The digital marketing concentration of my MBA started in March. Hooray for relevant classes! Here’s an overview of what I learned in Integrated Digital Advertising, taught by Professor Manveer Mann, Ph.D. You may see some of my homework from class repurposed as blogs in the future. This class had tons of helpful and interesting assigned readings and videos about topics such as programmatic advertising, retargeting ads (the ads that follow you around the internet), and personalized dynamic advertising.
Course Description
“This course helps to develop an understanding of digital advertising in order to better target audiences across devices and media. On completion of this course, students will be able to learn about the various aspects of digital advertising including ad formats, native advertising, content marketing, dynamic creative optimization, personalization; role of data in effective advertising planning; programmatic buying; digital ad placement, localized technologies; measurement and ROI.”
Textbook and Case Studies
Textbook: Personalized Digital Advertising: How Data and Technology Are Transforming How We Market
Main Case Study: MedNet.com Confronts Click-Through Competition
This case debated if charging per click or charging per 1000 impressions is a better business model for running ads on an editorial website.
Case Study: HubSpot: Inbound Marketing 2.0
I liked this case because it gave a history of a tool and educational platform I use. HubSpot had a difficult dilemma in the early days of its business: practice what they preach and only use inbound marketing to attract its own customers, or add outbound marketing to their marketing mix.
Case Study: Buzzfeed – The Promise of Native Advertising
I now know a lot about BuzzFeed’s history and how it succeeded. I learned a new term for advertorials and sponsored content: native ads.
Case Study: DataXu: Selling Ad Tech
I learned a lot about programmatic marketing and ad tech from this case.
Numerous TED talks were included in the classes, such as: What if there was no advertising? by George Nimeh
A Few Topics Covered
- Various aspects of digital advertising and how data informs digital advertising planning
- How digital advertising is used to engage customers across their purchase journey
- Personalization, targeting (geo, cross-device, multi-screen), and dynamic advertising
- The cyclical process of digital advertising and role of data in the various stages
- Various tools and technologies used by marketers
- Concepts of measurement of ad performance and ROI
I started an online MBA at Montclair State University in January 2017.
