Steve Wiideman Interview - Digital Marketing | CSUF

Four Questions for a Digital Marketing Instructor

Steve Wiideman

CEO, Wiideman Consulting Group, Inc.

Author, SEO: Strategy & Skills (via Stukent)

Lead Instructor, Digital Marketing Certificate Program, CSUF EIP

What are some of the benefits of online learning?

The self-paced aspect of some online classes can help reduce anxiety about deadlines or being in class at a fixed time while balancing work, school, and life. One comment I hear often from my students is that they love one-on-one conversations with me via Zoom, since they are recorded and can be referenced later on in life when they enter the workforce.

Is there anything else that students should know in order to be successful in the online classroom?

You never know how much time the upcoming week’s assignments might take. A best practice is to knock out as much as possible earlier on in the week so work doesn’t stack up a day before it’s due. Take advantage of office hours and one-on-one time with instructors who work in the field they teach, they’ll have plenty of real-life examples to share. Get beyond theory and concept by spending time with the instructor on case study and hands-on practice when available.

How does a program like the Digital Marketing Certificate program prepare students for successful careers in this field?

A Digital Marketing Certificate program can introduce students to the strategies, tasks, and reporting to expect in the workplace. A favorite comment I hear often when it comes to my classes is the up-to-date templates and training videos they have at their disposal, many of which are used by Fortune 500 brands I work with personally. I also love sharing exercises that students can expect to repeat on the job, such as organizing keywords into a content roadmap, performing a technical website audit, or assembling a tracking spreadsheet for measuring and monitoring key performance indicators.

What are some common career paths for graduates? For example, what is a job title that someone might have once they finish the program.

A few of the higher-paying roles a student could attain after completing this program include:

• SEO Specialist, managing search engine optimization efforts for a client or agency
• Web Data Analyst, charged with finding issues and opportunities within reporting tools such as Looker Studio or SEMRush
• PPC Specialist, in charge of pay-per-click advertising campaigns in Google, Bing, YouTube, and other publishers.