Categories Can Core Help You With?
CDAP has identified nine areas of focus in which SMEs can seek assistance. Once you are approved for Stream 2, you will be given access to the Advisor Marketplace. From there, you can filter for Advisors who can assist in these areas.
Core can assist in four of the nine categories:
- Analytics: Specialized skills that can help you incorporate Analytics products and services into your business to advance your business’s digital maturity (e.g. Web/ Customer/ Sales/ Service/ Marketing Analytics).
- Communications: Specialized skills to help your SME adopt tools and services that manage, integrate and deliver content across digital channels such as email, social media, immersive experiences, websites and apps, and digital media/publishing/documents/advertising.
- Customer service: Specialized skills to help your SME adopt tools and services to digitally engage customers. This includes delivering support and marketing processes over digital channels like live chat, email, video chat, chatbots, or text messaging. It also encompasses automated self service, virtual agents, tailored customer engagements, the optimization of service operations, and elevating agent effectiveness.
- Marketing & sales management: Specialized skills to help your SME adopt online sales tools and support services such as online quotes, customer list and database management, tools that help guide customers through the sales process, and digital tools to support marketing campaigns.
Get Started: Next Steps
Core Online Marketing would be pleased to answer any questions related to the Canadian Digital Adoption Program, and assist in preparing the application for the grant funding. Once an application is approved, Core will commence work on the plan.
Contact us today to discuss your objectives. We’d be happy to walk you through our process and examples of our work to determine if we’re a good fit. We work with SMEs in every province and territory across Canada.
Core Online Marketing helps SMEs create the right digital infrastructure for business development. We take a strategic approach to digital marketing that drives results. Do your online activities have a direct impact on your revenue growth? Download our free Online Marketing Self-Audit to find out.
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