As part of its broader effort to provide assistance and support to people impacted b the COVID-19 pandemic, Facebook has announced an expansion of its ‘Rise’ program, which aims to provide digital skills training for ad agency professionals.
Initially launched in Brazil last year, the Rise program provides Facebook Blueprint training, along with industry connections and insights, in order to help agency staff upskill and re-skill to meet key demand. Facebook is now expanding Rise access to agency professionals in Singapore, Italy, the US and Canada.
As explained by Facebook:
“In January 2021, US ad agencies cut 4,800 jobs, reducing staffing to the lowest point since 2014. Alongside these trends, internet media employment is at a record high. Digital roles in marketing are among the fastest-growing in the industry, providing opportunities for agency professionals to develop new skills, hone old ones or even pivot careers.”
Rise aims to help those in the industry better align with these trends, with a range of elements that provide specific skills training.
The program runs via Facebook groups, which have been created to facilitate the training.
By facilitating the program via groups, Facebook is also helping to create industry connections, which could open up further opportunities.
As you can see here, once you join the program, you can then view all of the training material on offer, and see the related conversations, tips and job chatter in the group.
Facebook says that the program is open to all advertising professionals at every level who have been impacted by layoffs or furloughs in 2020. In order to meet the eligibility requirements, participants have to have at least one year of agency experience.
It could be a good way to learn new digital skills, and ensure that your qualifications and knowledge are meeting up with these key areas of demand, which will expand opportunity, and help improve client outcomes moving forward.
Which will also, of course, benefit Facebook, in that many of these initiatives will result in increased spend on Facebook’s ad products. But even with that secondary motivation, it still makes a lot of sense for ad agency professionals to undertake these courses to ensure that they have a grasp of these rising industry elements.
You can learn more about the Rise program here.
