Video Marketing Should Be Taught in Schools
There is no question that college students have embraced video as a mainstream mode of communication. The usage of video focused social media apps such as Instagram and Snapchat amongst high school, college-aged students and young professionals is already close to 60% and is certainly greater than the ‘upper’ Millennial – re: 30+ population. For these young adults, who will soon occupy increasingly influential positions in the business world – and the consumer marketplace – video is already a language. They ‘get it’.
What they desire is the authenticity that video provides. And – they appreciate the ‘snackable’ nature of video.
But – they will graduate without any formal education in the use of video for marketing purposes, even though it is the single most dynamic force in the world of digital marketing today.
So the question is, should video marketing be taught in college?
Should Colleges teach current trends?
It has been the underlying tenet of higher education, that a college degree prepares a student for the long haul by teaching critical thinking, learning and analytical skills in addition to imparting knowledge in specific subject matter. Most universities do not see it as their responsibility to secure a job for their student upon graduation. Certainly at the undergraduate level, few college degrees provide specific job skills that allow students to seamlessly enter the job market at anything but an entry level position. Even highly technical baccalaureate degrees in nursing or accounting are not ‘plug and play’.
Whether this is proper or not, it still begs the question of how a college should teach and prepare students for what they will face in the ‘real world’. How much current technology or trends should be taught?
The traditional excuse is that colleges cannot keep up with the ever changing advances in technology. But that’s no longer valid, and for a simple reason – close to 70% of undergraduate college courses are not even being taught by tenured or tenure-track instructors. Charles Sykes writes in his recent book – Fail U. the False Promise of Higher Education – that as of 2011 over 41% of all courses were being taught by part time instructors.
So if adjunct professors are the norm, then what better way to teach video marketing then by hiring practitioners in the field to provide the education that tenured professors can not supply? Certainly this could and should be made available at the top major universities. And without question, those that have a reputation and specialty in business and marketing.
What Should be Taught?
Let’s accept that the subject matter of any video marketing curriculum or course will change over time. That’s not to say that their aren’t any core concepts.
The University of Michigan is one school that is taking the lead in teaching digital marketing at the college level. Here is a list of the required courses that make up a Digital Marketing major.
MKT 363 – Digital Consumer Search and Marketing
MKT 454 – Marketing Research
MKT 455 – E-tailing and Retailing
MKT 458 – Communications Strategy and New Media (formerly MKT 456)
MKT 463 – Digital Analytics and Content
I would suggest to add to this list additional courses focusing on video marketing and content strategy, Online and digital distribution and writing for digital and video.
Where do we go from here?
As the famous actor Al Jolson once said, ‘You ain’t seen nothing yet.’ Over the next decade we will see advances in the technology of video marketing – including advanced analytics. But more importantly, we will see that the major influencers and decision makers in companies will be individuals who came of age using video.
Video for them will be a go-to marketing and communications tool.
And colleges can either get on board and take this medium seriously, or cede the floor and become that much more irrelevant to the next generation.