From classroom to career

This article originally appeared in the Fall 2024 issue of Trulaske Magazine.

Students were the driving force behind the creation of the Digital Marketing Immersion course at the Trulaske College of Business in Spring 2024.  

Inspired by the overwhelming success of the Digital Marketing Certificate, faculty recognized the need for a hands-on, immersive experience that would allow students to not only learn but also apply digital marketing techniques in real-world scenarios. During initial brainstorming sessions, the faculty identified that a growing number of student entrepreneurs could greatly benefit from a pro-bono marketing team. 

The result? A course that delivers a win-win — providing digital marketing students with practical experience while supporting budding entrepreneurs. 

Taught by Assistant Teaching Professor Katie Essing, the Marketing Department’s Digital Marketing Immersion course goes beyond traditional classroom learning, pushing students to apply their knowledge on real digital platforms. Its mission is clear: to equip students with the skills they need to meet the digital marketing challenges of their future careers. The curriculum covers essential areas like website development, podcasting, paid and organic social media, content creation, and photography and videography.

The format of the Digital Marketing Immersion course is modeled after the college’s BA3500 course, in which students work in small teams, acting as agencies for real clients. In this immersive experience, nine companies presented to a room full of student teams, each hoping to be selected for the valuable consulting support these students could provide. In the end, five companies were selected, many of which were founded by Mizzou student entrepreneurs. One of the selected clients was the Trulaske College of Business itself. 

The course also featured a variety of expert speakers who offered insight on relevant topics, providing students with the support they need while working with their clients. The experience culminated in final presentations to the clients, during which students offered recommendations for expanding or refining company strategies in the digital landscape.

Digital Marketing Immersion is part of the college’s commitment to experience-centered learning, ensuring that all Trulaske students are career-ready when they graduate.

We asked Allie Davis, B.S.B.A. ’24, to give us a front row seat to the inaugural Digital Marketing Immersion course experience. Davis and her teammates worked with clothing brand Fisch Flips, founded by Clare Fischer, B.S.B.A. ’24.

Visualization and actualization. Terms that boil down to the feeling of being seen and understood. Through seven semesters, I ventured through lectures, class exercises and guest speakers that instigated deep dives into the marketing craft. Yet, they never fully sparked my personal career aspirations of creative director and digital marketer.  

It’s funny how the most impactful opportunities sometimes appear without warning. An unexpected twist arrived during the solidification of my final semester courses: It arrived with a ping in my Outlook app – a message from Assistant Teaching Professor Katie Essing about an upcoming digital immersion course. After a few minutes of contemplation and confirmation that the class would fit in my courseload, I emailed her back that I was interested.   

By January 2024, I was an experienced student of Professor Essing’s, and I anticipated her friendly and eager introduction to the class. On the first day of the semester, I found myself on the edge of my seat in a small first-floor Cornell Hall classroom, waiting to learn more about this course of digital mystery. 

The first-day agenda included the routine inaugural meetings with groupmates and icebreakers. But this time, our icebreaker deviated from the regular “Give your name, year and a fun fact,” to a real immersion into each other’s interests, ranging from favorite moments during winter break to post-graduation plans and aspirations. In just a few minutes, we knew more about each other than most students following a typical first-day icebreaker.

After the first week of classes, it was obvious that Digital Marketing Immersion would be a course I would look forward to. The syllabus promised real-life experiences, consulting for a client’s marketing needs, an exploration of career paths with experienced professionals and workshops from industry thought leaders.  

I noticed that the doctrine for this course didn’t mention a textbook, which I candidly admit is a dream come true for most students. When we leave college, we want to be assured that we will be able to tackle the careers we choose and sometimes reading doesn’t guarantee that. What does, however, is an introduction to popular technologies and practices. Each week, our Digital Marketing Immersion class learned about trending topics like search engine optimization, content marketing and consulting best practices.  

Considering my advancement to a consulting position post-graduation, I was excited to get familiar with necessary practices. When meeting our team’s client, Clare Fischer, CEO and founder of upcycled denim retailer Fisch Flips, I was eager to assist her needs. 

Eagerness can be a natural feeling of a dedicated individual, but it’s also nurtured through advisement. For example, in every class period, my colleagues and I were advised by Professor Essing on how to handle conflicts professionally or invited to brainstorm ideas on creating deliverables for that week's project. Our questions were always welcomed and eagerly answered. 

With each passing week, we completed more of the outlined tasks and became more acquainted with each other as teammates.  

In my previous encounters with group projects, we were the textbook definition of polite colleagues – minimal small talk and a commitment to a common goal. Ironically, Digital Marketing Immersion featured no textbook, which prompted a closer relationship with my teammates. We were aware of each other's weekly plans, ongoing interviews for jobs and even the everyday annoyances of continuing to evolve as adults. Ultimately, we grew to genuinely care about each other and remained deeply committed to our client. The idea of being hell-bent on each individual accomplishing their responsibility disappeared and true collaboration awoke. 

Most reflections retell the writer’s favorite moment, and this one is no different. As I mentioned, we’d been introduced to professionals in podcasting, storytelling, photography and video. Therefore, we were tasked with trying our hand at each. When choosing which area we wanted to dive into, I let my love of talking lead me to podcasting. I spent time interviewing our client, finding sound effects and audio and clipping it all together to deliver a behind-the-scenes look at how she developed Fisch Flips. An area where I always pondered my ability became a new skill I wanted to nurture.  

Digital Marketing Immersion was my favorite class, a culmination of my college experience and a final learning lesson from my most enriching professor. More importantly, it felt like a launchpad for my forthcoming career. It was an opportunity to develop an ongoing thirst for knowledge and confidence to dive into my aspirations.