Yesterday, I had the pleasure of meeting up with a couple of marketing student, who were in the process of writing their thesis a needed a bit of inspiration. They told me about their projects and the requirements set by the professor. I expressed my dismay with the professor’s outdated approach and asked them if they are tackling the subject of social media in their classes, and their answer was a definite “No”!
“What are they teaching You!” That was my immediate response. They could tell that I was both shocked and baffled by their reply. How could Marketing students not be studying about Social Media Marketing? How can professors be satisfied in simply offering them the text book material without adding any value? How can a marketing student graduate in today’s world without having already started building his personal brand via the different social media channels? Don’t they know that CVs are becoming obsolete? Don’t they realize that traditional media is giving way to social media? Aren’t they aware of the shift in trends favoring online media? Shouldn’t that be our responsibilities as marketers & professors?
What I offer in this blog is a wakeup call to students, professors, and colleges. I propose that the latter develop a 3-course module that gives an overall roundup of social media. I have drafted the syllabi of these courses, that was inspired from the different readings I’ve done about the subject, such as Me 2.0 by Dan Schawbel, Socialnomics by Erik Qualman, Trust Agents by Chris Brogan and Julien Smith, Crush It by Gary Vanerchuk, and Career Distinction by William Arruda and Kristen Dixson. It’s also based on my personal experience with the subject. I invite you to tweak and amend as you see fit. Think About It!
Just in case you want to use the content, here it is in a non-graphic mode!
- Intro to Social Media
- Why social Media?
- Social Media Networks
- Blogs
- Microblogging
- Bookmarking
- RSS
- Time Management
- Social Media Marketing
- The new marketing mix
- Social Media Strategy
- Social Media Planning
- Measurements & Assessments
- The Future of Social Media
- Personal Branding
- The Brand Called you
- The Future of Work
- Aspects of Personal Branding
- Know Your Brand
- Create Your Brand
- Share your brand story
- Define your brand community
- Maintain your brand
I think Engagement is a great add to Social Media Marketing section.
You are so in touch with people skills and the art of engagement. There is no substitute for people skills and life experience in my opinion and the two compliment each other, you can not have one without the other. Social media is about engaging with people on a daily basis wherever possible. A lot is taught around skill based, fast paced, go getting enterprises etc but I think somewhere along the line we have lost the art of communication which is so important and the key to success in connecting in whatever aspect of life we wish to achieve.
I agree. You know that schools should be leading trends and encouraging innovation during a time of learning. They should also teach continuous learning as a safe ground for failure beyond the so-called business of handing out diplomas.
Marketing profs who don’t know what is happening online, sad but very true!
You will be happy to know that we started a college in Denver called Center for Innovation http://www.metrostateinnovate.org. I am a proud founding board member and teach Creative Problem Solving. My colleague, Neil Mckenzie (he is a #brandchat original and regular) teaches Artrepreneurship where business plans and social media strategy are required for art students. Brand, sales, customer service…oh yea, these students are prepared differently and we need more of this. More learning how to create jobs, not just how to get jobs.
This is definitely a necessity! I took one social media class in college, a one week elective course at my study abroad school in France. We covered blogs and Second Life and it was the best thing I ever did. It really opened my eyes and brought me to where I am now, with a job in social media marketing for a local restaurant chain.
More schools need to insist on social media education. At mine, it was sometimes mentioned in passing, I could tell that the teachers were interested in it, but without a place in the curriculum, there was little they could do.