MORE ABOUT THE SOCIAL MEDIA CURRICULUM

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.

From social news to social networks to embedded video to blogging, social media authorities Jennifer Laycock, Greg Jarboe and Matt Bailey define some distinct markets and offers suggestions for how you can use social media in your marketing strategy.

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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, Jennifer Laycock gives a broad overview of social media goals and opportunities, and generates a list of 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.

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BLOGGING FOR BUSINESS
In this six part series, Jennifer Laycock and Matt Bailey cover every aspect of blogging you'll need. From personal blogs to small business blogs to corporate blogs, you'll know what to do, how to do it, and why it's worth doing. The series 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.

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VIDEO AND YOUTUBE
This two-part section by video expert Greg Jarboe explains the video opportunities available, how YouTube works, and how to take advantage of YouTube as a social media marketing tool. First, Greg shares some tips for increasing your reach with online video from production to promotion. Then he'll tell you why you should "shoot first, ask questions later" as he shares tips for reaching the right audience, explains the difference between the broadcast era and the social media era, and reveals 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.

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A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO SOCIAL NEWS NETWORKING
Follow along with Matt Bailey as he teases out the subtleties of social news sites, dispels some myths, and gets you pointed in the right direction to take advantage of word of mouth. He provides a balanced look at 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.

TWITTER TIPS, TOOLS, AND STRATEGIES
In this 2 part section, Jennifer Laycock discusses not only the variety of tools available, but also 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:

• The 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.
• The 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 video, Matt Bailey teaches you 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.

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VIRAL MARKETING
In this extensive 5 part video series Jennifer Laycock explains that while there is no magic formula for making your marketing message "go viral", there are some core principles that marketers can utilize to increase the odds of success. She breaks down the components of a good viral marketing campaign to help you ignite word of mouth marketing, shows you specific techniques to spread your message, and how to convey the message you wish to spread. She'll discuss the use of humor, fear, egotism, and attacks to stir up interest in your message. And lastly, Jennifer walks you step-by-step through the personal checklist she uses to enhance the viral potential of a message and shows you how she was able to execute her own successful viral marketing campaign on a budget.

You will learn:

• The four rules of viral marketing.
• The 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.

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FLICKR
Jennifer digs deep into Flickr in this two-part section, and reveals 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 Jennifer says, "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.
• The 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.

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. Matt Bailey shows you 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
Join Greg Jarboe as he explains the relevance of Press Releases in the digital age, and outlines the ways to optimize your press releases and 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.