From Idea to Impact: i3L Students Help SKIES Grow with Digital Marketing
Bogor, 22nd July 2024 – Program Kreativitas Mahasiswa or PKM is a program from the Ministry of Education, culture, research and technology of Indonesia (Kemendikbudristek) for University students to implement their ideas in a creative manner. For the first time in its history, students from I3l School of Business are accepted in the PKM program. For this year of PKM, our team choose the topic of Pengabdian Masyarakat (Community Service) with the topic of “Penerapan Marketing Branding Terhadap Organisasi Nirlaba Dalam Meningkatkan Penjualan melalui Etalase Digital” (Application of Marketing Branding to Non-Profit Organizations to Increase Sales through Digital Platform). Our team consist of 5 persons, Muhammad Ridwan Fadillah (IBM 2023, BE Streaming), Muthia Sasikirana (IBM 2023, CDM Streaming), Faradila Puti Zhafira (IBM 2023, CDM Streaming), Shruti Abigail Andika (IBM 2023, CDM Streaming), and Theresia Ariesta Andani (IBM 2022, CDM Streaming) and we called ourself “Team Skyline”. We also got help from Sir Andamar Pradipta as our mentor in this PKM program and Miss Putri Dini Azizi (Miss Jia) for formulating materials needed in the topic of digital marketing.
We partnered with a community called Salam Krya Istimewa or SKIES. SKIES is a center for special needs people to sell their product. SKIES under Sekolah Alam Bogor and Komunitas Peduli Anak Berkebutuhan Khusus (KOMPAKK) aims to nurture the creativity and financial independence of special needs people via product development and selling the product. However, SKIES is struggling to sell their product as most of the members of SKIES are aged above 40 years old and don’t have the necessary skill to do marketing, let alone digital marketing. Most of them still market their products via simple social media such as WhatsApp or word of mouth. The use of more sophisticated social media such as Instagram or Tiktok is still below ideal to be used as a good marketing medium. This also hindered SKIES to have a broader scope of appreciation and marketing in general. We want to help them solve this problem by increasing their skills with digital marketing.
In terms of improving the skills of SKIES members in marketing their products via social media. One of the main outcomes in our PKM program is a digital marketing workshop which focuses on improving skills in operating social media for product marketing purposes. Apart from improving skills in operating social media, our other program is creating promotional content for SKIES members’ products which can be used as an example for their social media content in the future. The next program is to increase the creativity of ABK children who are members of SKIES to provide inspiration for making new products through self-reliance workshops in making simple foods, namely yogurt and salted eggs. The final program is an offline exhibition which aims to increase SKIES marketing coverage apart from social media, namely the offline market. This PKM program spans from May to August 2024.
To achieve the PKM Skyline program’s output targets, we implemented workshops and training sessions focused on enhancing SKIES members’ social media marketing skills. Our workshops were divided into two stages. The first stage, held on June 8, 2024, at the Salam Ekosistem in Bogor, introduced participants to digital marketing. This session covered basic marketing principles, differences between traditional and digital marketing, and the benefits of using digital channels such as TikTok, Instagram, and e-commerce. Participants engaged in practical exercises to design digital marketing content and strategies. So not only theoretical knowledge, but also practical.
The second stage, held on July 13, 2024, at SMP Sekolah Alam Bogor, focuses on content creation techniques. Participants learned photography and videography skills and how to use apps like Canva and CapCut for creating social media content. This hands-on workshop will include practical sessions where participants create content for their products, followed by one-on-one consultations to refine their social media presence. In this workshop also, we seek help from i3l Students as a volunteer, which are Harish Hakaman, Arres Mehezkiel Handoko, and Stephani Citra Maharani from BT 2022 and Angel Lee & Rayfumi Clio Visca from IBM 2022
In addition to the main workshops, we are conducting several other activities. These include creating promotional content for SKIES, such as showcasing products and interviewing members with help from some volunteers which are Hijrah Rizki Ramadhan, Fayyaz Saputra, and Steven Adi Nugraha from IBM 2023 to help us make the content. We also organized a children’s workshop on independence and creativity, themed “Let’s Make Healthy Food.” This workshop taught children, especially special needs kids to make salted eggs and simple yogurt, encouraging creativity and environmental awareness. Our program ended in an offline exhibition at the National Children’s Day event organized by the National Commission on Disabilities of the Republic of Indonesia on July 23 2024.
The positive effect from this program is outstanding, even better than what we are expecting. People benefitting from our workshop are not only limited to SKIES members but also coming from other communities, especially from SMES business in Bogor. One significant development before and after the PKM program was the notable improvement in social media and digital marketing skills among participants. According to our post-workshop surveys and discussions, skills that were previously minimal have become quite proficient. SKIES expressed gratitude for the program, acknowledging its substantial benefits. While recognizing that their skills may not match those of professionals due to limited time and age, participants now feel more competitive amidst the widespread use of digital marketing in sales techniques today.
Through SKIES’ success in helping sell creative products from individuals with special needs, it can serve as a model for other communities supporting special needs individuals to effectively use digital marketing for their products. Discussions with SKIES revealed their hope for future programs to help them further develop their marketing skills, particularly in digital marketing. The potential for growth in this area is significant, as many communities focused on special needs education overlook the business potential of their products. We will have more intensive and long term projects in the future with them and possibilities in other communities as well.
Relying on “feeling pity” is unsustainable and diminishes the value of special needs individuals’ work. Their creations should be valued for their creativity, enhancing a product’s value. Thus, developing marketing skills, especially digital marketing, is crucial for them to achieve their potential. (MRF)
