Three quarters of parents agree that there should be more emphasis on teaching school-age children about digital marketing, ecommerce and affiliate marketing, according to new research. Of these parents, half believe that such an education would have a positive impact on their child’s ability to secure a successful job in later life. Following recent news […]
Three quarters of parents agree that there should be more emphasis on teaching school-age children about digital marketing, ecommerce and affiliate marketing, according to new research.
Of these parents, half believe that such an education would have a positive impact on their child’s ability to secure a successful job in later life.
Following recent news revealing that children will now be taught web coding skills from as young as five, a team at the largest affiliate marketing company in Europe decided to look into parents’ perceptions on the amount of digital marketing skills currently offered to their children at school.
Researchers at Optimus Performance Marketing (uk.optimus-pm.com) spoke to a total of 1,283 UK adults aged 35 and over for the purpose of the study. All respondents were required to be in full-time employment and be a parent to at least one child aged 16 or under in full-time education in order to be eligible for the survey.
All parents were initially asked to reveal if they have ever used digital channels to promote or market the products and services of their current employer to consumers and businesses, with over a third (34%) stating that they had implemented elements of digital marketing practices for their current employer. The most common aspects of digital marketing used emerged as social media marketing (41%), email marketing (28%) and mobile marketing (13%).
Parents were then asked whether they felt as though schools should put more of an emphasis on digital marketing, ecommerce and affiliate marketing, to which almost three quarters of parents (73%) agreed that there should be more of a focus on these modern skills and subjects at school.
The relevant respondents were then asked to further elaborate on why they felt a need for more elements of digital marketing to be taught to children during early education. The most common answers were revealed as follows:
1. To help my child secure good job opportunities and career aspects- (62%)
2. To become more aware of online activities- (27%)
3. To take preference over current subjects taught which aren’t as important for my child (e.g. home economics, design technology) – (22%)
4. For increased safety and awareness of the potential dangers/scams of the internet- (17%)
5. In order to teach me more about the topics- (11%)
Mark Russell, CEO of Optimus Performance Marketing, made the following comments regarding the findings of the study:
“After working in this industry for longer than I would care to admit, it is evident that the demand for high quality digital marketing education and qualifications is now growing rapidly in almost every market, and parents of school-age children in the UK are clearly taking this on board.”
He continued: “By opening youngsters minds to the practices of such marketing strategies as SEO (search engine optimization), PPC (pay per click), online advertising, email marketing, viral marketing, online PR, affiliate marketing and social media, there is every chance that individuals will be gaining a head-start with regards to their future careers as well as a valuable insight into today’s digital arena.”
http://uk.optimus-pm.com
