How to Transform Advanced Marketing Management into a Digital Marketing Project Course

The Digital Transformation of Advanced Marketing Management

At the Fall Marketing Management Association Conference in Kansas City I will present at a session on Alternatives to Textbooks and speak about using my own materials in our Advanced Marketing Management class at St. Edward’s University.  Not using a text allowed me to create a unique course experience involving a IMC Plan, a simulation and a service-learning project for a real-life client involving Google Ads.  I explain the rationale behind the course, how it was developed and then present some reflections and learning from the experience.

Background

First, it is important to understand the history of the course. Over the last few years, we have incorporated digital marketing in to all of our courses and developed a digital marketing minor.  These changes mean that students are not only learning the basics of search, social, email and web/mobile design but that they are receiving certifications in Google Ads and Analytics and other third party vendors such as HubSpot and Hootsuite. 

Because of these changes, we wanted our Advanced Marketing Management course to be more than a traditional case-based course.  This past spring was the first semester that most of the students had been through the new curriculum and most were coming in to the course already Certified in Google AdWords (now Ads).  St. Edward’s also believes strongly in action and service learning and in the use of real-world projects to involve students in the Community.

We had used the Marketing EDGE Collegiate ECHO Marketing Challenge to provide the experience of consulting for a real client.  We had eliminated the Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC)  course as an elective to make room for more digital options such as Marketing Metrics and Analytics and moved much of that content in to the Advanced Marketing Management course, using the ECHO as the main project, supplemented by the Kelly/Jones IMC Handbook. This spring the students were ready for another challenge.

The Course Outline

The objective of the course was to have the students apply the knowledge learned through our entire marketing plan of study. I used two projects, one an IMC project for a company of the student’s choosing, and one a real-life paid search project using Google Ads.  During the IMC project, students also participated in the Stukent Digital Marketing Simulation to get used to writing text ads and seeing the impact of having a well-designed web page.  Most, but not all, of the students were Ads certified entering the class.  Those that were not were required to complete the Google Ads Fundamentals exam during this time period.  The IMC project lasted approximately eight weeks and students presented their plans at the end of that time frame.

The Course Outline

The students then applied their knowledge of planning a campaign to a project where they ran an Ads campaign with a budget of $250.00 for 21 days over a 31 day period, with ads serving and receiving clicks on at least seven calendar days.  The project companies were solicited by both me as the instructor as well as by the students.  I found the project companies through contacts with other professors and a social media network called Alignable. Many of the students had their own side businesses or chose to help family members with small businesses.  We did two projects for two different product lines for a startup in town.  I sourced many of the clients through a local small business network. Typically, in these projects, it is small businesses and not-for-profits that can benefit the most from the help the students provide.

The Project Process

We modeled the project on the former Google Online Marketing Challenge and used some of the materials from the Appendix to Zahay and Roberts, Internet Marketing:  Integrating online and offline strategies in a digital environment (4e).  Students were familiar with the book but had not used the Appendix material in their Digital Marketing and Analytics class.  The material provides coaching tips for instructors and project tips for students. 

The process was that students selected a client, prepared a pre-campaign report and had a Scope of Work document signed by the client.  After the campaign, they produced a report and reflection and presented their results in class. The Scope of Work document is required at our University for projects where students work with outside firms and includes basic information such as the dates of the project and the deliverables.  Also in that document, and key to the success of this second course project is that there be a designated person to work with the team and answer questions.

Students then ran their campaigns in class, with the class becoming for three weeks a coaching session and a seminar series with appropriate guest speakers in digital marketing.  We analyzed particular campaigns and provided feedback. I used a Master Account so I could see all the groups in one place.  We would see that one ad had a lot of impressions and few clicks and suggested changes to the ads or the use of more focused keywords to improve the CTR, as was the appropriate for each case.  

Class working on Google Ads for clients

For example, we had one client who was an energy healer, among other things.  The term ‘energy’ would be too broad for this type of campaign and keywords would need to be focused more to produce results. I also brought in a ‘consultant’ for the teams in terms of a real-life Search Specialist from a well-known company in Austin.  One successful innovation was the use of a prepaid Visa account to fund the campaign so the client did not have to worry about going over budget.

The Search consultant was helpful because Google changed the AdWords (Ads) interface just as we were beginning class. So I was learning and teaching simultaneously and it was good to have support.  I have used coaches for each team in the past but this time brought in just one coach that could be a resource for all. I also brought in a Power Point presentation expert from our University, Billy Ernest, to help the students create meaningful final presentations that used more images than words.

The Results

The students reported in general that they enjoyed learning paid search in a ‘safe’ environment and that they liked not having a book.  They thought the digital marketing simulation helped them practice skills before they had to run a paid search campaign for a client. They did think that two projects could be rushed so next time I would probably have them do the IMC campaign and the paid search campaign for the same company. 

Some students did not like the emphasis on digital marketing and had not been through the new curriculum.  Some did not come in to the class having taken AdWords Fundamentals exam. This was definitely a transition year, but next year’s students should all be qualified for this type of project.

One thing I noted was that students required more direction from the last time I had done this type of project.  There is some support for the idea that the Millennial generation has a need for low ambiguity and this type of project is of necessity ambiguous.  To combat this problem, I required several project worksheets to help the students prepare their pre-campaign report. I often had them coach each other’s teams in class and used other techniques to share information to reduce ambiguity about this project.

In terms of teaching without a textbook, although I have used client projects in class previously, I learned again that textbooks can help organize the course and save time.  I developed my own materials for teaching the IMC plan and coaching this project and can use most of them again when teaching this course, even if it is in a different format.

Web resources:

Millennial Characteristics

Master Ads Account Information

Stukent Simulation Mimic Pro

Zahay and Roberts Internet Marketing 4th edition