Digital Marketing Training Key to Boosting MSME Competitiveness Amid Economic Rivalry

Digital transformation is increasingly opening new opportunities for micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) to expand their markets and increase income. Amid the rapid growth of Indonesia’s digital economy, the ability to utilise social media, marketplaces, and content-based marketing strategies has become a crucial factor in winning business competition. However, the challenges for MSMEs are not solely about marketing. Many business actors still face obstacles in calculating production costs and determining competitive selling prices, even though both aspects are key to maintaining business sustainability and improving profitability. Addressing these challenges, Universitas Pancasila (UP) held digital marketing and production cost calculation training at the Daarul Hawariyyin Islamic Boarding School in Kampung Bulak, Nanggerang Village, Bogor Regency, on 13 and 20 June 2026. The activity was attended by ustaz, ustazah, and santri who are actively developing MSMEs based on processed catfish within the pesantren environment. The Head of Daarul Hawariyyin Islamic Boarding School, Ustaz Ahmad Furqon, welcomed the programme positively. According to him, mastery of digital technology is an essential need for business actors to reach a wider market. “We greatly welcome this training and hope that collaborations like this can continue. Hopefully, the ustaz, ustazah, and santri will become increasingly capable of utilising digital technology to market the pesantren’s business products and open up greater sales opportunities,” he said. The training featured a team of UP academics led by Nur Yulianti Hidayah, accompanied by Dino Rimantho and Dewi Kurniawati, and involved students from the Industrial Engineering and Management Study Programmes. The material provided included digital marketing strategies, the use of social media and marketplaces as promotional tools, creative content creation, and techniques for calculating production costs and determining competitive selling prices. Beyond theory, participants gained direct practical experience. They were invited to create promotional content in the form of photos, videos, and marketing narratives, while also learning visual storytelling to enhance product appeal on digital platforms. Additionally, participants were trained to understand business cost structures so they could set prices according to market conditions without neglecting the profit aspect. This capability is considered important for strengthening business foundations and increasing MSME competitiveness amid increasingly fierce rivalry. Nur Yulianti Hidayah expressed hope that the activity, part of a community service programme funded through the 2026 Community Service Grant from the Directorate General of Research and Development, Diktisaintek, would create business actors who are more adaptive to technological developments while strengthening local entrepreneurship-based economies. “Through collaboration between universities and the community, digital transformation at the grassroots level is expected to be realised more quickly. With support for human resource capacity building, local MSMEs have the opportunity to move up a class and capitalise on the vast potential of Indonesia’s continuously growing digital economy,” Nur explained.