by Dr. Sabinah Wanjugu, Assistant Professor of Marketing
The Romain College of Business prides itself on providing a dynamic, state-of-the-art curriculum to our students. In our Marketing Program, we continually adjust our curriculum to prepare students for successful careers in a field transformed by the growing importance of digital platforms. For example, companies increasingly redirect resources from traditional means of marketing through mass media to more targeted media enabled by advanced technology in digital marketing platforms. In turn, marketing has seen growth in career opportunities such as digital marketing manager, digital content creator, search engine optimization, web design and development, and data analytics.
Dr. Sabinah Wanjugu, who joined USI faculty in Summer 2020, specializes in digital marketing. She has re-designed the discipline’s Interactive Marketing course with student success in mind. The course equips students with skills sought by almost every organization looking to hire within the marketing area, including valuable skills in search engine optimization (SEO), web design, email marketing, display advertising, google analytics, social media marketing and mobile marketing.
To enhance their learning experience, students work on a group project where they develop a digital marketing plan for a unique product or service. In this hands-on project, students develop a website following recommended web design frameworks learned in class. Students create relevant website content, design display ads, create email marketing content and conduct A/B testing to evaluate the effectiveness of these marketing decisions. Dr. Wanjugu aims to solicit opportunities for students to work with real clients from the Greater Evansville community to develop a digital marketing strategy. To inquire about your business participating in an experiential learning project, email Dr. Wanjugu.
Students also can participate in a competition run by Google, where marketing teams work with a non-profit firm with a $10,000 budget for real-time advertising. The Google Marketing Challenge allows the students to develop a digital marketing strategy, implement it by running advertising campaigns via Google ads and on social media platforms, monitor performance using Google Analytics and adjust as deemed fit. Team projects provide students with an opportunity to promote concept attainment, allow for interaction between teams, and provide feedback that improves students' knowledge and skills.
To back skills learned in class, students are equipped with two certifications, Google Analytics and Google Ads, that can be added to their resume to help them stand out from competition as they kick start their career in digital marketing.
“Interactive Marketing has been one of my favorite classes, and I certainly recommend it to anyone interested in marketing or other business-related fields,” said Hannah Rogers. “It delves into a variety of topics, including social media, online advertising and web design. The most enjoyable aspect of this course is getting to apply what we’ve learned through fun, hands-on activities throughout the semester.”