Presentation given to marketing faculty at the AMA Winter Educators Conference in San Antonio (2/12/2015). The presentation focuses on how to create formative digital marketing course experiences using experiential projects: content marketing, ad design, blogging for BuzzFeed, etc. The presentation also includes tools and resources to simplify these projects for university students. Scott Cowley teaches digital marketing strategy at Arizona State University and spent several years working in digital marketing prior to getting his PhD.

1. DELIVERING FORMATIVE DIGITAL MARKETING COURSE
EXPERIENCES THROUGH EXPERIENCES
SCOTT COWLEY
THINGS YOU JUST
CAN’T TEACH

2. DIGITAL MARKETING CAN BE LOVE AT FIRST BITE

3. WHY NOT LET STUDENTS TASTE THE REAL THING?
(We put a lot of time and effort into substitutes)

4. 2014 BASEBALL SEASON
28,440 Hit Singles
69 Grand Slams
Are we happy to keep students locked in the batting cage?

5. WHAT IS THIS?
WOW I DID THAT!
LET’S TAKE STUDENTS FROM
TO

6. THE SOLUTION = OWNERSHIP
Websites Communities
Microsites
Blogs
eCommerce
Affiliate sites
Facebook page
Twitter account
Google+ community
Instagram
LinkedIn group
Content
Blog posts
Banner ads
Landing pages
Infographics
Presentations
Video

7. IDEAS(In order of ease)

8. WRITE FOR BUZZFEED (or LinkedIn or Medium)
Students experience the challenges of content creation,
outreach, and promotion. The analytics dashboard is superb.
Segmentation and Promotion

9. BLOG ABOUT (AND INVOLVE) BRANDS
Promotion and Partnerships
Stellenbosch University students kept a class blog about
brand marketing. One team partnered with Jagermeister,
which provided a cooler for the students to give away.

10. CREATE DIGITAL CONTENT FOR COMPANIES
Students learn about brand alignment by blogging for
and working with a brand. Infographic also required.
Promotion and Distribution

11. TEST-LAUNCH A COMPANY OR WEBSITE
Branding, Test Marketing, Promotion, and CRM
Students get pre-launch product experience by creating a
landing page on a new domain, collecting email addresses.

12. CREATE ADS FOR AFFILIATE PROGRAMS
Students partner with brands to design banner ads
for their online affiliate programs. Great intro to design.
Advertising and Branding

13. MICROSITES AND AFFILIATE SITES
Students get complete web marketing experience through
creation and promotion. Best for a full-semester project.
Full-scale Marketing
DoIHaveEbola.com

14. TIPS ON GRADING EXPERIENTIAL
ASSIGNMENTS
• Reward students for time/participation and
performance
• Make “content vetting” part of the requirements
• Put emphasis on generalizable fundamentals
(brand alignment, market segmentation,
product development, strategic planning and
execution, use of analytics)
• Adopt a holistic rubric for anything subjective
(sometimes point removal is easier to do than
point allotment)

15. WE NEED TO SPEAK FROM EXPERIENCE
Websites Communities
Microsites
Blogs
eCommerce
Affiliate sites
Facebook page
Twitter account
Google+ community
Instagram
LinkedIn group
Content
Blog posts
Banner ads
Landing pages
Infographics
Presentations
Video
What have you created lately?

19. TO LEARN MARKETING
TO LOVE MARKETING
THEY MUST
EXPERIENCE MARKETING
scott.cowley@asu.eduscottcowley.com

20. TOOLS MENTIONED IN THIS
PRESENTATION
Free year of hosting for students:
http://www.westhost.com/edu
Domain names for 99 cents (1
yr):
http://www.1and1.com
Attribution-free stock photos:
http://www.pixabay.com
Free multi-purpose design tool:
http://www.canva.com
Content sharing analysis/stats:
http://www.buzzsumo.com
Directory of affiliate programs:
http://www.cj.com
Content platform with analytics:
http://www.buzzfeed.com/community
Twitter influencer identification:
http://www.followerwonk.com
Free website/blog platform:
http://www.wordpress.org
Pre-launch e-mail collection platform:
http://www.launchrock.com
Corporate blog directory
http://www.alltop.com
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