At Stukent®, we believe that the best learning experiences are those that prepare students for real-world challenges. Recently, we had the pleasure of speaking with one of our standout students, Ashly Lee, who shared her insights and experiences using the Stukent Digital Marketing Simternship™.
Meet Ashly Lee
“I am an online Master of Science in Marketing student at Florida International University. I will graduate at the end of Spring 2025. I own a professional pet care company in central Florida, Aussie Mom Pet Sitting LLC, and have managed the business since 2016. I also opened Pawsitive Results Marketing LLC earlier this year and offer marketing services to pet industry professionals,” Ashly said.
Hands-On Experience with the Digital Marketing Simternship
Reflecting on her experience with the Digital Marketing Simternship, Ashly shared: “I enjoyed the Digital Marketing Simternship and thought it was great for anyone wanting to experience what it would be like to have hands-on experience running different paid ads. As I completed the simulation, I learned to optimize my ads to target the buyer personas provided, allocate the proper budget for each type of ad, and focus on a company’s campaign objectives while helping them promote their products and bring in the most revenue and profit possible. Upon completing the simulation, I am confident that I can help brands do the same for their target audiences and allow them to budget marketing funds effectively based on their goals.”
Favorite Tasks and Key Takeaways
Some of Ashly’s favorite tasks in the Simternship included developing different types of ads and fine-tuning keywords for search ads. She found budgeting and targeting audiences based on their demographics and behavioral attributes particularly rewarding.
“Finding out what works for the different types of ads, search, display, and shopping was a great learning experience that I can use in my marketing business and as I move forward in my career,” she said.
Tips for Success
When asked to share tips for other students completing the simulation, Ashly offered valuable advice:
Understand Buyer Personas: “Pay attention to the buyer personas provided and the characteristics they find most important when making product purchases. Use this information to help you develop keywords, headlines, and descriptions for your ads.”
Analyze Results: “Pay close attention to your results to see what works for each type of ad and what doesn’t. This will help you make changes accordingly each round.”
Budget Wisely: “When looking at results, if you see that you allotted a budget and it was not fully used, it may help to make changes to the ads or lower your budget and allocate what you are not using to things that are producing better results and bringing in better revenue.”
Collecting Insights and Overcoming Challenges
One surprising insight Ashly gained was the value of casting a wide net with ads. “I found that if you target a larger audience, there will be more impressions, views, and, ideally, conversions, which will increase the revenue and profit of the business,” she said.
Regarding challenges, she highlighted budgeting allocation as a significant learning curve. “I quickly learned how to adjust ads and the targeting for them to allocate the budget better and ensure that my display and shopping ads used most, if not all, of the budget I allotted.”
Career Impact
Ashly continues to grow her marketing business and develop her skills further. “I can take the knowledge I obtained while completing this Simternship with me and help brands grow and become successful as they take on the future trends in their industry,” Ashly said. “Knowing how to run digital marketing campaigns will allow me to help these businesses showcase their products and services better to their online audiences.”
What Is the Digital Marketing Simternship?
The Digital Marketing Simternship gives students the opportunity to manage over $125,000 in ad budget across search, display, and shopping ad campaigns. They also learn about landing page optimization, audience targeting, and KPI analysis.
Watch this video for another student experience with the Simternship:
To learn about Stukent’s first-in-the-world Simternships and courseware and to get FREE instructor access to Stukent materials, visit our website.
