The web home of professional digital marketer, content creator, and communications expert Matt Sammon
College Instructor
The main reason why I went back to school for my Master's degree in digital marketing and social media was for me to get a formal education on the world of social media and digital marketing that often crossed paths in my broadcasting career. That education would help me make the career adjustments I needed to make after 25 years in broadcasting. But it would also open a door for me that I eagerly wanted to take advantage of as soon as I got my degree-- teaching in college.
My decades of work in communications and my degree made me eligible as an adjunct instructor for many universities. After looking through my options, I found my first fit was with Southern New Hampshire University (SNHU). I applied and was approved to treach several courses on line, the first was Marketing 205: Applied Marketing Strategies. Beginning in October 2022, I would lead a class of 24-28 students online in asynchronous learning during an eight-week semester. I was able to take my experience in broadcasting (primarily with the Tampa Bay Lightning) and couple it with my recent marketing education to lead students in marketing strategies and their associated tools such as building a persona, performing a SWOT analysis, and utilizing the "Four P's" of marketing to design a marketing plan for a fictitious line of chocolate treats.
I accomplished this with constant communication with my students-- posting three announcements (Monday, Wednesday, Friday) with instruction, experience, and observations. Below are three portions of sample posts I shared with my students, helping me routinely received evaluation scores from the students that were consistenly higher than the average score for the course, for the School of Business, and for the university.
In the summer of 2024, the school moved me to the Marketing 225 course: Digital Marketing. This course was a couple of steps ahead of the Marketing 205 coursework, which utilized som tools from Marketing 205 while adding insight to website SEO and SEM, graphic design, and analytics. Below are three portions of posts I shared with students, and once again I have averaged higher evaluation scores than the average score for the course, the school, and the university:
Teaching at the college level has been a blast for me, and I look to continue doing it in the future, perhaps in an expanded role. I remember my first Master's class as a student, I was impressed with how my professor organized and presented his material in an asynchronous setting. It not only helped me as a student, it helped me make the decision in what kind of an adjunct instructor I could be. So far, the results from the students and the school show me I am on the right path.