Social Media Program Overview

Learn to build real customer relationships and boost your business presence with the latest social media tools, techniques and strategies. Social media marketing is not just about knowing how to use the tools, but also knowing exactly which tools to use in a given situation... and how to create an effective integrated marketing approach.

Month 1 Modules

Introduction to Social Media

What is social media, exactly, and is it the right way for your company to spend its resources? In this comprehensive introduction, you receive a broad overview of social media goals and opportunities, as well as social media tools and applications you can use in your business... whatever your business may be.

You will learn:

• Understanding social media.
• Why social media is important for your business.
• How to use social media to build your brand.
• How to gather feedback about your customers through social media.
• Understanding your social media options.

Blogging for Business

This six-part series covers every aspect of blogging you'll need. From personal blogs, small business blogs and corporate blogs, learn what to do, how to do it, and why it's worth doing. The module also includes getting engaged with the blogging community to get bloggers writing for you.

You will learn:

• How to meet the challenges you'll face in starting your own blog.
• How to implement best practices, including tips for grabbing attention and tactics to avoid.
• How to leverage social media tie-ins for building connections and spreading the word about your blog.
• How to craft the perfect pitch to get your message heard -- and shared -- by other bloggers.
• What makes a corporate blog successful and examples of blogs done right.

Video & YouTube

This two-part section explains available video opportunities, including how to take advantage of YouTube as a social media marketing tool. Learn proven tips for increasing your reach with online video, from production to promotion. You will hear why "shoot first, ask questions later" might help reach the right audience. Learn the difference between the broadcast era and the social media era, as well as tips for achieving the elusive "viral" video.

You will learn:

• How to best leverage video embedding.
• How to make YouTube the center of your video marketing efforts.
• How to increase the likelihood that a video will "go viral".
• How to identify the opinion leaders in your niche.
• How to use YouTube Insight for useful video analytics.
  
  

A Practical Guide to Social News Networking

This module covers the subtleties of social news sites, dispels myths, and points you in the right direction to take advantage of word-of-mouth. Gain a balanced perspective on the positives and negatives of targeting social news users, including an in-depth look at what works and what doesn't based on real data.

You will learn:

• How to write a headline that grabs attention.
• How to write for Digg and make your boring business sound exciting and engaging.
• "Secret" strategies for a successful social news push.
• Which social news mediums are available and which provide the highest quality traffic.
• How to properly measure social news campaign success.

Month 2 Modules

Twitter Tips, Tools & Strategies

In this 2 part section, we discuss the variety of tools available, as well as strategies and case studies surrounding this versatile business tool. You'll be introduced to the Twitter community and understand what tools are available for managing your stream, finding people interested in networking with you, and tracking the success of your tweets. You'll then see some of the many ways businesses of all sizes are taking advantage of this new medium to provide superior customer service, build brand loyalty, and increase sales.

You will learn:

• he tools available to help you market your business on Twitter.
• How to track clicks to your links with URL shortening services.
• How to search Twitter for keywords relevant to your business.
• he business goals you can -- and should -- set up and achieve by using Twitter.
• How you as a small, medium, or large business can successfully utilize Twitter.

Facebook

No longer just a network for college students, Facebook is a general purpose social media site used by individuals and businesses alike to share status updates, links, photos, videos, and more. In this module, you will learn how to reach the over 250 million members of Facebook to engage your community, build brand, and establish loyalty in your business.

You will learn:

• Facebook business strategies that work.
• Building your fan base on Facebook through fan pages.
• How companies are using Facebook to interact with their customers.
• How to use Facebook to build links to your website.
• Leveraging advertising options on Facebook.

Viral Marketing

Want your message to go viral? There is no magic formula that'll guarantee success, but there are some core principles you can use to increase your odds. This module breaks down the components of a good viral marketing campaign, showing you how to use humor, fear, egotism, and attacks to help ignite that elusive word-of-mouth marketing buzz. See a campaign checklist used to enhance the viral potential of a message, and ideas to help launch a successful viral marketing campaign on a budget.

You will learn:

• he four rules of viral marketing.
• he common viral marketing formulas that generate success.
• How to get free ad space to promote your message.
• How to make your message concrete in the minds of your consumers.
• How to tap into emotions to get better results.

Flickr

Dig deep into Flickr in this two-part module to reveal an extensive set of opportunities that go well beyond simple photo sharing. Groups, networks, sharing, comments... they are all tools you can use to bring people together and expose them to your products and services. Don't underestimate the power of the photo and the opportunities available to your business with the versatility of Flickr. As you will learn, Flickr is to photos as YouTube is to videos.

You will learn:

• How to participate in the Flickr community for profit while staying within the rules and playing nice.
• he networking opportunities available on Flickr.
• Using Flickr to establish yourself as an expert in the community.
• Using Flickr to lay the groundwork for future social media pushes.
• How to successfully generate publicity and goodwill for your brand.

Month 3 Modules

Linkedin

LinkedIn can have an enormous impact on the connections you build with other colleagues, and go a long way toward pre-qualifying your stature in the business community. Learn how to make the most of your account with features like recommendations, groups, events, questions and answers, and others to build awareness for you and your company.

You will learn:

• What you can realistically expect to get out of LinkedIn.
• Growing and managing your contacts in your LinkedIn network.
• How to start and join groups to enhance your networking opportunities.
• How to create events in LinkedIn.
• Leveraging advertising opportunities on LinkedIn.

Online Press Releases

Learn the relevance of Press Releases in the digital age. This module covers the ways to optimize your press releases, submit them to the online news engines and directories for maximum exposure and effect.

You will learn:

• How to choose and position your press release's keywords.
• How to add links to your press release.
• What service to use to distribute your press release
• How to measure the success of your press release and its impact on business outcomes.
• How to balance press releases with good media relations.