Social Media Marketing (Course Id 2448)

In technical terms, social media refers to a variety of Web-based applications (such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, et al) that facilitate (1) communication and collaboration amongst users of the Internet and (2) the creation of “user-generated content” in the form of words, pictures, audios and videos. However social media represents much more than this simple definition; social media signifies nothing less than a revolution in the ways that people communicate, consume media and conduct business. Many businesses are rethinking entire marketing strategies in order to focus on this new world known as “Web 2.0”. Social media tools such as social networks, blogs and podcasts are now commonly used to market products and services to consumers.

This course provides an overview of social media and its impact on the marketing process. This overview includes descriptions of the various forms of social media and profiles of the most popular social media websites. This course also introduces the concept of social media marketing and discusses how you can use social media to market your business, promote your brand and influence your potential customers. Finally, this course provides a step-by-step guide for CPA’s and other professionals to utilize when launching a social media marketing campaign.

Course Learning Objectives

After completing this course, participants should be able to:

• Identify the unique characteristics of ‘social media’ websites.
  
• Recognize the most popular social media tools (including Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn, Wikipedia, etc.) and des
  
• Recognize the primary functions and characteristics of each tool.
  
• Identify ‘social media marketing’ techniques and the role that social influence plays in the marketing process.
  
• Recognize best practices for launching a social media marketing campaign.

Chapter 1
Introduction to Social Media

• Identify the unique characteristics of ‘social media’ websites.
  
• Recognize the four underlying concepts of the social media framework: content, collaboration, community and collective intelligence.
  
• Recognize the unique characteristics of the various forms of social media.

Chapter 2
Social Media Tools

• Recognize the most popular social media tools (including Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn, Wikipedia, etc.) and describe the primary functions and characteristics of each tool.

Chapter 3
Social Media Marketing

• Recognize strategies consistent with the underlying principles of ‘social media marketing’ and ‘Marketing 2.0’.
  
• Identify the roles that social influence plays in social media marketing.
  
• Identify the various stages of the ‘marketing funnel’ and recognize how social media can be used to impact these stages.

Chapter 4
Launching a Social Media Campaign

• Recognize best practices for establishing social media marketing goals and measuring success against those goals.
  
• Identify the various strategies for targeting a social media audience.
  
• Recognize the processes for developing and distributing social media content.
  
• Recognize how social media tools can be utilized to promote your brand and website.