Students at Oklahoma Baptist University Apply Classroom Knowledge with Walker Funeral & Cremation Services
Students at Oklahoma Baptist University partnered with Mark Riley during the 2023 Spring semester to help grow his business’s online presence. The students, Lindsey Baird, Aubrey Young, and Benjamin Mason,are enrolled in Internet and Digital Marketing at Oklahoma Baptist University and have been learning how to market businesses and personal brands in this digital age.
Internet and Digital Marketing is taught by Dr. Daryl Green, the Chair of Business professor in the Paul Dickinson School of Business. Dr. Green is a believer in hands-on learning and finds unique ways to have his students, not just learn but, implement the skills that they learn in the classroom. In his Internet and Digital Marketing class, Dr. Green achieves this by partnering students with local businesses in Shawnee, Oklahoma, through micro-internships.
In this semester’s set of micro-internships, Ms. Baird, Mr. Young, and Mr. Mason were paired with Walker Funeral & Cremation Services. In their weekly meetings with Mr. Riley, the students worked to create a digital marketing campaign. After careful planning, the students and Mr. Riley agreed upon a marketing campaign that would highlight local businesses and community members in Shawnee, Oklahoma.
“It was clear that Mark loved the community,” Ms. Baird noted. “He talked about how his business cared for community members in times of distress, and even in his marketing, he wanted to continue to care for the community.”
The marketing campaign that the students created advertised a month of giving from April to May. In this month-long promotion, Walker Funeral & Cremation Services asked residents of Shawnee to nominate teachers and first responders who had positively impacted the community on their Facebook and Instagram pages. Each week, a raffle was held in which one teacher and one first responder were awarded a $50 gift card to a local business. New nominations could be made throughout the promotion, and each week, a different local business was highlighted in the giveaway.
The purpose of this promotion was to increase the engagement, reach, and following of their Facebook and Instagram pages. “I’m happy with what we were able to achieve,” Ms. Baird added. “During our marketing campaign, Walker Funeral & Cremation Service’s social media metrics increased, and I feel that our team has gained some real knowledge and experience in digital marketing. I’m very thankful for the opportunity that Dr. Green and Mr. Riley gave us.”
The mission of the Paul Dickinson College of Business is to provide a quality, Christian-based education to students pursuing a bachelor’s degree in business. OBU’s business degree programs are nationally accredited by the Accreditation Council for Business Schools and Programs. For more information on studying business at OBU, visit www.okbu.edu/business.
By Benjamin Mason
