Contemporary problems require contemporary solutions. We hear this all the time. The changing mode of life requires new ways of doing things. Today’s students need to be taught the skills that would help them survive in the constantly transforming world. As a result, progressive educators find it necessary to develop their abilities to use social media productively instead of forbidding any interactions on the relevant platforms.
Moving into the Digital Era
During the last two decades, the entire life on the planet has changed a lot due to the technological advancements that emerge every day. Today, practically all habitual everyday activities are performed online, which has become possible with the abundant variety of digital devices and omnipresence of Internet connectivity. We read, watch, and listen to the news online, search for information on the web, get entertainment and educational media online, work remotely via the Internet, and shop online waiting for the delivery of the bought items right to our door.
Very few businesses have not yet been touched by this digitization. Moreover, the COVID-19 pandemic with its social distancing restrictions has aggravated the situation and accelerated the process of shifting all the operations online in only two last years or even less. Naturally, all these businesses still need to market their goods and services, but under contemporary conditions, it should also happen online. Technology has disrupted the traditional way of advertising, bringing digital marketing to the fore.
What Is Digital Marketing?
Millions of people are online every minute, including right now. Some are searching for a new house to buy, others are watching a movie or reading news, while someone is asking Google “whom can I pay to write my essay for me?” Whatever you need in terms of business, education, or entertainment, you can find it on the Internet. People who offer these goods and services for you need to promote them so that they not only appear on the top positions in search engines but so that the information about them was cross-linked and spread all over the net. And that is exactly what Digital Marketing does.
Digital marketing is what every active user of social media does, although subconsciously. When you post selfies from your sister’s wedding on Instagram, share a video of your hiking tour on Facebook, or write a candid story of your first day of internship at the Social Service Center in your blog, you get engaged in digital marketing of yourself. So, this way or another, you already know its basics. Now, you need a bit more training to get in-depth insights, acquire or sharpen the necessary skills, and start your promising career.
Why Should Students Be Taught Digital Marketing Skills?
The digital age we are living in demands new ways of doing things. Consequently, it is important to prepare today’s high school students for these novel realities, keeping in mind the further potential evolution into their future. Acquiring digital marketing skills can help them in so many different ways even today.
The Potential of the Field
The first reason for teaching today’s students digital marketing skills is undeniably the promising potential of the field. With the online presence of literally every business nowadays, with time, physical entities may become obsolete altogether. The only viable, practical, and reasonable way of promoting goods and services will be digital marking, which makes it a tremendously growing field with excellent prospects. As a result, a lot of people consider job options in it, and millions of high school students choose it as their future career path. Thus, it would be useful and prudent to lay the foundation of the basic skills as early as possible to ease their way further? Teenagers already use social media platforms extensively, making up the bulk of their user base and spending more time there than anyone else. So, why not teach them the right strategies that will be valuable for their future?
Opportunity to Favorably Market Yourself
Since social media is already an inevitable part of today’s teenagers’ life, they must be taught to use it right. Students should know how to create high-quality, meaningful content instead of sharing selfies with their breakfasts and expecting thousands of likes. Posting to make an impact is a skill that will help them succeed in the increasingly developing digital age no matter what career they choose. Not only goods and services get promoted. People market themselves while sending application letters to a college or CVs to a potential recruiter. Knowing how to produce original, unique, and high-quality content creating a brand of their identities, today’s high school students will be able to stand out for any college admissions officer or employer amidst millions of indiscernible resumes and personal statements. Thus, it is important to teach them to do this at a young age.
Improved School Performance
Encouraging students to use social media platforms rather than banning them altogether can improve their research, communication, collaboration, and leadership skills and even increase performance. Indeed, experience has shown that they feel more comfortable sharing their thoughts and ideas. Social media is the place of their round-the-clock presence. Today’s dependence on these platforms and the reaction of other users to your activity makes them more encouraged to share their work with a wider audience instead of submitting it to the teacher for their silent assessment.
The excitement of getting feedback from other students urges them to work harder, explore issues, and express themselves in a better way. For the same reason, the quality of their works improves. Now, it is not just an essay for the teacher who likes to correct mistakes but a social media post that will be seen, read and evaluated by peers and the entire student community.
They get even more excited to share their work online knowing that they will get immediate responses and feedback. Students want to get heard. Implementing the strategies to teach them digital marketing skills in classes, educators give them this opportunity. Teenagers want to make a difference. The freedom to share their ideas, thoughts, and interests teaches them to leave the right footprint, not to be afraid to express themselves and to adequately accept any kind of criticism.
Final Say
Children are our future. To make it better, we need to prepare them for the challenges life can bring, taking into consideration the transformations that are taking place and foreseeing their further trajectory. Since the world is now fully operating in a digital economy, it is quite natural that our kids must be taught skills that will be useful in these realities.
Therefore, there is no use in forbidding them from spending time on social media websites. Instead, these platforms can be used to our and the children’s advantage and serve as a perfect tool for teaching them skills of digital marketing – perhaps the most promising field of the future.
