Digivizer and the University of Newcastle collaborate to support PR students

Digital tech, analytics and data company Digivizer has collaborated with the University of Newcastle to make its platform available for PR students.

The announcement:

Digivizer and the University of Newcastle have announced a collaboration that will see students taking the Public Relations Strategy Course use Digivizer’s digital marketing platform. The course is part of the Bachelor of Communications program offered by the School of Creative Industries. Students will use Digivizer to learn about the effectiveness of communications content, messages and strategy for a number of real-world clients based in the NSW Hunter Valley region.

The collaboration is part of Digivizer’s strategy to link with business schools, independent training organisations and universities offering digital marketing and communications courses, investing in the next generation of digital marketers. Digivizer is offering free, limited-time access to its social and digital analytics SaaS platform, which allows anyone to easily connect their channels, and understand what is happening across their social and search owned, earned and paid media programs. They can understand and track hashtags and influencer content, increasingly part of businesses’ communications strategies, and measure the effectiveness of any paid media campaigns, all in one platform.

Head of School of Creative Industries, Professor Paul Egglestone, said: “We’re totally committed to delivering real-world learning experiences for our students, and our growing network of industry partners – like Digivizer – are an essential part of that mix. Creating enterprising and entrepreneurial graduates with skills that will propel them and their prospective employers into the digital future is an exciting thing for all of us to be doing here at the University of Newcastle.”

Andrea Cassin, Lecturer in Communication, is excited about the opportunity to teach students social media analytics using Digivizer: “The communication environment is evolving rapidly, making real-time access to social media statistics paramount for marketing and public relations professionals. Digivizer will allow students to monitor, measure and evaluate clients’ social media content more effectively, so they can learn how strategic responses play out in practice.”

Emma Lo Russo, CEO and co-founder of Digivizer, said: “These students are the PR and marketing communications professionals of tomorrow. We’re providing them with access to real-time insights and analytics into paid, owned and earned media that will give them real-world context to what they learn in class.

“Public relations now has to work alongside many other forms of communication, including paid advertising, and must work harder at understanding what messages are resonating with whom. “With so many journalists moving from mainstream media into freelance roles, and with anyone able to report, share, engage and influence others on how to view brands, often based on personal experiences, it requires an understanding in real-time of which messages and content are working, and with whom, to be successful. Add the fact that social platforms also require advertising spend to reach new audiences, and it becomes even more important to help the communications professionals of tomorrow understand the different roles of different media.

“Making better strategic decisions about engagement, influence and communications strategy, has to become part of a PR professional’s armoury. As an industry, PR often still struggles to present performance in ways businesses care about. Now, that’s possible – and affordable.

“Our mission has always been to help businesses of any size get more from their digital marketing investment. This is an investment by us in the next generation of digital marketers, giving them new insights into their digital futures and into the power of digital marketing as it relates to brand, customer engagement and conversion.”

Source: Digivizer press release