Agencies join forces to deliver Digital Marketing Academy for hundreds of students

The DMA is open to all University of Nottingham and Nottingham Trent University students, regardless of their subject or year of study. This year, more than 400 students have attended workshops run by Hallam, Impression and other local SMEs such as nuom, Adtrak, Diversity and Rock Kitchen Harris to gain the DMA Accreditation and a Google Garage Award.

Taking place between October 2020 and March 2021, the students have also attended a virtual open day at Hallam, and were grouped into teams for a ‘digital challenge’, whereby they had to pitch a new campaign idea to the team of professionals. They will also be completing a Google Garage Award, requiring up to nine hours of independent study.

The DMA was introduced by the universities as an initiative to combat the high-level digital skills gap identified by Nottingham City Council. The DMA helps students from any degree to gain a deeper understanding of the multitudes of areas which digital marketing covers, and gives Hallam and Impression a chance to help guide students on the skills they will be looking out for when hiring graduates.

Hallam, which was crowned as the Best Large Integrated Agency at the 2020 European Search Awards and became the first agency to win three back-to-back Grand Prix awards, delivered training on the likes of Paid Media, Digital PR, SEO and web development to the students.

Kieran S-Lawler, Head of Marketing at Hallam, said: “The Digital Marketing Academy is my favourite time of the year! The extracurricular programme allows the students to throw the handbook out of the window for a few days, and get real hands-on experience of what life is really like in an agency.

“I look forward to welcoming more students onto the programme in 2022. The initiative includes a lot of digital marketing agencies from across the region, allowing us to put our competitive nature behind us and join forces to bring real benefits to the students who will be the digital marketers of the future.”

Nico Drysdale, a final year Business Management and Marketing student at NTU, commented: "The DMA has been a great experience which has enabled me to develop my portfolio of digital skills and enhanced my employability. Becoming more aware of the digital marketing agencies in the local area and having the opportunity to network with staff there has been an invaluable part of the programme. The skills and experience developed through the academy has really supported me to be a competitive candidate during recruitment processes and I am delighted that I have just been offered a graduate role with a local digital marketing agency. I would recommend the DMA to any student considering a career in digital marketing.”

Chris Colegate, Careers and Employability Placement Consultant at University of Nottingham, said: “The collaboration between the agencies involved is fantastic, it allows the students to see all sides of a fast growing industry whilst developing a broad range of digital skills. Many students have gone on to put these straight in to practice providing digital strategy recommendations for charities and small businesses across Nottinghamshire.”

Anna Beacroft, Employability Advisor Coordinator, NTU, said: ”It’s been fantastic to see a record number of students taking part in this year’s Digital Marketing Academy. Our students are really keen to develop their digital marketing skills and we’re delighted that through the DMA we are able to link them with the local business community to facilitate their development. The outcome is up-skilled students who are more employable and able to have an impact on addressing the high-level digital skills gap in the local area which is brilliant for everyone involved.”

Olivia-May Foong, SEO Executive at Impression, said: “Ours is an industry filled with opportunity, but also one where barriers to entry can be high. By participating in the DMA, we hope to show students of all backgrounds that a career in marketing is not only possible but exciting! With such a vast array of disciplines within digital marketing, there really is something for everyone.

“Their experience as the future marketers of Gen Z who have grown up with social media as the prevalent norm in society is so incredibly valid and a powerful asset to them. It’s great when they realise this and to see them become empowered in the knowledge that all great marketers have unique experiences.”

Hallam is currently in collaboration with both universities to organise the next Digital Marketing Academy which will start later this year in 2021.