Understanding the Vast World of Digital Marketing: My highlights from our Seminar Series.

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Throughout my final semester in the Digital Marketing Management Postgraduate program at George Brown College, I have been given the opportunity to listen to industry professionals who donate their time to share their experiences in seminar form. As the semester comes to an end, I reflect on the course’s teachings with fond memories of actively listening and engaging with real life professionals in the marketing industry, and the expertise that got them to where they are now.

Each session offered a unique perspective into the world of digital marketing and left me with a wealth of knowledge in some of the industries most prevalent topics. While I had preexisting experience in some topics, others introduced me to new concepts for the very first time or demonstrated real life examples of lessons taught in class. The course taught me the value in networking with marketing professionals to unlock new lessons, best practices, and opportunities.

Teachings

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Each week, my classmates and I were able to engage with a new speaker that specialized in a niche topic. From this I was able to attain a well-rounded knowledge of the field through different perspectives about the daily responsibilities of different key marketing positions. The series took us from the breakdown of digital analytics given by Mike Senra, who took the class on a deep dive between how an agency obtains data, diagnoses it, and turns it into actionable results, to Mike Krizmanich’s teachings on the cyclical patterns that Product Marketers go through to understand their audience, their challenges, their preferences, and the solutions to their problems. It is through this series where I really started to understand what certain marketing terminology meant and the execution of these marketing principles in a day-to-day role.

While I genuinely found each seminar to be beneficial, Daniela Furtado’s presentation on Personal Branding and SEO stuck with me the most. Being the first presentation of the semester, Daniela left us with a taste of what the course would entail and how valuable each weekly session would be. Daniela’s subject matter aligned perfectly with my desire to gain a deeper knowledge of not only Search Engine Optimization, but my aspirations of starting my own agency as well.  

Photo provided by Daniela on LinkedIn.

Daniela guided us through her journey, beginning with a marketing degree, to working as a marketing assistant for several years before venturing out on her own through the creation of Findable Digital Marketing Agency. Daniela not only explained what SEO was, but also how focusing on certain niches and becoming an expert in a single area can set you apart from the competition. While these were all extremely valuable for me to hear, nothing resonated with me more than her thought process behind becoming an entrepreneur. Tired of taking direction from bosses who told her how long to work and how much she could make; Daniela took life into her own hands and made these decisions for herself. Knowing that I will soon have the skillset to venture off on my own ignited my enthusiasm for digital marketing and the future of my career. If I do end up starting my own agency someday, I will owe credit to Daniela for showing me that it is possible.

Networking

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Networking throughout this year has proven to be incredibly valuable for expanding my horizons and strengthening my connections and opportunities. I made a deliberate effort to engage with as many of the seminar speakers as possible, asking any questions that I had about the topic, or encouraging them expand on more personal experiences that they have had throughout their careers.

The success that I saw from forming connections with these speakers encouraged me to start reaching out to other industry professionals either on LinkedIn or through my professional network. Through doing so, I have been able to form relationships and take advantage of opportunities that have been presented to me. I even took this a step further by making sure to build strong relationships through my classmates, making sure to keep in touch with them as we all embark on our digital marketing career journeys. By doing so, I was able to secure a co-op placement at Source for Sports in the marketing department. This opportunity was offered to me through a classmate’s recommendation, as I will be working along side them throughout the summer semester. Through personal experience, I am understanding how valuable these connections are for obtaining opportunities in marketing and can confidently say that this course helped me come to that conclusion.

Best Practices

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Throughout the semester, I was able to pickup on many important networking best practices that had a positive effect on my ability to connect with others. Methods such as always keeping your hand on the pulse was essential to learn because it demonstrates how marketing is an always-evolving field, and to give yourself the greatest opportunity for success, it is important to stay active and involved in communities and research. Furthermore, it is wise for any marketer to continue to evolve their personal brand. While most of us do not want to become an influencer, it is important to utilize these platforms such as LinkedIn to stay connected to your peers and showcase your skills through a fantastic online persona that demonstrates to employers your skillset.

The marketing seminar has taught me so much about networking, continuously learning, and what it takes to be an expert in a particular field. While I will move on to other ventures and opportunities, I will always be able to take the lessons that I learned throughout the semester and build on the teachings of the experts that came before me.