Full Sail University Internet Marketing: The Journey

Full Sail University Internet Marketing: The Journey

This post is long long overdue.  Less than 3 weeks ago I completed Full Sail University’s Master of Science program in Internet Marketing.  And although my schedule has been a lot more hectic than I expected after the graduation, I’ve still had plenty of time to reflect on my experience at Full Sail.

Is Education Relevant to the Internet Marketing Industry?

What’s really interesting to me is that recently a number of friends, colleagues, and acquaintances in the Internet marketing profession who weren’t aware that I’d just completed Full Sail’s program have voiced their thoughts with me on whether education is really relevant to our field.   The conversations have been quite thought provoking and it’s been difficult for me to take my mind off of some of them but alas the extra time that I’ve got on my hands has allowed me to put some things into perspective.

Why Internet Marketing May be Unique to the Education Discussion

The first thing that I will say is that the marketing industry is an industry like no other.  Indeed one can be quite credentialed in the web marketing field, education-wise, and still not be able to land a solid job in this field.  I think this is more so a characteristic of the broader marketing and ad industry that somehow seeped its way into the interactive field than something that is peculiar to Internet marketing.  And by and by this notion that experience trumps education has been the prevailing tone of many conversations that have dropped into my lap the topic recently.

But when I ask myself what is it about marketing that makes it such a tough field for folks with more education than experience my own experiences lead me to believe that there are three primary drivers that fuel this trend.

1. The marketing of old (we’re talking mass media here) is an industry that in the past was dominated by looks, sheer creativity, gut instinct, and tons of money.
2. Money talks but when you add human nature to the financial equation-the outcome will most likely be that the lady holding the purse strings is much more likely to entrust her hard earned cash into the hands of he that has a proven track record over the guy without it-irrespective of education.
3. The misconception that being an Internet marketing is the same thing as being a technologist.  Think back to the late 80′s and early 90′s when stories of the proverbial whiz kid-college drop out turned technology millionaire or billionaire prevailed in popular lexicon.

So after having said that would it make more sense for someone wishing to enter the web marketing field to sidestep formal instruction and jump straight into getting the requisite experience? It has already been said that one doesn’t need an undergrad degree or even a high school diploma, for that matter, to excel in this field.  That should signal that it’s certainly is not a requirement that one enters the interactive marketing space with tons of education.  So, the true answer to this question of whether one should pursue specialized Internet marketing instruction will vary depending upon each individual’s goals, skills, temperament, perseverance, and networking abilities among other factors.

Why Benin Says a Resounding Yes to Internet Marketing Education:

But here’s why pursuing a graduate degree in Internet Marketing from Full Sail still makes a lot of sense to me and might make be right for you too:

• Although I had already been working in the interactive space for several years before attending Full Sail I was acutely aware of my limitations.  Talking with clients or colleagues that I didn’t really know how to help brought me to the realization that there was a huge knowledge gap standing between me and their needs.  Unfortunately, I was just too bull-headed to admit to anyone my lack of understanding on things that I felt I should have already known.
• My attention span is crazy short.  Now I’ve never been officially diagnosed with ADD, but I get bored very easily.  It comes at the most unpredictable times for me and this has made it extremely challenging for me to to do any type of independent self study.
• This one is funny…really funny in retrospect. Once, before Full Sail, I had the good fortune of befriending and getting the attention of an interactive marketing headhunter only to have her laugh in my face asking herself aloud if I was serious when I showed her my resume.  The situation left me asking myself a number of questions…Was it due to my quiet nature, was it my lack of big agency experience, was it because she’d never heard of me, or did I not look the part? I may never know the answer to that  but one thing that I was sure of was that my experience certainly merited more than her reaction.
• As much as I knew about online marketing prior to my training at Full Sail I did not know the one thing that matters the most-how to do online marketing research/online buying behavior.

So I don’t know if any of you out there encounter similar web marketing industry challenges but based upon the number of inquiries that I get from people about Full Sail (and usually these are people whom I know to be industry veterans) I’d be willing to wager that the number’s probably more than a few.

Benin’s Full Sail Experience

Moving on to my experiences at Full Sail…Upon beginning my studies at Full Sail I noticed that at least 30 to 40% of my peers, like myself, brought to Full Sail a moderate to a considerable amount of experience in the Internet marketing field. And I can’t speak for them on this but I learned something that would almost seem contradictory about myself.  On the one hand my lack of clarity on a number of topics was made very clear to me by my second class.  But somehow, it still became apparent to me that the scope of my web marketing awareness was greater than I thought it was.

And in case you’ve never spoken to a Full Sail grad, my schedule there was absolutely grueling.  The program demanded from me not less than 20 hours of study per week (on a slow week) and as much as 35 hours on a typical week.  But the professors ( or course directors) made this time very well worth it for me; as each one brought a certain level of expertise and enthusiasm to class that made the experience even that much more meaningful to me.

The Big Picture

Why was it worth it or how could I be so sure, right?  Afterall Full Sail’s known for lots of things-media production, film, recording, creative arts, and so on and so forth but being low budget is not one of them.  Here’s why-Prior to Full Sail the extent of my insights within the interactive marketing field were limited to two or maybe even three disciplines of the Internet marketing field (social media, media buying/planning, and PPC to some extent); today my grasp on those three segments of the field are much more in tact.  Add to that list a firm understanding of online consumer behavior, online research, strategy & planning, organic SEO, Online PR, analytics, branding & business storytelling, plus Internet law and that’s where things stand today.  Outside of school it could have taken years of experience in Internet marketing, at the executive level, to learn what I know today.  But that in itself isn’t what makes my last year at Full Sail so special.

Internet Marketing Graduates Not Exempt from Hurdles

Coming right out of school it might be very difficult for you as a graduate to touch so many aspects of your client’s or employer’s strategy. More often than not as recent online marketing graduate you might find your self managing one to two aspects of a brand’s online marketing strategy.  Even as a seasoned professional specialization is the norm.  However, as you progress to the executive level of Internet marketing pin point specialization in itself would not be enough…you’ll either need one of two things 1) a profound mastery of business acumen or 2) a very firm grip on each of the marketing tactics that I mentioned above.  The Full Sail University Internet Marketing program could get you there.  And that’s what makes the Full Sail experience unique-it gives you the tools necessary to simultaneously manage each of the aforementioned online components so that they all work together towards the common goal of maximizing ROI.

It’s Still What You Make of It

And again you don’t necessarily need any formal instruction to do this, but what we’re talking about now is a substantial learning curve reduction.  Alternatively, there are individuals who are not able to make much of their education.  So to a big extent it is what you make of it.  At the end of the day though irrespective of what happens I am grateful for my Full Sail experience.  And honestly, in my opinion an education means more than the type of lifestyle or job that it affords you-but that’s just me though.

Side Note on Education, in General…

And here’s a final side note.  Within the context of my story the Full Sail graduate school program is representative of the word “education”.  However, this is not meant to represent the entire universe of Internet marketing education.  There are other alternatives out there such as undergrad, associates programs, certifications, individual course study, and self study which make up the body of what I would call online marketing training.  When comparing the various options out there the most important considerations are your personal goals. i.e. where are you today and where do you want to be tomorrow?  Knowing the answer to this question will help you to determine the best way forward with your internet marketing education.

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