Fundraising and marketing: Poltava’s “Action in Hope” mini-MBA program completes fourth module

On the third day, Yuliia Maruniak guided Poltava community representatives through effective marketing fundamentals. As co-founder of The Digital State, co-host of the YouTube show “Shchoino Prydumaly!”, a lecturer at various institutions, and a consultant for over 50 businesses, her extensive experience transformed the lecture into a dynamic discussion and valuable knowledge-sharing session.

The instructor began by defining marketing as the process of attracting and retaining clients by creating, improving, and promoting goods or services. She emphasized that a comprehensive marketing strategy — an action plan for market promotion, business expansion, and achieving business goals — is essential for success. Yuliia highlighted three core principles for brand growth that business owners should grasp: market penetration growth, the interchangeability of brands, and the short-term nature of consumer memory.

The lecturer then provided a detailed, step-by-step guide to creating a marketing strategy, complete with real-world examples and answers to participant questions. This strategy encompassed goal setting, brand positioning and promise development, product/service creation, market differentiation, client understanding, leveraging innovations like AI, and multi-channel promotion. Participants found the lecture exceptionally informative and engaging, praising how theoretical concepts were illuminated by vivid, compelling stories of individuals and their business ventures.

Earlier, participants spent two days learning successful fundraising strategies from Mariana Kashchak at the “Action in Hope” mini-MBA program. “Today’s training was incredibly valuable for small businesses seeking development resources,” Mariana summarized. “It wasn’t just about grants; it was about recognizing your idea’s strength, presenting it effectively, and confidently asking for support. This included how to tell your story to build trust, identify funding sources, navigate requirements, and maintain self-belief despite rejections. Because business is about people, and fundraising is about trust.”