That's OK by me, because it gives me an excuse to keep up with marketing trends...and then I get to be the expert for my clients, helping them figure out not just what to say (the copywriting), but when, how, to whom and more (the consulting).
How does a marketer keep up with new developments in marketing though when you are busy doing your day-to-day job and you don't have someone like me (who is delighted to keep learning!) around to keep you current?
Even more importantly, how do we make sure we have marketers entering the field who know email marketing, blogging, social media, Web 2.0, Twitter, etc.? Because it doesn't seem to be taught in college. Heck, even copywriting is something anyone can claim to do! Hang out your sign as an online copywriter and have at it. No one can ask for credentials, because there aren't any!
Which makes me very happy to be on the Advisory Board for the University of Washington marketing certificate programs. UW Extension is looking forward, trying to determine what marketers need to know. And now we have a new program that starts this fall: the Advanced Interactive Marketing program.
You can read about the program at http://www.extension.washington.edu/ext/certificates/aim/aim_gen.asp, but to sum it up, here's how a marketer can benefit from this marketing program:
If you already know how to harness the technology, this program will teach you how to choose one marketing tool over another based on sound business principles. If you're still completely oblivious about how best to put email marketing, blogging, SEO, web analytics and more to work, then here's your chance for an overview that won't help you master all these online marketing tools, but will help you know enough to make sound marketing decisions.
A program like this is great for people already working in marketing, and I'm so glad they started it! But we still need to be teaching interactive marketing at the college level too. I wonder how long until that happens?
Posted by: Coach Colleen Brady, The True Love Coach on Thursday, August 21, 2008
I've been looking at this program. I've owned a tech writing business for 18 years, but marketing online is so different. I've taken a few online courses but they are very generic. This one sounds great because you get to work on a real-life project and get feedback specific to your project. I've done a lot of things right and a lot of things wrong on my site on the secrets to attract men and finding and keeping your soulmate. It is so easy to do it wrong if you don't understand the theory. It seems that this UW extension program is right on the money.