There are always those parts of the college experience. Notes. Lectures. PowerPoint. Tests.
But the Loyola University College of Business is doing things a little differently, making the classroom a part of the real world—and making tests something that can get your career started before you even graduate.
Marketing majors at the College of Business are now becoming career ready from the comfort of their classrooms by earning certifications in Google Analytics and Google AdWords.
The certification process is part of Dr. Todd Bacile’s curriculum in his electronic marketing course, an idea that came from a simple visit to a local ad agency.
When Bacile asked the agency what skills they were looking for in potential employees, the marketing executive answered clearly and concisely: “I need and will hire people certified in Google Analytics and AdWords.”
Bacile immediately got certified in both areas himself and rebuilt his electronic marketing course to familiarize students with these Google tools—and to prepare them to pass the certification exams offered by Google.
And the course is working —to date, dozens of his students have successfully earned at least one certification from Google.
Recent alumnus Kevin Stanley ’16 (marketing) says he wasn’t one of those students who entered college with an exact idea of what he wanted to do upon graduation. Instead, he says, he found his calling at the beginning of his senior year in the electronic marketing course.
“The skills and knowledge I learned from that course opened the door for me,” Stanley says. “I was able to get an internship at an established ad agency while in school, which then turned into a full-time offer upon graduation. I now work as SEM [search engine marketing] director for the agency.”
Not surprisingly, given the results, Bacile was the recipient of the 2017 Loyola Faculty Senate Teaching Award for his inclusion of Google certification within his e-marketing course.
Google Analytics is the most widely used analytics software on the Internet. Its reports can display basic information like the number of site visits and clicks, as well as more advanced, detailed information like funnel visitation, custom visitor segmentation, e-commerce sales activity, revenue tracking, and more.
Google AdWords is an advertising service offered by Google for businesses wanting to display ads on Google and its network of sites. AdWords enables businesses to easily and quickly create ads, set budgets, track costs, and monitor various metrics to determine the most effective ad placement and performance.
For those who use both and especially for those certified, Google Analytics is seamlessly integrated with Google AdWords.
In Bacile’s class, students use Analytics to analyze real web traffic and e-commerce sales data, becoming familiar with both the platform and the types of data they’ll encounter in the real world.
This hands-on application creates the engaging experiential learning environment the College of Business is known for.
Feedback has been immensely positive from both students and the agencies hiring them. The end results of Bacile’s efforts show where it matters: Students are being hired for internships and full-time positions in the growing field of digital marketing.
And that’s data we’re happy to analyze.
View the full article and the current issue of the Loyola Executive Magazine here: https://issuu.com/loyola-university-new-orleans/docs/loyola_executive_ma...
For more information about the Marketing degree program visit: http://business.loyno.edu/marketing
For more information about Google Analytics certifcation visit: https://support.google.com/partners/answer/6089738?hl=en
For more information about Google AdWords certification visit: https://support.google.com/partners/answer/3154326?hl=en