To find the best marketing curriculum for your situation, you must decide on what the coursework will be used for, and what benefits you hope to gain from it. Students will have different reasons for choosing a particular curriculum than teachers. For this reason, the steps in choosing the right marketing curriculum will vary for educators and class attendees.
If you are a student looking for the right marketing curriculum for college or career advancement courses, you should start by determining what your long-term goals are. For those who are pursuing a degree, curriculum would be chosen based on educational requirements for obtaining that degree. Students who are studying marketing for personal reasons or to help them with a current job can be more choosy. For example, an online retailer who wants to improve sales would need marketing curriculum that was more focused on Internet sales and search engine placement with less emphasis on print advertising.
For either scenario, students should look into available schools in the area or for accredited online classes. Degree programs will specify which classes are required. Other students can browse through class schedules and syllabuses to determine which ones are most appropriate.
Educators have additional things to consider when choosing marketing curriculum. If you are choosing coursework for students rather than for personal use, you will need to find options that cover a broad range of marketing materials. For example, if you're teaching a generalized marketing course, curriculum will need to include sections on consumer behavior, online marketing strategy, and advertising.
You may have limited options in choosing what you teach and which books you use. Government requirements often dictate these things, as well as degree obtainment regulations. Even so, you can incorporate your own beliefs and strategies into the marketing curriculum you teach by taking information from other sources and personal experience.
You can combine lessons taken directly from the course syllabus and required reading materials, and combine them with knowledge you have acquired working in the field. Study and keep up to date with current marketing trends, and allow your students to ask questions throughout each class. By doing so, you will gain a better understanding of what your students care about as well as areas in which the curriculum could be improved. Develop your own study programs for topics which class participants seems to have problems with.
In order to best serve each and every student, you should remain proactive in finding, changing and adding to your marketing curriculum. This means continuing to learn new things yourself so you can pass this knowledge on to future generations. You will also be a more effective and respected educator because your students will be well-prepared for their future careers.