Did you know that in addition to sufficient class time, books and videos with plenty of examples and a good dose of self-study, teaching digital marketing effectively will require the use of new technology?
Here is a quick guide on how to engineer a digital marketing course to perfection with the help of the latest learning technologies.
Start by understanding the problem 🔬
Like any good engineer out there, you first need to understand the problem really well and then find the right tools to get the job done.
One of the biggest problems reported by digital marketing students is that they do not get enough practice or examples of the theory they are being taught.
Another perceived problem is that most of the course material is outdated, as technology advances every year.
Finally, some students will complain about the lack of support when learning about digital marketing.
There is some good news. These issues have been addressed by several companies who are working hard to make teaching digital marketing easier than ever before.
Find a tool which fixes the problems 🔧
By providing students with practice in a safe environment, simulation games seem to be the perfect medium for a digital marketing course to take place in.
Simulations are already a well-known teacher toolbox for a digital marketing course, as they contain all the necessary content and solutions for setting up, tracking and assessing your digital marketing course. Simulation games have been proven to make a course more engaging for students and increase engagement and retention.
How to use a digital marketing simulation 👌
We’ll describe how to use Simbound, the first ever digital marketing simulation built for education. Some of the processes might be similar to other similar products on the market.
1. Start by setting up the course in the simulation platform
You will need to choose a name for the course, a currency and a scenario — essentially the business case that the simulation will run on. You should know that scenarios can be adapted to replicate the operating conditions of any business online but this takes some skill and time.
2. Select the size of the course and mode of pay
- You can choose whether learners use the simulation as teams or as individuals.
- You can decide whether the licenses are paid for by the school/company or by the learners themselves.
3. Define a schedule for the course
- Add practice rounds so students can familiarise themselves with the simulation
- Allow students to preview results before moving on to the next round.
- You can decide whether students can progress through the simulation on their own or whether they will all work to a pre-determined timetable.
- Decide the timing of each new section of the simulation, such as ads, email or communities. This can be linked to the same week as the lecture on the topic.
4. Check and confirm the settings of the course
- Check and review all settings, including the schedule, participants, content and other activities such as tests, objectives and report writing.
- Most course settings can be changed even after the course has started.
5. Send the course link and the reading materials to the students
- Each course will have its own customized enrollment link that you can share with students. You will also want to add the guidebook and a list of links to the tutorial videos.
Bonus - Template for the setup of your course
Conclusion ⌛️
When learning about digital marketing, simulations turn out to be a valuable course resource as most of the concepts are digital and students will want to test the theory they have learned immediately after each lecture or seminar. Thus providing them with a closely tied loop of decisions followed by feedback students will begin to understand new concepts and master new skills with ease.
