BonaVia Edu

BonaVia × ExpertEase | Digital and Influencer Marketing Career Practicum

Digital & Influencer Marketing Program for High School Students

Guided by a Senior Social Media Strategist at Hootsuite, students work through a real brand-communication challenge. Beginning with audience research, content positioning and platform strategy, they develop a social-content system, influencer partnership plan, marketing campaign, measurement framework and final strategic proposal.

  • Grades 9–12
  • 12 Weeks
  • 120 Hours
  • Online
  • No Prior Marketing or Content Experience Required
Apply for a Student Fit ReviewRead Student Stories
BONAVIA · CAREER PRACTICUMSocial StrategySOCIAL IMPACT | Understand Audiences · Design Content · Connect Creators · Measure Results
01Audience
02Content
03Measure

Mentor & Program Supervisor

Eileen

Senior Social Media Strategist at Hootsuite

  • Business, Marketing and HR Management background, UBC Sauder School of Business
  • Experience managing and designing social channels with more than nine million total followers
  • Helped launch Hootsuite’s TikTok channel and grow it to 20,000 followers in one year
  • Created TikTok and Instagram Reels content with more than 600,000 views per video
  • Experience with micro and macro influencers, webinars and digital-marketing education

Eileen will guide students in understanding audiences, building content pillars, choosing platforms and creators, translating ideas into an executable campaign, and using performance data to judge whether content is creating brand and business value.

What Makes This Program Different

Students do not chase one accidental viral post. They build a marketing system that can connect with an audience and be tested through data.

01

Guided by a Current Social Media Strategist

Students learn from a mentor with experience managing large social channels, growing short-form video, working with influencers and teaching digital-marketing practice.

02

One Brand Challenge Across the Full Program

Audience research, content pillars, platform planning, creator partnerships, campaign design and measurement all build around the same brand objective.

03

Creativity Connected to Data

Students move beyond content ideas by defining goals, audiences, platforms, metrics and a method for judging whether the strategy works.

04

Students Explain Why Content Deserves Attention

They explain who each idea serves, what problem it addresses, why it belongs on a platform and how results should shape the next decision.

From Content Interest to the Real World of Digital Marketing

Being seen is not a strategy. Strategy means giving the right audience a reason to pay attention, participate and act.

Students begin with a specific brand or communication objective, study audiences, platform behaviour, content formats, creator partnerships and performance measures, then turn scattered ideas into a marketing system that can be executed and reviewed. Throughout the project, they ask one question: why will this content matter to the intended audience?

  1. 01Understand the brand objective, audience and current social performance
  2. 02Research platforms, competing content and user behaviour
  3. 03Build content pillars, tone and visual direction
  4. 04Design an influencer partnership and distribution approach
  5. 05Plan a campaign, publishing rhythm and metrics
  6. 06Complete the strategy and review it through a data-informed lens

Three Connected Dimensions

Understand the Audience, Create the Content, Improve the Results

The three dimensions form one connected digital-marketing system: understand how people behave on each platform, design content and partnerships, then use evidence to decide what to keep, change or stop.

01

Audience and Platform Insight

Understand users, communities and content behaviour across platforms to find the conversations a brand should enter.

  • Research audience needs, interests and platform habits
  • Compare the content logic of different platforms
  • Identify community culture and brand opportunities
  • Develop evidence-based audience insight
02

Content and Influencer Strategy

Turn the brand objective into content direction, publishing rhythm and creator partnerships that feel consistent and native to the platform.

  • Build content pillars, tone and story direction
  • Plan short video, visual posts and a content calendar
  • Select creators and partnership models that fit the brand
  • Write a clear influencer brief and content requirements
03

Measurement and Growth Optimization

Analyse reach, engagement, conversion and community performance, then use the results to refine content and distribution.

  • Set reach, engagement, conversion or community goals
  • Understand organic and paid distribution
  • Track the metrics that matter
  • Decide what to retain, change or stop

The 12-Week Professional Journey

From the first audience insight to a digital-marketing strategy that can be executed and reviewed.

Six stages build around one brand-communication objective. Students understand the brand and audience, establish the content system and influencer approach, then complete a campaign plan, measurement framework and final proposal.

  1. 01

    Weeks 1–2

    Brand, Audience and Objective Diagnosis

    Understand the current brand, target audience, communication problem and project objective, creating the foundation for a social audit.

  2. 02

    Weeks 3–4

    Platform Research and Content Positioning

    Compare platform behaviour, competing content and audience patterns, then define content pillars, tone and channel priorities.

  3. 03

    Weeks 5–6

    Content System and Digital Storytelling

    Design short-form video, visual content, community interaction and a content calendar that turns brand value into an ongoing system.

  4. 04

    Weeks 7–8

    Influencer Strategy and Partnership Design

    Identify creator types, partnership goals and evaluation criteria, then complete a brief, content requirements and risk considerations.

  5. 05

    Weeks 9–10

    Campaign, Metrics and Optimization

    Plan the campaign journey, publishing rhythm and paid or organic logic, then build a measurement dashboard and review method. Students also design a focused AI tool prototype for a mentor-company marketing workflow, supporting audience insight, content analysis or campaign review while checking outputs against brand and performance evidence.

  6. 06

    Weeks 11–12

    Final Marketing Strategy Proposal

    Integrate audience, content, creators, channels and metrics, present the strategy, answer questions and explain the optimisation logic.

Would you like to explore whether this learning path fits the student?

Apply for a Student Fit Review

What Students Complete

Every creative idea must explain whom it serves, why it may work and how it will be measured.

Together, these outcomes show how a student moves from a brand objective to content, distribution and data-informed judgment, turning creativity into a professional marketing proposal.

01

Social and Brand Diagnosis

Analyse the current brand, content performance, audience and the problem that deserves priority.

02

Audience Profiles and Platform Insight

Explain who the audience is, where they spend attention and how platform behaviour changes the content choice.

03

Content Pillars and Brand Voice

Establish sustainable themes, expression and a basic visual direction.

04

Content Calendar and Creative Concepts

Plan the publishing rhythm and develop representative short-video, visual or interactive concepts.

05

Influencer Marketing Plan

Define creator selection, partnership brief, content requirements, risks and evaluation.

06

Campaign Metrics and Review Dashboard

Set reach, engagement, conversion or retention measures and explain how results will change the strategy.

07

Final Marketing Proposal and Defence

Present the complete strategy, respond to questions and explain how creative and data decisions connect.

08

AI Marketing Tool Prototype for the Mentor Company

Design a demonstrable AI tool for a focused audience, content or marketing-data task that can be tested and reviewed by a marketer.

Student Experiences

What Students Say

11 student perspectives

These reflections come from students across different BonaVia × ExpertEase career practicums. Each card identifies the student’s original program, mentor background and year.

01

Student A.L. | Marketing Career Program | Mentor background: PwC | 2025

Creating a Launch Plan for a Real Brand

“I honestly thought market research was pretty straightforward: make a survey, find a few statistics, and put everything into a PowerPoint. Then we started working with a real local business, and I realized how much I had missed. We had to understand the customers, study the competition, plan the launch, and write a marketing plan the business could actually use. Some parts of our plan were carried out, which was probably the biggest surprise for me. It felt completely different from handing in an assignment and getting a grade. Something we created was useful in the real world. That was incredibly satisfying. I learned a lot.”
02

Student J.W. | Marketing Career Program | Mentor background: PwC | 2024

How a High School Experience Helped Me Land a Paid Internship

“I completed this program in Grade 12, and it became one of the most useful experiences on my resume. In my first year of university, it was a big reason I landed a paid internship. During the interview, I could explain the entire business process clearly, from market research and strategy to the launch and results. I could explain why we made each decision and answer follow-up questions because I had done the work in depth. I was not repeating marketing terms or trying to make a small school project sound bigger than it was. I knew what I was talking about. Getting that experience before I graduated from high school gave me a huge head start.”
03

Student D.H. | Private Equity & Investment Banking Career Program | Mentor background: Pender Software Holdings | 2025

From Not Understanding PE to Completing the Full Analysis Process

“Before this program, I honestly wasn’t sure what private equity was. Now I feel like I have a pretty solid idea of how it works. Going through a deal process was a big takeaway in itself because there is so much more to it than I expected. We worked through a CIM, wrote an investment memo, and had to decide whether a company was actually a good buy. That made private equity feel real instead of just being another finance term I had heard before. By the end, I could explain the process in my own words and understand why each step mattered. I learned a lot and would genuinely recommend this program to anyone who is curious about finance.”
04

Student P.S. | Private Equity & Investment Banking Career Program | Mentor background: Pender Software Holdings | 2025

Learning the Real Day-to-Day Work and Analytical Process

“The first things I learned were more of the day-to-day tasks, like building a CIM and writing an investment memo. We also talked about normalized EBITDA, competitive moats, debt, risk, and how to analyze whether a company is a good buy. At first, some of these terms sounded pretty confusing, but using them in a real project made them much easier to understand. This was not just memorizing definitions or making a basic presentation. We had to look at the information, question the assumptions, and explain our own decisions. I really liked that the work felt close to what people in finance actually do. It taught me much more than I could have learned from a textbook.”
05

Student F.S. | Private Equity & Investment Banking Career Program | Mentor background: Pender Software Holdings | 2025

Using Program Knowledge in Networking Conversations

“I didn’t know how impactful this program would be, but once I started going to networking events, the small points we learned made a really big difference. I remember reviewing our notes about debt and risk before one event and then using that knowledge to ask a much better question. The person I spoke with actually had a lot to say about it, and the conversation landed really well. Before the program, I would not have known what to ask or how to explain my question clearly. This is knowledge I probably never would have learned otherwise. The program made me much more confident speaking with professionals and helped me feel like I could actually take part in the conversation.”
06

Student A.W. | Finance Career Program | Mentor background: Pender Software Holdings | 2026

Seeing What Finance Careers Really Look Like and Discovering More Options

“Before the program, I didn’t really know what working in finance looked like. I honestly wondered, is it really just Excel spreadsheets every single day? Speaking with a mentor who actually works in the industry put the role into perspective and helped me understand what people really do. I also realized that finance is applicable to so many things, and that investment banking and consulting are not the only paths. The program opened me up to different options and possibilities in finance that I had never considered before. It gave me a much wider view of the industry and helped me think more clearly about what I might want to study or explore in the future. I would absolutely recommend it, especially if you are interested in finance but have no idea where to start.”
07

Student A.L. | Biomedical Career Program | Mentor background: PhD mentor | 2026

Where Research Meets Business

“I joined because I was interested in biomedical science, so I assumed the program would focus mostly on research. I did not expect business to be such a big part of it. A great invention still has to become something people can understand, access, and use, and I had never really thought about that side before. The program taught me to consider the science behind an idea as well as what it takes to bring that idea into the real world. That connection between science and business became my favorite part. I am now planning my own product line, and this experience gave me a much clearer idea of where to begin.”
08

Student J.X. | AI Career Program | Mentor background: Google | 2025

A Program That Completely Changed My Understanding of AI

“Before this program, AI mostly meant chatbots and homework tools to me. I did not realize how much more people were doing with it. Learning how major tech companies use AI was honestly mind-blowing. At school, a lot of students are still told not to use AI at all. Here, I learned how to use it to research, build, test ideas, and solve real problems while still thinking for myself. That completely changed the way I see AI. Most students my age have not had the chance to work with it this way yet, so I feel like I now have a really useful starting point. I would highly recommend the program to students who want to experiment with AI for themselves.”
09

Student A.L. | Software Engineering Career Program | Mentor background: Citadel | 2025

Gaining Technology and Industry Insight Beyond School

“My school had never given me this kind of exposure to technology or the industry. Through the apprenticeship, I started to see what the field looks like outside a classroom. Working with a mentor who is actively shaping the field made a huge difference. I was learning from someone with firsthand knowledge, which gave the experience a completely different weight. It changed what I thought was possible for my future and helped me see technology as more than something I studied at school. It became a path I could actually imagine for myself.”
10

Student O.W. | Product Manager Career Program | Mentor background: P&G | 2024

Building a Mentor Connection and Getting an Early Career Head Start

“My mentor was awesome! She taught us, but what I remember most was how she connected with us and shared her own journey. That made the experience feel personal. I was learning from someone who was willing to talk about what her path had actually looked like. I also built connections through the program, and some of them have already opened doors to opportunities I never imagined. Getting that kind of exposure so early feels like a real head start on my career.”
11

Student A.H. | Graphic Design Career Program | Mentor background: Nike | 2023

Bringing Creative Ideas to Life in Real Projects

“It was amazing to see my ideas come to life in real projects. Working on real projects made the skills I was developing feel much more concrete. What stayed with me most was knowing that the work had a tangible impact. That was such a cool feeling. The experience also made my college applications stand out. By the time the program ended, I felt much more prepared for whatever comes next.”

01/11

Ready to explore whether the program is a good fit?

Apply for a Student Fit Review

Starting Point

Who Is This Program For?

  • Open to students in Grades 9–12
  • No prior marketing, social-media, design, video or influencer-collaboration experience required
  • Relevant to students exploring digital marketing, social media, brand strategy, content creation, influencer marketing or community management
  • Ready to research audiences, create content, analyse performance and complete a professional proposal

Personalized Learning Design

The digital-marketing pathway is designed around each student’s experience with creativity, platforms and data.

The team considers the student’s familiarity with social platforms, content creation, design tools and analytics, then tailors preparation materials, foundational instruction and stage-specific support. A beginner can first establish audience, platform and content-strategy foundations, while an experienced student can take on deeper influencer partnerships, campaign design and performance optimisation.

The starting point may differ, but every student must complete a strategy that is clear, executable and capable of being tested through data.

01

Tailored Marketing Foundations

Preparation in audiences, platforms, branding, content and metrics is selected around the student’s starting point.

02

Personalized Creative Pathway

Content formats, platform priorities, tool combinations and strategic complexity are adjusted to the student.

03

Stage-Specific Campaign Support

Students receive focused feedback during content, influencer, campaign, measurement and proposal stages.

Growth and University Preparation

The value is not in how much content the student posted. It is in explaining how an audience was understood and how data shaped the decision.

The program title alone does not determine a university outcome. The value comes from whether the student personally researched an audience, built a content system, compared platform and creator strategies, and can explain why an approach was retained, changed or stopped.

These experiences can help students understand marketing, communications, branding, content, business and the creator economy more realistically while giving them strategy, creativity and outcomes they may later discuss in applications, résumés, portfolios and interviews.

Apply to the Program

Program Application

The program is open to students in Grades 9–12, with no prior digital-marketing or content experience required. Preparation materials, the creative pathway and project support are personalized to the student’s starting level so they can build the required foundation and progress through audience research, content strategy, influencer planning, measurement and the final marketing proposal.

Application Process

  1. 01Interest Form
  2. 02Fit Assessment & Interview
  3. 03Admission and Enrolment
Apply for a Student Fit Review

The regular format runs for 12 weeks, with an average commitment of 10+ hours per week. The summer intensive runs for about 1.5 months, with an average commitment of 20+ hours per week. The program is fully online.

Start Here

Complete the 1-Minute Student Fit Form

Tell us about the student’s current grade, marketing and content interests and goals. BonaVia will consider the commitment, learning style and starting point, then help the family understand whether this experience is a good fit.

Selected programDigital & Influencer Marketing Program

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Step 1: Family and Student Information