Students who register for Social Media and Digital Strategy are literally getting two classes in one. The first five classes are all about Social Media and the last five classes are all about strategy, focusing on digital.

Social Media

We love all kinds of ads—print, broadcast, digital and the like—but word-of-mouth is still the king. And unless you’ve been living under a cozy rock lately, you must be aware of the newest form of word-of-mouth advertising—Social Media.

It’s pretty simple to get started using Social Media, but the trick is how to use it effectively to build brands, both for businesses and for individuals. Use it naively and it’s a waste of time and can actually hurt your brand. Use it wisely and no other form of advertising can come close to Social Media for its bang-for-buck power and ability to organically build a following.

In the Social Media part of this class, what you’ll get:

  • The tools: Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn, blogs, and so on.
  • Tools to use the tools: HootSuite, TweetDeck, and so on.
  • Geo-Loco—What is it and how to use it.
  • Social Media successes—what to do.
  • Social Media blunders—what not to do.
  • How businesses/brands use Social Media.
  • How individuals use Social Media.
  • Social Media Marketing (SMM)
  • Selling Social Media to your boss or to your client

Digital Strategy

Creative advertising can look good, sound good, maybe even make you laugh, but without a solid marketing strategy, it’s just a pretty face with no brains. Successful advertising has to speak to the right consumer at the right time, in the right way, and in the right place.

Interactive/Digital advertising has made the job of the strategists and planners more complicated, but also more important than ever. The interactive creative team now consists of a Copywriter, Art Director and a Digital Strategist/User Experience Designer. Never before has there been a medium where you can so easily, and with such precision, target and segment the consumer. There are countless tools at your disposal to research, track, measure, predict, and analyze consumer behavior.

In the Digital Strategy portion of the class, you’ll cover a ton of topics.

  • Role of a Strategist/User Experience Designer
  • Metrics & Analytics—the Basics
  • SEO (Search Engine Optimization)/Content Strategy—Requirements Gathering, Keyword Research, SEO Copywriting, Site Architecture
  • User Experience (UX)—Heuristic Evaluation/User Testing/Analytics/Iterative Design
  • Market Research—What it is & What it isn’t/ Conducting Surveys & Focus Groups/Building Personas & Use Cases
  • Understanding Your Audience/Consumer Insight—how to find it and what to do

Class Schedule, Spring 2012

Saturdays, 10:30am – 12:30pm
@ Idea

Week 1: March 17
Week 2: March 24
Week 3: March 31
Week 4: April 7
Week 5: April 14
Week 6: April 21
Week 7: April 28
Week 8: May 5
Week 9: May 12
Week 10: May 19

Make-up day, if necessary: May 26

*Minimum of 3 registered students for the class to make.