The aim of this project is to develop digital analytics capability in marketing students.
There is a growing demand for business educators to equip graduates with the skills currently lacking in industry (Rhew, Black, & Keels, 2019), with calls for a shift towards a ‘pracademic’ paradigm where practical skill acquisition is prioritised over theories. The knowing-doing gap has been exacerbated by the advent of digital technology, and digital marketing and data analysis are key sectors constituting a skills gap in the digital economy (Burning Glass Technologies, 2019).
While the increasing role of data-driven marketing has been observed for some time (Spiller & Tuten, 2015), the way data analysis is typically taught as part of a market research module does not reflect marketing practice where the focus is on real-time data and evidence-based marketing decision making (Finch et al., 2013). Businesses require graduates to have technical knowledge of concepts such as web analytics and tools like Google Analytics (Staton, 2016; Liu & Burns, 2018).
This project responds to the identified need for marketing graduates to be data literate by teaching digital analytics skills.