Stukent Digital Summit is a virtual conference put on three times a year, where higher education instructors come together to gain insight from professors and other industry professionals alike. This year’s Summer Stukent Digital Summit 2020 was hosted by Stukent’s Vice President of Marketing, Garrett Brock. It featured five speakers who supplied the audience with valuable insights ranging from projects they use in the classroom to innovative marketing ideas and advice. Following each presentation, attendees were able to ask questions during the speaker’s Q&A session.
Below are highlights and recordings of each of the presentations. You can sign up for the Fall Stukent Digital Summit 2020 and get information on being a Stukent Digital Summit presenter here.
Incorporating TikTok Into Your Class: 3 Tools to Know and 3 Assignments to Consider
Nick Schreck, Midland University
In his presentation, Schreck discusses the importance of helping students understand which channels are best for their audience. He says, “marketers need to have their fingers on the pulse for these kinds of things.” He emphasizes TikTok’s content as a “talking point in culture today.”
Schreck goes over TikTok’s user statistics, trends, and unique features. He also touches on “older Tiktokers” and the space they have on the popular platform. He goes into detail about the ways professors can leverage TikTok for stronger student and industry engagement. Insights are provided for accounts to follow and steps on how you and your students can create content for your intended audience.
Cookies, Clicks, and Credit Cards: Teaching Students How Their Data Is Used and Protected
Debika Sihi, Southwestern University
Sihi divides her presentation into three parts that coincide with the lessons she covers in her own university classroom. Her first lesson, “Privacy Paradox,” centers around search engines and website design. Students learn about “the consumer concern around personalization aspects.” Her last two lessons, “My Personal Data” and “Regulatory Environment,” discuss the importance of understanding data and privacy concerns from different perspectives. She offers insight into how students can think objectively as a consumer versus a marketer.
Sihi walks attendees through her lesson plans, which include resources, lesson notes, and class activities. She also includes resources and lesson material that coincide with the Digital Marketing Essentials textbook.
Design Thinking and Mobile Marketing: Creating a High-Impact Learning Experience
Kristen Schiele, California State Polytechnic University, Pomona
Professor Schiele takes you through her classroom project using tools that don’t require graphic design or coding experience. She emphasizes that a student’s role is more to create “a user experience.” Her project is a way students can incorporate the concepts learned from their Mobile Marketing Essentials textbook.
Schiele has students execute focus groups and testing to figure out their client’s needs. She then instructs students to come up with a prototype in which they use an online program to create a mobile app. Hand-drawn wire maps are transformed into digital prototypes using an app called Marvel. Schiele lays out her “Design Thinking Process” for attendees, which serves as the navigation tool throughout the project.
The Rise of C-Commerce: How to Convert Everyday Customers into Lifelong Influencers
Brad Staples, VP of Marketing at Vooray
In his presentation, Staples spotlights more contemporary marketing methods and perspectives that you can incorporate into your lesson material. He reveals influencer marketing statistics and the shift from macro-influencers to micro-influencers as it pertains to product promotion and consumer trust. He explains through his own business’ success, the importance of the “community marketing” method and how a business can leverage the power of its customers.
He offers advice on how to align a company’s “why” with their consumers. Staples also describes why time is more valuable than money in a marketing strategy. Staples’ presentation shares both innovative and fundamental marketing techniques that you and your students can integrate into your classroom’s next marketing plan.
Sending Out an SOS: Teaching Students to Be Consultants for Small Businesses in Times of Crisis
Kathy Fredrickson, University of Wisconsin Oshkosh
Professor Fredrickson walked attendees through an 8-week project that “addresses the stress of small businesses” and “brings together the instructor expertise, the client’s need, and their deficits.” This project allows students to work with real clients and “identify the weaknesses in digital marketing in 12 measurable areas.” It also gives students the ability to build their own personal brand as a marketer.
As part of the project, students complete an email project, a social media project, and an influence project, to name a few. Fredrickson uses this project in tandem with the Digital Marketing Essentials Bundle. In her presentation, she reflects on the final outcome by sharing her student evaluations and client feedback, noting that this was the highest scoring project for most of her students. She discusses statistics, stating that with more schools incorporating her project, there is potential for 700 businesses to receive help in just one semester.
