What I can do for You as your Digital Marketer

As we wrap up this quarter here at Western Washington University I must unfortunately say goodbye to the Digital Marketing (#wwudigimark) class. This class which is taught by Mark Staton, PhD has taught me so many valuable tools and concepts that will help me excel as a digital marketer and I very excited to show what I have to offer.

Here are the concepts that I learned from this class:

• Analytics: Specifically GA4: Data is everything as a marketer. Being able to learn how to properly digest and analyze data from a marketing campaign will allow me to help companies with their future marketing endeavors.
• CRO and A/B Testing: As the saying goes, "I'm obsessed with conversions". Learning not only what conversions are, but how to optimize them (CRO) with specific methods such as A/B Testing is such a great tool to have. I will use this to help companies enhance the traffic to their websites and help optimize the user experience.
• Inbound and Content Marketing: Inbound marketing is a great tool as it's sole focus is generating more traffic to a given website. It does through generating value for a user. Content marketing goes hand-in-hand with inbound marketing as generating content that creates value for users will only drive even more traffic to a page.
• SEO: Search Engine Optimization: This is arguably one of the most integral tools for a digital marketer. Understanding not only how to optimize the SERPs for a given website but also why it is ranked where it is, be it from key words to link building, SEO allows us to increase our web traffic.
• PPC: Pay-Per-Click: PPC is a great tool for those wanting to rank higher in SERPs. Advertisers pay to have their link listed above others and when a user clicks on that link, they are charged. Just make sure that you include keywords.
• Paid Social Media: Paid Social was one of the more interesting topics that we learned about. The actual reach of your organic content is very small, but when you use specific paid social tools that reach is drastically increased. I may not specialize in social media but I have enough of a grasp of paid and organic social media to make an impact somewhere.
• Organic Social Media: Organic Social Media is simply the unique content that users generate. It may not have the same reach that paid social media has but it generates more value for users. Social media is not my strongest suit but I understand enough of it to potentially help out somewhere.
• Ad Tech and Programmatic Advertising: I'll be honest... this was probably the hardest concept for me to grasp this quarter. Programmatic Advertising is an automated system that uses algorithms to buy media. Ad Tech or Advertising Technology is an encompassing umbrella term for the tools that help companies target their digital marketing efforts. I enjoyed learning about these concepts and look forward to learning more about them.
• Email Marketing: I was very surprised to learn how relevant email still is to marketers. Email has a huge pool of users that check their inbox frequently. On top of email marketing it is important to have a great landing page, which is something that I can help develop.
• Coding as a Marketer: Coding was always something that intimidated me. Thanks to this class I have a pretty solid understanding of HTML, Wordpress, and Square Space. Being able to have these skills as a marketer will help me differentiate myself.
• Digital Activism: To wrap up the quarter we learned about Digital Activism and how digital marketing can help further a cause. Being able to utilize the tools that I learned this quarter to potentially aid a cause that I care about is a great feeling. I hope to find a place where I can feel this same inspiration and use my knowledge to help.

As a digital marketer who wants to specialize in data analytics this class has proved to be invaluable. Out of all of the articles (or blogs) that I wrote this quarter, the one that had the most impressions was my article about Paid Social Media. While this wasn't my favorite concept covered this quarter, I appreciate what it has taught me about effectively increase brand reach on social media.

Out of all of the concepts covered I would say that I enjoyed learning about A/B testing and SEO. The reason that I chose these two ideas is because of their applicability. I hope to venture into the field of market research and being able to conduct A/B Tests to help maximize a website for a company and then in turn figure out how to optimize it within a search engine is a very exciting idea for me.

In the end, I am so glad that I had the opportunity to take #wwudigimark this quarter. I am so grateful for the knowledge that I learned and can't wait to apply it to my next chapter in life!