Dr. Elaine Young is a professor of Digital and Social Media Marketing at Champlain College in Burlington, Vermont. Scout Digital sat down with her to talk about the evolution of digital marketing over the years, how Gen Z is preparing to enter the field, and the intersections between the art and science of marketing in the digital age.

Looking Back: The Evolution of Digital Marketing

It’s no secret that with the rapid development of technology in the last twenty years, the face of marketing and communication has changed dramatically. 

“I graduated in 1999 from Marlboro College with a Master’s degree in Internet Strategy Management,” recalls Dr. Young, “and I remember some fabulous academic conversations we had about how amazing it would be to create online communities.”

Through the eyes of an educator, the rapid pace of digital marketing strategies has given Dr. Young a unique perspective on the evolution of the online communities she and her classmates once hypothesized.

When I first started teaching digital marketing, we called it web-based marketing. We talked about search engines and how to get listed in a search. We actually called somebody up and said, ‘Hey, would you list me on Yahoo?’ There were no analytics, there was no data.

Then, of course, came the advent of social media in the late 2000s.

“That was interesting, a whirlwind of personal expression, like a live journal. Then Facebook started evolving and somebody decided to figure out how to make money.” 

To Dr. Young, the tipping point in digital marketing was the moment when content shifted from what the user wanted to see to predetermined algorithms that filtered content they considered most important.

“That’s the root of the challenges we’re seeing where information gets surfaced to the tops of these platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram,” explains Dr. Young. “The content you see is driven by where you’ve been physically and virtually across platforms. It’s all put together behind the scenes. What has changed is that social media platforms are no longer great for organic content. They’re a highly targeted, still-evolving advertising space.”

But if social media is no longer the ideal platform for organic content, how can marketers best share their companies’ stories?

“It’s all integrated now, from putting content on a blog, to surfacing that content on social media, to pitching PR and news stories, and using email marketing and ad buys. They all come together so that the messaging is coming at multiple levels.”

A New Generation of Digital Marketers

In an age where digital communication and media is omnipresent, how does that affect high school students coming into the college to study Digital Marketing?

Young people who are coming into college now have never known a life without social media, and it has a profound impact,” says Dr. Young. “Speaking for myself and my evolution of teaching over the years, it’s really about understanding that this is a group of people who have grown up with the tools that I’m supposedly teaching them.

Dr. Young talks about the mutual understanding she fosters with her students of their experience with social media and exposure to digital marketing, in addition to her understanding of how to use those tools in a professional environment. 

“We used to get a lot of students who just wanted to create ads because it was cool. Now we get more and more students who see the implications of advertising, and want to understand the data behind it. They’re a different kind of student.”

Through Dr. Young’s classes, students get exposed to all different facets of digital marketing, beyond social media posts and influencers. By learning to track analytics and study data, students learn to make conscious decisions to drive conversions from their campaigns. 

“As the tools we use have gotten better at gathering data, we’re seeing this beautiful connection between the analytical and the creative. We used to debate whether we as marketers were killing creativity. Now I’ve got students in my advanced classes who are graphic designers using data to improve their creative projects.”

How Marketing Integrates Art & Science

Dr. Young recognizes the tension that often exists between the creative and analytical sides of the marketing industry. She offers a different perspective.

“I think about psychology and data science and mathematics, and how those give students an edge as they come into the marketing world. Not everybody is going to be in the perfect middle of a Venn Diagram of art and science in this space,” she explains. “Students have to get in touch with what gives them energy.

In her program, Dr. Young sees students who land anywhere on the marketing spectrum, and encourages them to take classes across the board to understand the importance of both creativity and analysis in crafting a successful digital marketing campaign.

“If you can break down complex information into a visual anyone can understand, you can tell a great story. If you’re a creative who knows a little data, you can tell a great story. But if you can do both, then your story can be phenomenal.”

Looking Forward

In the next five years, Dr. Young has a pretty clear idea of where the digital marketing field is headed.

Virtual reality,” she says “I think we’ll be talking about how to immerse yourself in an experience. How do marketers contribute to that experience?

From self-driving cars to virtually interacting with family and friends a world away, Dr. Young describes virtual reality as “the next frontier.”

“That’s the challenge in education. I’m teaching first years now, but I don’t even know what they’ll need to know when they’re seniors.”

So what is Dr. Young’s advice for people looking to get into digital marketing in 2020?

“Anybody getting into this space has to know that marketing, automation, technology, design, data, all of those are critical components to marketing. You’ll never be an expert, it’s impossible. In the digital marketing world, you’ll always be learning.”

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