- Why 83 per cent of teams fall short on digital and marketing readiness, and how this impacts influencer strategy?
The most common mistake we see is that many teams jump into influencer marketing without first establishing a solid foundation in digital and marketing fundamentals. This leads to superficial campaigns that focus on short-term visibility rather than long-term brand-building or measurable ROI.
From our experience, the 83 per cent that fall short tend to lack internal alignment on brand objectives, don’t fully understand their customer journey, or haven’t mapped out how influencers fit into a broader digital strategy. Without this readiness, teams end up making reactive decisions, selecting influencers based on trends rather than relevance, or misjudging campaign success purely on vanity metrics like reach and likes.
- How can companies ensure HRD Corp-funded training translates into real capabilities?
The first thing that companies need to do is to design training programmes that go beyond the classroom, in this case, they need to have something that is sustainable beyond just what they will learn that day. This is directly tied to each team’s pain points and day-to-day workflows. Not just one single department. Everybody has to take part and see what they want to learn, what needs to be improved, and how do we tackle it.
At OpenAcademy, we treat training not as a one-off session but as part of a broader capability-building process. That means pre-assessing the team’s current skill gaps, designing practical modules around actual business challenges, and most importantly, conducting follow-up sessions or “Next Steps Session” workshops to embed learnings into the team’s operations.
- Why tailored, practitioner-led programmes outperform one-size-fits-all learning?
Generic training can only go so far, and especially in fast-changing industries like digital marketing, where every business is at a different stage of maturity. Practitioner-led programmes offer real value because they’re rooted in current industry practice, not outdated textbooks.
Our trainers specifically, are working professionals who understand not just the theory but the nuance of applying it into the job itself from navigating platform algorithms to optimising for local market behaviours. Not only that, tailored programmes also allow us to address specific team dynamics, business goals and capability gaps. It’s what turns a training into a transformation, because the content is immediately relatable and actionable.
- How OpenAcademy uses data and tech to personalise learning and align it with marketing objectives?
We usually use a combination of diagnostic tools, internal data from client campaigns, and feedback loops to help us design highly targeted learning pathways. For example, we might begin with the most important first step which is digital audit. This includes assessing the team’s current workflows, content performance, and pain points. Once we have the relevant data, now we can map a training journey that’s tailored to their actual needs, whether it’s building influencer frameworks, optimising CRM flows, or scaling paid media.
We also integrate tools like feedback polls and session analytics to continuously adapt the content and delivery. The goal is to ensure the training evolves with the business, and drives real marketing outcomes.
- Could you share a success story where OpenAcademy’s training made a measurable impact on a company’s operations or talent growth?
We worked with two main retail companies to manage their Customer Relationship Management (CRM) strategy, flow and processes. OpenAcademy ran a digital audit of the current team’s capability, processes, and pain points to design a course that is suitable for their needs.
During the training, we included strategy building, activities and brainstorming sessions based on their current situations and experiences to find ways to improve or solve them immediately. At the end, we went through a “Next Steps Session” with the internal team and designed actionable steps to ensure that the team knows how to implement and where to start to ensure a smooth transition into a real-life application.
- How do you select your trainers to ensure they bring not just expertise but also practical value to participants?
Essentially, we look for trainers who bring more than just theoretical knowledge, we prioritise professionals with real hands-on industry experience and a proven track record of working on meaningful projects.
Of course, experience alone isn’t enough as they also need to be effective communicators and facilitators who understand the local business context and can relate to the challenges our participants face. This ensures that our sessions are not only insightful but also practical and implementable.
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