This week, when students complete their 15-week higher education course, the student will be awarded a blockchain-secure LinkedIn certification on the last day of class. We have teamed up with Accredible at credential.net to provide our certification and badge, which students can proudly display on their LinkedIn profile. Check out a recent example here. When students use our step-by-step instructions to add the digital certification to LinkedIn, future employers researching their LinkedIn profile will be able to view the credential, including the participant’s name, the instructor’s name, and the instructor’s granting university or organization. Additionally, these potential employers will also have access to an “Evidence” section. Within this evidentiary portfolio, students can add files, links, and screenshots to enhance their visual portfolio of accomplishment to detail all the excellent work completed in the course. Additionally, the certificate ID # and the date it was issued will also be visible on
This week students complete their 8-week live practicum using the Digital Engine curriculum. Over the past 13 weeks, students have created their own inbound digital marketing campaign, complete with a newly built website with blogs, social media posts, emails, search engine optimization with keyword analysis, multiple analytic platform audits, and crm database management. Students have learned the inbound marketing process of using created and curated content to generate leads through their online web forms. Driving users from social media platforms and through an email campaign back to their website, they have learned how to write hooks that entice web users to engage in their website to drive sales leads. Collecting these leads through a CRM database is crucial to instigating the sales cycle, which students learned how to do over the last week. Now that they have generated the leads and turned them over to the sales team, students have
The last two weeks students have audited their campaigns and made strategic decisions to improve performance in any of the four categorical areas where they may be weak. Students examine 16 different variables through their InGen Analytics report to determine where they may need to spend extra time to improve their brand awareness, brand acquisition, brand engagement, and/or brand retention. Additionally, students are in the final weeks of their live 8-week campaign, so they are pushing hard to generate as many leads as possible. Over the final two weeks of this course, students learn how to transfer those leads into a customer relationship management database. Using Zoho CRM, students learn how to import their leads into our CRM database, then learn how to establish contacts and deals to establish a sales plan for these newly generated leads. Using Zoho, students set up deals and then learn how to track leads
Over the last two weeks, students have learned how to audit their content, social media, and email campaigns for strengths and weakness. Auditing this information will help them to better understand whether their strategic initiatives are working as they intended. To begin their content analysis, students use CoSchedule to examine their blog headlines, Yoast SEO to assess their blogs readability and search-ability, and Google Analytics to audit the content buckets of serialized messaging to assess how these topics are resonating with their audience. Google Analytics will also inform them of how users are coming to their site, how they are moving around and through their website, and how many lead conversions are taking place on their online webforms. Finally, comparing their Weekly InGen Report statistics verses the class will help them determine whether they need to change the tactical operations at their site or to maintain their current strategy in
This week we are all about MailChimp. The past two weeks have been focused on digital communication effectiveness around website and social media content. This week we continue that discussion with email. As we say here at the Digital Engine, email is the “heartbeat” of your inbound marketing campaign. Staying consistent to your brand promises and launching an email once a week on the same day is the key to email opens. Your most loyal followers will reward your consistency by opening and clicking through your emails to find out the most interesting and exciting happenings with your brand. During class, we explore the state of email today, along with email marketing strategies, which include steps to effective activation and re-activation campaigns. We also review successful online newsletter tips and our Digital Engine’s “Email 1-2-3” strategy, which demonstrates you only have six seconds to catch the attention of email subscribers
Last week our students focused on the “how” of good digital strategy, learning how to create and curate interesting content. This week, we turn our focus to the “where” of digital communication effectiveness by teaching social media strategy. Even though in the planning stage students selected their primary digital communication channels, like Facebook, Instagram, X (formerly Twitter), TikTok, Etsy, among many others, this week we focused on how to create interesting hooks that will draw the social media user into the brand story and entice them to click through to the website blog where the primary content has been posted. These organic social acquisition strategies are critical to brand awareness and help lead web users through to the top of the goal funnel. Specifically, students learned to use the AIDA model (Awareness – Interest – Desire – Action) to move users through their online goal funnels towards a desired action.
This week our Digital Engine students are learning how to strategically create and post content within their domain. Over the last several weeks while building their website, students were planning their content by creating their content matrix and editorial calendar. Now, students are implementing those plans by creating content. Students are typically required to create two blogs per week; however, this first week of the campaign, students only launched a single “Welcome” blog, which they will turn into their “About Me” page. The first week of the campaign, last week, was designed to give them time to start creating their blog content, based on their planned editorial calendar. Now that they have created some of those blogs, it’s time to make sure they have considered all the components required to launch the content effectively. These components are highlighted in our curriculum as “Blog the Digital Engine Way.” Within these
This week celebrated our inbound marketing campaign kickoff. The students have been working very hard over the last three weeks to prepare for this week. They have completed their setup instructions for both their mechanical and aesthetic builds. Likewise, they have all of their goal funnels setup, tested them to track in Google Analytics 4 data streams, and have their content for the entire campaign planned out through their content matrix and editorial calendar. This week, they launched their welcome blog, linked it through their created social media channels, and have started gathering registrations for their email distribution lists. This week only requires one blog, as they are creating and curating content this week for multiple weeks in advance. Then they will continue to stay two weeks ahead of the planned content, as they create, schedule, and audit their weekly analytics. They have worked hard to get their website built
Last week, students were instructed to set up as much of the aesthetics of their website as possible. Using our step-by-step instructions, students typically take twice as long in setting up the look and feel of their website verses the website mechanics. Students find this creative process fun and tantalizing as they play with logos, pictures, fonts, font sizes, headers, navigation links, social icons, etc. As we continue to tell students, the aesthetics of a website is never complete, so what you have at the campaign kickoff can continue to be tweaked and fine-tuned. This week, students work on their goal funnel setup, the most important component to turning their website into a lead generator. Goal funnels are presented to web users as online web forms, for which real and live data will be collected. When working with live data, we instruct all students to install privacy measures, such
Last week, students were instructed to set up the mechanics of their website to make it operate as the hub of their inbound marketing campaign. With our step-by-step instructions, this process can take about 5-6 hours to complete. And while our aesthetic instructions are half as long, constructing the look and feel of the site takes usually twice the time. Therefore, students are given two weeks to work through this aesthetic website setup to get the website ready for kickoff. But as we always tell students, the look and feel of a website is NEVER complete. You will always be tweaking here and there to add new content or new plugins that give your site the aesthetics that you want. While all the website design continues to take place outside of class, in class we have moved on to content design, specifically choosing serialized groups of messages to be built
After purchasing their web assets and getting their WordPress website installed, this week students begin two parallel paths of getting ready for their campaign kickoff. One of these paths includes three weeks of website setup to be completed outside of class. The second path is three weeks of content planning that takes place in-class. Website setup takes place over three weeks and is broken up into two major operations. This week is designed for the mechanical setup of their website. Using the Higher Education courseware, students use step-by-step instructions that include screenshots to help them build the mechanics of their website, which usually takes about 5-6 hours. Website functionality is the foundation for inbound marketing techniques, so students must make sure all WordPress settings are properly set, including permalink formats, navigation links, security features, spam blockers, page editors, survey formats, etc. Next, students install and test additional required third-party applications
After deciding on a topic last week and developing a brand positioning statement and tagline, this week students purchased their digital assets. This includes students leasing their website URL from ICANN for one year and purchasing monthly web hosting and branded email plans. Using these three assets, students will build their website over the next three weeks in preparation for our 8-week live practicum. During this time frame, they will run their own inbound marketing campaign using these online assets. Upon completion of the purchase, students’ WordPress websites are built for each student by our hosting company, GoDaddy. After a brief building process, students provide a username-password credentials and voila, each student now has their own WordPress.org website. It’s important to point out that we do not use WordPress.com but .org. WordPress.com is a hosting platform that only provides a turnkey operation, while WordPress.org is self-hosted and fully customizable solution.
When it comes time for students to pick their practicum topic for the semester, I have found it is important to help them consider a few different ideas before selecting. First, this project is so much better for students if they complete it on their own, rather than in groups. This way they learn the whole process, rather than just parts of inbound marketing. I have had tremendous feedback on the individualization of this project. Also, because they have so many other group projects in every other class, they are just tired of working with lazy group members. But most importantly, they have their own functional asset at the end of the course. Yes, they EACH leave with a fully functional online asset, complete with website, SEO keywording, social media channels, an email campaign, a functional CRM database, and a sweet LinkedIn certification with evidentiary portfolio available to future employers.
This week my students were introduced to the principles of inbound marketing, and in this domain, CONTENT IS KING! Therefore, this first week is spent teaching them about inbound marketing and their project. Through this process, I help them conceptualize the need for inbound marketing, since most business aren’t currently deploying this strategy (like we discussed in last week’s post). Additionally, I help them start thinking about what they want to create for their individualized project this semester. This project is so much better for students if they complete it on their own, rather than in groups. This way they learn the whole process, rather than just parts of inbound marketing. I have had tremendous feedback on the individualization of this project. First, because they have so many other group projects in every other class, they are just tired of working with lazy group members. But most importantly, they have
This fall 2023 semester, we are going to show you behind the curtain of our Higher Education course here at the Digital Engine. Our courseware is designed to teach students how to manage an inbound marketing campaign from conceptualization to actual lead generation. This is so important in the real world because inbound marketing is your digital messaging testing ground. Just like in traditional marketing where tangible products are launched into test markets, your digital messages should be tested in the same way. As consulting has proven, inbound marketing is the strongest way to increase Marketing ROI. This semester, we are going to provide weekly updates on where our students are in this process. Each week, we will provide a glimpse into the curriculum to help you visualize where each student is in their campaign launch. It will take us about six weeks to build the digital engine through WordPress,
Kathryn Mouchette was a junior at Samford University when she created her site, Keeping Up With Kat. Through her journey with the Digital Engine, she shared ways to elevate your everyday style by sharing things that she loved. Kathryn finished in the top three in her class overall with an outstanding analytical performance. She scored an A+ on all three categorical evaluators: Brand Awareness, Brand Acquisition, and Brand Retention. There wasn’t an area of the practicum in which she didn’t excel. For some insight into her brand, read her vision below for her practicum that she deployed throughout her site. “My name is Kathryn Mouchette and I am the face behind Keeping Up With Kat! I was born and raised in Gallatin, Tennessee and I am currently a junior attending Samford University located in Birmingham, Alabama. I have had the incredible opportunity over the past three years to gain a
When it comes to creating and managing websites, WordPress has emerged as the leading choice for individuals and businesses alike. In fact, HubSpot reports that WordPress is used by 43.2% of all websites on the Internet, up from 39.5% in 2021, and is used by 65.2% of all websites that use a content management system. While platforms like Wix and Squarespace offer user-friendly website building capabilities, WordPress outshines its competitors with its unparalleled flexibility, customization options, robust ecosystem, and unparalleled control. In this blog, we will delve into the reasons why WordPress triumphs over Wix and Squarespace, providing evidence for why educational classrooms should be teaching WordPress at all costs. Let’s review these competitive advantages now. 1. Unmatched Customization and Flexibility: WordPress is an open-source content management system (CMS), providing users with complete control over their website’s design and functionality. Unlike Wix and Squarespace, which impose certain limitations, WordPress allows
We have an exciting announcement to make! As requested by our students, more instruction on the aesthetic design of your site has been added to our courseware and curriculum. If you have a current membership at the Digital Engine, then you can access our new instruction set here. Included in the instructions are all of the following WordPress design topics: Choosing a Mobile Responsive Theme (like Hestia) Installing a Block Editor for Landing Pages (like Elementor) When to Use a Block Editor vs. Classic Editor Designing Your Homepage Using Hestia’s Built-in Front Page Editor Customizing Your Menus to Optimize User Traffic Flow Designing Your Top Level Blog Page (w/ or w/o the Blog Designer plugin) For previous, current, and future users of our courseware, these new instruction sets will elevate the aesthetic design of your WordPress website. Note: We use the Hestia theme to demonstrate these settings, but many are
Emma Sneed, a junior at Belmont University, created Push to Playoffs for her semester practicum and creatively used Linktree to increase referral acquisitions. As a devout hockey fan and an intern with the Nashville Predators, she desired “to inform and educate others about the push to playoff hockey.” Whether you are new to hockey, a casual viewer, or avid fan, she contended that Push to Playoffs had something for you. As part of the curriculum, every student is required to conduct a SWOT analysis of their site compared to other students’ sites in their course section. In regards to her site, Emma states: “When doing an internal audit on Push to Playoffs I found that my strengths were that I had a high number of direct and referral acquisitions. I was also on time and consistent with all my posting, social and blog. I never fell behind on the editorial
In today’s highly competitive digital landscape, companies strive to gain a competitive edge and establish a strong online presence. Inbound organic digital marketing, as highlighted by the Digital Marketing Institute, has emerged as a crucial tool to reach and engage with target audiences effectively. While paid digital marketing offers immediate visibility, it is prudent for companies to begin their online marketing journey with inbound organic digital marketing strategies. Below we explore five reasons why companies should prioritize inbound organic digital marketing before expanding into paid digital marketing. Building a Strong Foundation Inbound organic digital marketing focuses on creating valuable and engaging content to attract and engage audiences organically. By prioritizing this approach, companies can lay a solid foundation for their online presence. Content creation, search engine optimization (SEO), social media engagement, and email marketing are key components of inbound marketing that help establish credibility, trust, and brand authority within the
Amelia Chavez is a marketing student at Samford University. This past semester while using the Digital Engine courseware in her Customer Journey class, Amelia conceptualized and began her website entitled Big Break Athletics. Amelia welcomed all new users to her website with a well-constructed welcome blog. As you can see in her great example below, Amelia address her mission, vision, and values in a way that was genuinely authentic and inspiring. She discusses why she has created this community and encourages her users to join the team, engaging them to sign up to become a follower of all her inbound, organic content using her built-in call-to-action forms. This is a great example for current and future students on how to start your campaign with a well-organized, authentic greeting and discussion of your mission, vision, and values. Below, we have provided her opening welcome blog below as a demonstration for all
Is there a better example of using the creativity of Generative AI in the classroom than this video? Instead of providing a review of the AI created debate between Bill Gates and Socrates, we wanted to demonstrate how both ChatGPT and Midjourney can be used to create unique and innovative content. As we have been saying for a while now, there are useful benefits to using generative AI in education. Inevitably, both of these examples presented here are immediate conversation starters in the classroom. We will begin by showing you the video released by Next Tech AI. This AI.Talk (clever… instead of Ted Talk), provides a fascinating discussion between Socrates, the Greek philosopher considered one of the greatest thinkers in history, and Bill Gates, the American entrepreneur and founder of Microsoft, one of the most important companies in the world of technology. Despite belonging to different eras, Socrates and Gates
DALL-E is a 12-billion parameter version of GPT-3 trained to generate images from text descriptions, using a dataset of text–image pairs. OpenAI, DALL-E’s developer, has found that it has a diverse set of capabilities, including creating anthropomorphized versions of animals and objects, combining unrelated concepts in plausible ways, rendering text, and applying transformations to existing images. In recent years, the field of artificial intelligence has made significant strides in both linguistic and artistic generators through artificial intelligence. One such groundbreaking development is DALL-E, an AI model developed by OpenAI that can generate highly imaginative and unique images based on textual descriptions. While DALL-E has been widely celebrated for its creative applications, its potential in the education space is only beginning to be explored. Here, we will explore five considerations of how DALL-E can revolutionize education by fostering creativity, enhancing visual learning, and enabling personalized educational experiences. Enhancing Visual Learning: Visual
The goal of Beyond The Net was to create a platform to help student athletes share stories and experiences close to their heart. As a student athlete myself, I have seen how consuming, draining, and exhausting it truly is. I knew that I wasn’t alone and that others are going through their own struggles. So, I created Beyond the Net to combine three things: A view inside college athletics, Mental health tips for college athletes and others, and Faith-based content to assist during this life stage. I also knew that the ”big names” on campus also have a life off the court – so it was important to share who they are outside of their sport and share more about them other than just being student athletes. There were many drivers identifiable for the success of my campaign. First, parents on Facebook really pulled my campaign through. The student athletes
In the ever-evolving digital landscape, data has become the lifeblood of businesses. It provides invaluable insights into customer behavior, website performance, and marketing strategies. As businesses strive to stay competitive, they must harness the power of data analytics to make informed decisions. Google Analytics has long been a go-to platform for tracking website activity, and now, with the introduction of Google Analytics 4 (GA4), upgrading to this new version by July 1, 2023 has become crucial. This blog will outline five reasons why embracing GA4 analytics is essential for businesses looking to thrive in the data-driven era. 1. Future Proof Your Analytics The digital world is constantly evolving, and the way we analyze data must keep pace. GA4 analytics offers a more advanced and flexible framework compared to its predecessor, Universal Analytics. By upgrading, businesses can future-proof their analytics infrastructure, ensuring compatibility with emerging technologies and evolving customer expectations. GA4
Sorry, but this area is for Members Only. You must be logged in to view this content.
A couple of weeks ago, we wrote about artificial intelligence and what marketing education could possibly look like in a decade of exponential growth of technology. If you missed the debate on promise vs peril, click here. Nevertheless, it’s common knowledge that the exponential growth of technology is being powered by machine learning, which is giving way to artificial intelligence. The conversation about if and/or when artificial intelligence becomes conscious is currently raging in conferences and forums worldwide. While tech moguls, like Google’s Ray Kurzweil, believe that artificial intelligence will not pass the speed of human intelligence until 2030, the reality of conscious AI is already being debated. For example, a British online newspaper, the Independent, recently wrote an article that AI may already be “slightly conscious.” The idea that sentient machines could be the most important catalyst for our long-term future is now a reality. Pandora’s box has inevitably
In the popular press book, The Culture of Connectivity: A Critical History of Social Media, author José Van Dijck makes a compelling argument about the dialectical nature and co-evolution of social media. That is, social media capitalizes on the inter-connectedness between humans and machines. She contends that connectedness is human driven as human users share information on social media with other users. However, connectivity refers to the interplay between the platforms and 3rd party companies that purchase society’s behavioral data from these social media companies. The selling of this data is the “Golden Egg” for social media companies like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc. Today, consumers are well aware that social media companies are selling their website and social media data to 3rd parties. It is inevitable that as you search for products on Google or Amazon, or according to many skeptics like Digital Trends[1], even say those searchable words out
In the spring semester of 2022, Addison Lentz opted to take The Digital Engine course before graduating May, not expecting it would lead to her job as a Creative Associate. When discussing how the course helped her land this position, she discussed how much she had learned and how easy it was to develop her skills throughout the course. Regarding the curriculum, she says she found all the instructions were clearly laid out, which she says was “incredibly helpful.” She was encouraged by her professor to focus on a topic that she was passionate about, so Addison chose to create a lifestyle blog about books for people in their twenties, The 20-Something Book Club. Her main page states, “Need a good book? You’ve come to the right place!” Some of the titles she reviewed are: Slouching Towards Bethlehem Three Rooms FAVORITE PICK: Sweetbitter Film for Her FAVORITE PICK: The Reason
In our instruction on content design, The Digital Engine teaches course participants how to create a content matrix. This matrix is critically important as it becomes the building blocks for your rolling editorial calendar, which is the life blood of your inbound marketing campaign. Unlike paid digital, inbound marketing is organic in nature and critically depends on content creation and curation. To make sure that you have content planned out plenty of time in advance, you must have an editorial calendar. To begin building that calendar, you must have designed a content matrix first. The content matrix will help you identify three main components: The “Who” of digital communication effectiveness, The “What” of digital communication effectiveness, and The “Where” of digital communication effectiveness. When you consider effective digital communication, the who, what, and where are important considerations that should be carefully and strategically planned. We lead our course participants through