Key Takeaways:

• Oklahoma State University-Oklahoma City’s new digital marketing and e-commerce program option gives students hands-on experience with digital advertising, analytics and social media strategy.
• Students learn Google Ads Manager, Google Analytics and organic social media strategy while earning multiple Google certificates at no additional cost.
• Keilani Hamann combines classroom instruction with professional experience at Dick’s Sporting Goods to teach current digital marketing practices.
• The program focuses on applying audience research, campaign strategy and data analysis to real-world marketing decisions across industries.

As businesses increasingly rely on digital platforms to reach customers, Oklahoma State University-Oklahoma City is giving students an opportunity to build practical skills in digital marketing and e-commerce through a new program option.

The program is designed to help students understand how digital marketing works from strategy through execution, giving them experience with tools and techniques used by marketing professionals in today’s industry.

Keilani Hamann, who teaches digital marketing courses at OSU-OKC, brings both academic and professional experience to the program. She earned her undergraduate degree in marketing and Spanish and a master’s degree in digital and social media marketing from the University of Alabama. She also works for Dick’s Sporting Goods, where she recently joined the company’s media network team.

For Hamann, bringing current industry experience into the classroom is an important part of preparing students for careers in digital marketing.

“I don't think you can teach in this industry without having been in it or being in it actively,” Hamann said. “There's so much with digital and social media marketing that you kind of have to be in it to know it.”

That real-world perspective is reflected throughout the program option. Rather than focusing solely on concepts and theory, students will work with tools, data and strategies they can expect to encounter in the workplace.

One area of focus is Google Ads Manager, where students learn how to build campaigns, establish budgets and identify appropriate targeting and demographics. Students also earn multiple Google certificates for free as a part of the program.

“Just being able to understand how to build an ad in Ads Manager, how to build a campaign in Google Ads Manager, how to set up your budget and your targeting and your demographics, I mean, people do that for a living,” Hamann said.

Those skills can be particularly valuable for small-business owners and entrepreneurs who may not have the resources to hire an outside marketing agency.

Hamann said understanding digital advertising can help businesses avoid spending money on campaigns that fail to reach their intended audiences effectively.

“I would say this course is a money saver,” Hamann said. “I see so many people, even in my own industry, who don't know how to build a social media ad.”

The program also helps students connect two essential parts of marketing: understanding a target audience and effectively reaching that audience through digital platforms.

“There's knowing your consumer, and there's knowing digital marketing, but I think this course helps tie them together,” Hamann said.

Students will also gain experience interpreting data through projects involving Google Analytics. Rather than simply learning how to read analytics reports, students will practice determining what the data means and what actions should follow.

“People can read data, but they don't know what to do with it,” Hamann said. “I think there's quite literally examples in the certification where you have to read the data and answer questions.”

The program option also incorporates a hands-on social media strategy. Students will develop an organic social media strategy for a hypothetical product or audience, making decisions about which platforms to use, when to post and what type of creative content to develop.

Those assignments are based on the types of work Hamann encounters professionally.

“I said, ‘I'm in it, let me pull my actual examples in’,” Hamann said. “How can I give my master's-level education to this type of certification? I think it's so valuable.”

The emphasis on practical experience is intentional. Hamann said much of what she learned about digital marketing came through internships and professional experience, as the field was still developing when she was in college.

“I would definitely have taken something like this when I was in college,” she said.

As digital platforms have become an increasingly important part of how organizations communicate with customers, Hamann said the skills students gain through the program can translate across industries and advertising platforms.

Learning one major advertising platform also provides a foundation for understanding others, she said, because many of the underlying concepts are similar.

For students, that means the program can provide more than a credential. It can give them foundational knowledge they can immediately apply in a workplace, personal business or future marketing career.

“It's the foundation,” Hamann said. “It's stuff that I learned in my master's-level course, but it's also things that I do day to day.”

Through the new digital marketing and e-commerce program option, OSU-OKC is helping students bridge the gap between learning about marketing and actually doing it, preparing them to make informed decisions, understand their audiences and use digital tools to help organizations reach their goals.

FAQ’s

What is the new OSU-OKC digital marketing and e-commerce program option?
OSU-OKC’s new digital marketing and e-commerce program option gives students hands-on experience with digital advertising, analytics and social media strategy.

What will students learn in the OSU-OKC digital marketing and e-commerce program?
Students will learn to build Google Ads campaigns, set budgets and targeting, interpret Google Analytics data and develop organic social media strategies.

Do students in the OSU-OKC digital marketing and e-commerce program earn Google certificates?
Yes, OSU-OKC students earn multiple Google certificates for free as part of the program.

Who teaches digital marketing at OSU-OKC?
Keilani Hamann teaches digital marketing courses at OSU-OKC and brings academic and professional experience from the University of Alabama and Dick’s Sporting Goods.

How does the OSU-OKC digital marketing and e-commerce program prepare students for careers?
The OSU-OKC program uses workplace tools, data and marketing strategies to help students apply digital marketing skills in professional settings, personal businesses and future marketing careers.

Can OSU-OKC's digital marketing skills help small-business owners?
Yes, OSU-OKC’s digital marketing coursework teaches students how to build and target digital advertising campaigns, skills that can help small-business owners manage marketing themselves.