Collaborations between Wittenberg professors and business leaders help bring success to the classroom, while entertaining the latest in thinking and in networking.
Kevin Steidel, Ness Chair in Entrepreneurship, assistant professor of practice and program director of the Master of Science in Analytics, recently enlisted Mark Subel, principal of Two Wheels Marketing, to develop a digital plan and campaigns to help drive targeted traffic to the Wittenberg analytics program website with hope of exposing it to interested students and ultimately bringing more interested students to Wittenberg’s School of Graduate and Professional Studies (GPS).
“Mark and I met at a Columbus networking event called Web Analytics Wednesday,” Steidel said. “We started discussing digital marketing trends and became fast friends. He has worked with a lot of small businesses on their digital strategy and because of my background as an entrepreneur, I was intrigued. I thought immediately that he would be a great classroom guest to talk about Google, how Google works, and how to get your website on the top of Google searches.”
Subel and his colleague, Natalie NIchols, recently attended Steidel’s Digital Marketing class to teach students basic search engine marketing strategies, show how businesses use them to attract their ideal audience, and how to implement content on websites to make them more appealing to Google searchers.
“If someone is searching for a masters in analytics, we are helping to expose them to Wittenberg’s program and encourage them to visit the site to learn more,” Subel said. “Our company specializes in search engine marketing and paid social advertising. Search engine marketing includes search engine optimization (SEO) and pay-per-click marketing (Google and Bing ads). Paid social advertising includes Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn ads. We specialize in developing marketing strategies to help clients increase website traffic, drive more leads, more sales and/or more exposure for their brand. From search engine marketing to paid social advertising and analytics, there are a wide range of strategies that companies like ours utilize to help our clients grow. A student should at least know what some of the major strategies are and how businesses use them to attract their ideal audience. At the very least, students should understand the various digital marketing strategies and techniques used today.”
“Having these professionals come in and talk directly about what we’re learning in the class was a fantastic real-life, hands-on experience,” said Devon Atchison ’19, majoring in both marketing and communication with an economics minor from Pataskala, Ohio. “Hearing them elaborate on what we’ve been talking about is helpful for understanding the industry and also for how to get jobs in the industry. Subel started Two Wheels Marketing by knowing what he was good at and seeing some gaps in the industry. It’s important for us to hear from an entrepreneur about what he’s doing and where he started. Finding something your good at, sticking to it, and constantly learning are keys to success in this industry.”
Subel said that companies are looking to hire self-starters and those that take it upon themselves to turn what they learn in school and apply it in the real world.
“We are regularly impressed with resumes that come to us from prospective job seekers who have taken initiative in learning how to actually setup and manage campaigns either for their own ideas or as an intern for a company – on their own time,” he said. “This could be as simple as running a Facebook ads campaign for an organization that you are part of or even running a Google Ads campaign for your own project. Students that can take that type of initiative and get ‘hands-on’ with the platforms will definitely help market themselves in this field and stand out from the crowd. They will be more attractive to employers.”
“It’s all about understanding what works for your industry, product, or service,” Steidel added. “You really have to perform a lot of research in order to understand how competitors in your space are utilizing Google. You then have to decide if you can do it better, or different.”
While many may have trouble marketing themselves, Subel said it’s very important in this day and age and with today’s job market as employers are bombarded with various resumes. He said that companies are looking for professionalism and hands-on experience either through work at school or in a student’s own time.
“Marketing yourself is about helping to make yourself stand out with prospective employers,” Subel said. “This is done through excellence in school and extracurricular work within the industry you are seeking. Employers want to see self-initiative and people who have taken it upon themselves to dedicate time and energy to applying what they are learning outside the classroom. Students can be more involved with trends by keeping up with the latest marketing and digital marketing blogs out there. It’s not merely enough to take what you learn in class to stay ahead; one must take initiative to read industry websites to stay current.”
Certainly, anything in the digital realm is the “hot and trendy.” Social media platforms are constantly on the rise and universities, businesses, and future job seekers must check out these hot topics and trends.
“Offering advertising solutions designed to market a brand to individuals who participate on those platforms is what it’s all about,” Subel said. “As a university, it’s imperative to be on digital platforms that align with your brand and with where your prospective applicants may be spending time. It’s not imperative to be everywhere all the time, but to really analyze your target market and understand where you should be and how you should be communicating your offerings on each platform.”
About Two Wheels Marketing
Two Wheels Marketing is a boutique search engine marketing (PPC & SEO) and paid social marketing agency headquartered in Columbus Ohio, specializing in results-driven marketing campaigns designed to help clients improve website traffic and visibility, whether that is more leads, more sales or more brand exposure. More information can be found at: https://twowheelsmarketing.com/