Improving Student Job Placement and Assessment Through the Use of Digital Marketing Certification Programs

The area of digital marketing is a difficult one for course development. Not only is it a relatively new topic area—having become popular after many marketing faculty completed their academic training—it is a constantly changing one wherein “innovative” tools are continuously being replaced within the industry. After uncovering what topics should be taught through a content analysis of entry-level job postings, the author researched and implemented certification programs in Web analytics, inbound marketing, social media, and e-mail marketing. Using the certification programs improved course organization and increased the success rate of students in the job market.