What the Future of Higher Ed Marketing Looks Like in an Age of AI
Remember when Instagram first launched? Or when Google quietly started keeping track of your search history?
Do you recall the excitement of discovering that we could finally schedule social media posts? Or the first time paid ads started appearing on Facebook?
It’s wild to think how much has changed in just 15 years.
In 2010, I was a student in West Virginia University’s Integrated Marketing Communications graduate program, taking a course called Emerging Media and the Market. At the time, we were just starting to explore concepts like content marketing, influencer partnerships (which were still mostly celebrity endorsements), and the first iterations of marketing automation.
Fast forward to 2025, and I’m now teaching the very same course I took in 2010. I am struck by how much has changed.
Today, emerging media includes artificial intelligence, virtual reality, the metaverse, the Internet of Things (IoT), and smart objects. Instead of discussing how businesses can create engaging Facebook pages, we’re talking about AI-driven chatbots that provide hyper-personalized interactions. Instead of debating whether brands should invest in social media, we’re dissecting voice search optimization.
The tools we use have become exponentially more sophisticated, automated, and predictive. What hasn’t changed, though, is the core of what makes great marketing: understanding human behavior. Marketing is still about connecting with people—just through vastly different and increasingly complex tools.
Fifteen years ago, I never would have imagined that I’d be using AI every single day. And I can’t help but wonder: What will this course (and marketing) look like in another 15 years?
