This document discusses teaching digital marketing in higher education. It recommends teaching interdisciplinary skills including technical, creative, and business skills. Content should include search engine optimization, analytics, digital channels, and devices. Delivery should mimic real-life by using current resources and forming expert teams. Practice is key - students should apply skills to real clients to embed learning. Partnering with businesses provides real experience, and collaborating with internal marketing offers projects. The outcome is students employable with interdisciplinary knowledge, practical experience, networks, and enhanced CVs.
2. Contents
1. The goal of teaching Digital Marketing
2. Content: What to teach
3. Delivery: How to teach it
4. Practice: How to embed it
5. Outcome and result
3. 1. The Goal
”To create capability and understanding of digital marketing
in students who, for the most part, have grown up with the
Internet (‘Digital Natives’)”
4. Teaching ‘Digital Natives’
Strengths Weaknesses
Digitally literate
Comfortable and
confident using
technology / the
Internet
Device literate
(smartphones, apps,
etc.)
Native knowledge and
use of social media
Mostly digital
consumption
May be overconfident
Lack sense of how the
Internet works (technical,
SEO, data use, etc.)
Lack knowledge of how
digital functions relate to
measurable business
objectives
5. 2. Content: What to teach
• Interdisciplinary (technical / creative /
business skills)
• Business planning and strategy
6. Tech – How the Internet works
Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)
Web design / content management systems
(WordPress)
Data use and web analytics (Google Analytics)
Demographics and audiences
Digital Marketing channels (email, social, website,
blogs)
Devices and digital consumption (mobile / apps /
games etc.)
7. Creative – Digital Marketing practice
Online PR
Content marketing
Social Media marketing (Facebook / Twitter)
Digital content creation (video, images, enewsletters,
blogs, etc.)
Software
Tools and resources
8. Business skills and Strategy
Digital business transformation (marketing, customer
service, corporate reputation, etc.)
Social Media governance
The social consumer
Social customer service
Digital marketing and business objectives
Measurement and evaluation
9. 3. Delivery: How to teach it
• Mimic real-life environment
• Value of staying current / real time
10. Delivery – How to teach it
Medium:
Minimise use of textbooks
Instead, use content of the medium (Blogs, podcasts,
videos) in real time
Thought leaders / subject experts
Learning experience:
Build teams of experts – simulate agency set-up
Use ‘tools of the trade’ (Twitter, blogging, etc.)
Apply to real clients to embed skills
11. 4. Practice: How to embed it
• Learning by doing
• Apply skills to real scenarios
12. Practice – How to embed it
Partner with small businesses:
Help with digital marketing strategies
Real-life business experience, value exchange
Enhances reputation, builds student CVs
Collaborate with in-house marketing team:
Support in-house digital and social marketing activity
Project-based work, e.g. content marketing campaign
Real-life digital marketing practice (incl. ROI)
Free marketing / PR for institution
13. 5. Outcome and result
Students with high degree of employability:
• Interdisciplinary knowledge (technology, creative,
business skills)
• Practical digital marketing experience (real clients)
• Professional networks (collaboration / partnerships)
• Enhanced CV
You asked me to prepare a presentation on teaching digital marketing in a higher education context this is a very interesting question to pose what could a strategy for teaching digital marketing look like? - start with a goal, three components / strands
An interdisciplinary course covering technical aspects, creative marketing practice, and business skillsStudents need to learn both practical digital skills as well as how to embed digital marketing in overall business strategy
The teaching environment should mimic real-life experience as closely as possible Students need to learn the value of staying current given fast-changing nature of the industry
Learning by doing is crucial to embed understanding of digital marketing Students should apply new skills to real scenarios as early as possible and as part of their course