Preparing Future Managers for the Digital World:Digital Marketing Alive Course

Marketing and Public Relations are being reinvented daily.  Advertising agencies and marketing managers are challenged to learn new skill sets and develop more comprehensive and integrated strategies.

How are we preparing students to become future executives and managers and address these challenges?

www.youtube.com/watch?v=LfjZnGJS4Qs

University Business Schools at both the MBA and undergraduate levels are just starting to dip their feet into the digital waters. Many of the efforts are adding a course or incorporating social media into an existing course. The critical element is changing the Mindset from old school push marketing to pull marketing. The focus is on engaging the customer, developing relationships and encouraging sharing the message with their social communities. Placing ads or posts on social media without developing conversations is continuing the old school “sales“ focus without leveraging the power of the new media.

Digital Marketing Alive Training

To address this need, Lynchburg College’s School of Business and Economics launched Digital Marketing Alive,  an innovative Social Media Marketing course in the Spring 2011.  The goal was to provide an “alive,” interactive Digital Experience that translates to future jobs. Students share their experiences.

The training was designed to adopt a digital mindset – customer (student) centered, interactive, participatory, engaging, and transparent. It was structured in three integrated parts: digital marketing strategy; social media tool development and a “live” business project.

Objectives for each student

1. Challenge familiarity with Facebook  and translate to Social Media Marketing
2. Instill digital mindset (truly customer centric)
3. Think strategically about marketing
4. Integrate all marketing functions with social media
5. Expand confidence and use of social media tools
6. Access power of social communities and social sharing
7. Understand and use evaluation metrics
8. Expand concept of ROI

Social Media Classroom

The marketing concepts (strategy and social media tools) were shared via engaging formats. The students experimented and refined their skills with these concepts/tools through an interactive online learning environment, Social Media Classroom. This user friendly environment designed by Howard Rheingold and developed by Sam Rose allows for students to learn and experiment with blogging, wikis, forums, social bookmarking and micro blogging in a private safe setting. In the Social Media Classroom they build confidence and gain experience while interacting with their teachers and colleagues in preparation for using these skill sets in a live Social Media Marketing campaign.

Interactive Student Presentations

To further understanding of Social Media Marketing concepts, students were asked to choose a topic to present to entire class. They selected class readings and prepared a 30 minute multimedia session including questions for the group. Each student wrote a blog post on their reflections on the presentation.  This proved to be challenging for the presenters and engaging for the class.

Digital Alive Projects

Students were offered the opportunity to work on the implementation of a Social Media Marketing campaign for two clients. The work environment was designed to be similar to that of a small marketing group. The six member groups had to organize tasks, agree on the strategy and tactics to be developed and a timeline for implementation.  At the end they had to evaluate the results and make a presentation to the clients. They were asked to apply all the concepts that were discussed in class and presented by the student teams.

• Fez Sacred Music Journey www.fezsacredmusic.com.  Sarah Tours the client has been doing tours to Morocco for 20+ years and to the Fez Sacred Music Festival for 15 years. Client has invested some $15,000 this year to promote the Festival and the Journey.
  • This class was responsible for launching a national sweepstakes for free tickets, Social Media Marketing (Facebook , Twitter, YouTube Sites),  online web environment, online newsletter, press release, and direct mail.
• Lynchburg College School of Business and Economics (SOBE) www.facebook.com/LynchburgSOBE.  Client looking to implement a Digital Marketing Strategy and increase its Digital Footprint.
  • This class was responsible for launching Social Media Marketing (Facebook , Twitter, YouTube Sites),  refining online web environment, and online newsletter.

Feedback

In keeping with the digital model, feedback was encouraged throughout the semester among the students and between the instructor and students. In their last blog entry each student was required to compare their course expectations before the course began with the experiences at the end of the course.  The following are some of the student reflections.

Students’ Reflections

Challenging Yet Inspiring by A. Diamond , Senior

“At the beginning of the semester it took me a while to get used to the “Blogging”, for I still have difficulty doing so. Looking back through all of my blogs I can honestly say that I have grown to become a better blogger--Better in a way of incorporating creativity in my blogs with different pictures, links, and research.

We were introduced to the SERVAS Digital Analysis in the beginning of the semester-- Sustainable Goal-Energize-Relationships-Value-Action-Synergy. At first I wasn’t quite sure what it would be used for but now I think what could it not be used for?  SERVAS is a helpful tool for evaluating a company’s performance on their Social Media Marketing Campaign or specific advertisements. The SERVAS analysis is extremely beneficial to a company, it allows individuals in charge of this campaign to be able to look back/at and evaluate its effectiveness. This allows for the company to make changes before the campaign goes viral/live. This tool is a very effective and useful, I definitely see myself using this in my future.

One of the most important concepts I learned was that Social Media for Businesses involves a two way communication with listening, engaging, interacting, and responding.  A concept that has evolved from the traditional marketing  is pushing messages to consumers and not necessarily interested in listening to their customers.

My group project was the Fez Sacred Music Festival group. I am not going to lie; I was a bit skeptical at first because yea, I like music but it wasn’t a huge passion or interest of mine. This project was great! It was a great opportunity because it allowed us to use what we learned throughout the whole semester and apply it to this real world application- a very hands on approach. Having a real world application has its advantages and disadvantages. The advantage was measuring our effectiveness as we progressed with the project; the disadvantage was the stress and deadlines, having to do a lot in a little time. I have grown personally from this class. Once I graduate I want to pursue all of the marketing for the store that I manage. I now know effective ways and tools to use for integrating Social Media through listening, engaging, building relationships, and acting.”

The End -- Reflections on the Semester by N. Como, Senior

“Before the class started, I knew of many of the different social media platforms but now I can say that I know how to use them effectively in the scope of business usage.  When marketing for a business with social media, there is conversation involved, it is not just one-way communication, a concept I had not understood until taking this course.  We have explored many ways to develop this communication.”

What a Social Media Adventure by S. Smollen, Junior

“During the semester I went beyond Facebook and developed a strong relationship with Twitter.. Through Social Media Marketing I have learned (although I have not always been able to properly implement it) to use Twitter as the social media conversational device that it was intended to be used.

…The most important lesson that we learned was that social media is a lot tougher than just a couple of clicks on a mouse. It takes consistency on all platforms, clever wording, and a whole lot of patience in waiting for bites.”

Where has the time gone? by P. Berry, Freshman

“The tools that we thought we knew at the beginning of the semester, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn, were all much more than they originally seemed. They were not merely places to socialize with friends, where some few companies had content posted; they are valuable assets, platforms on which companies and individuals can spread ideas, all from a single computer. The possibilities and opportunities are endless, the social media world will continue to grow, and with the ratio of viewers to publishers/editors being so high.

Thanks for an awesome class and shedding some light on our journey through the marketing revolution that is social media!”

Healthcare professionals and marketing consultants converged in New York City this month to attend Social Communications & Healthcare; Case Studies and Roundtables, a conference hosted by Business Development Institute. Ira Kaufman, President of Entwine Inc, and I were honored to have been chosen to Moderate Roundtable discussions.

Hospitals, non-profits, pharmaceutical companies and medical professionals are searching for effective venues to engage patients. They are investigating the application of social media as they are confounded with compliance issues, newly proposed FDA regulations and conservative management. The conference featured case studies of healthcare companies and organizations that are using social media in different contexts.  Some of the companies included:

Center for Disease Control (CDC)

The CDC has been using social media for the past 3 1/2 – 4 years. They integrate health messages from campaigns and interventions using social media to help get the word out.  They use as many formats as possible to be where the people are. The CDC performs a yearly satisfaction survey and they found that visitors who use social media have a higher satisfaction rating (a full 5 points higher) and rate the CDC site as trustworthy.

Johnson & Johnson

J&J uses multiple platforms and integrates them to redefine relationships. They use blogging, video, Facebook and Twitter along with their main websites to engage and contribute to the conversations. J&J also has a successful social community for it’s Diabetes Institute.

Pfizer

Pfizer is very proud of its progress in adopting social media.  They have gone from crawling to walking. Their Twitter feed is one of the top feeds in NYC. They have an active Facebook page, and more importantly their employees can now access Facebook. YouTube is proving to be a big part of their social media strategy.  Pfizer has successfully used social media to do clinical trial recruitment, monitoring and brand protection, as well as drug counterfeiting education.

Our roundtable discussions were focused on Harnessing the Power of Social Media. We challenged participants to consider six new perspectives in using social media platforms in healthcare environments.

1. Twitter is more than a traditional broadcast tool. It is a powerful conversational initiator. Too many companies only push their brand on social media. Healthcare organizations need to change their mindset and create value to attract visitors.
2. Twitter and Facebook have very powerful search tools that allow users to gain a real time read on the comments and interest of other users and thought leaders in their targeted space.
3. Re-tweeting is a powerful distribution mechanism for your content and messages. Testing the effectiveness of different keywords in stimulating re-tweets produces results.
4. Careful keyword selection and inclusion in blog posts and articles realizes gains in search engine positioning. As each Tweet is a individual  page and optimized by the search engines, targeting your keywords will drive users to your content hub.
5. Social media has proven to be a very reliable sourcing venue for recruitment. Combining LinkedIn with Twitter and Facebook have produced great results for our team. Our results were recognized when Kissito Healthcare was listed as one of the top fifty employers recruiting with Twitter.
6. Monitoring your company brand and industry provides opportunities to engage patients and future clients. It serves as an immediate way to track conversations about your brand. Use 3rd party applications to deliver results immediately to your inbox.

Entwine Inc was selected by the Adhesive and Sealant Council to educate industry leaders about social media and B2B marketing at the 2010 Adhesive and Sealant Spring Conference in Savannah, Georgia. Ira Kaufman and Patsy Stewart studied the industry and gathered examples of companies starting to embrace social media such as Lanxess, H.B. Fuller, Cytec, Hexion and Arizona Chemical. It really wasn’t a surprise, but  the adhesive and sealant industry has barely tapped into social media.

Social Media Revolution – Creating Value for Your B2B Business

Our presentation, Social Media Revolution – Creating Value for Your B2B Business, introduced industry leaders to the value of Social Media when used in an Integrated Media Marketing Strategy.  We divided it into three parts; the case, the integrated strategy and the social media marketing tactics.

Industry executives were quite interested but shared their skepticism.  Eva Ackerman, VP Research & Technology, Rectorseal Corporation, commented,

“Honestly, using social networking for more than social chatter was new to me. I was quite skeptical. Your workshop showed me the value and made me a believer. I see new opportunities to try social media for our company.”

They were challenged by a lack of understanding of the power of social media, how to apply it to their company and integrate it with current marketing efforts and how to measure the results. Larry Owen, Senior Vice President of Franklin Adhesives & Polymers said,

“I need to get involved in social media, our company needs to get involved. I have committed to our marketing department that I will research and learn more.”

Larry Owen, Ira Kaufman, Les Burch

The presentation demonstrated how B2B companies are embracing social media to generate results. An Integrated Media Marketing Strategy incorporates social media to increase customer touchpoints to engage with clients and build relationships. Social Media Marketing tools help to expand a B2B company’s digital footprint. Your online environment is your hub; this could be your blog, website or landing page. The spokes or social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and LinkedIn drive traffic back to the hub and create buzz.

Les Burch, President of Sashco shared,

“Your presentation helped me understand how the many pieces of social media fit together strategically and how they can develop communities that care about our products and create a buzz about them.”

To help us better understand the needs of the Adhesive and Sealant Industry we are conducting a survey of the attendees. We will compile the data and determine ways B2B can best benefit from the inclusion of social media in an integrated marketing strategy.

You can view our entire presentation on Slideshare.  Click here to view the slides.

The Salem-Roanoke County Chamber of Commerce and Entwine Inc will be hosting a seminar, Social Media 2010:  Your competitive Edge & Survival, on Tuesday February 23, in Salem, Virginia.  The seminar will focus on changing the mindset of Company Owners and Senior Level Executives and educate them on Social Media and how it will impact their business whether they participate or not.

Social Media 2010:  Your Competitive Edge & Survival

Tuesday, February 23, 2010
8:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
Salem Civic Center
Salem, VA
Click Here For Registration Form

Presenters include Ira Kaufman, Entwine President and Marketing Strategist, Patsy Stewart, Director of Social Media and Training and Amy Tuggle, business owner and Entwine collaborating team member. We have done many seminars throughout Virginia and Maryland on this subject but this is a unique opportunity where we will be addressing executive level management and company owners.  We will help them understand the social media revolution and show how integrating social media with traditional marketing can provide that competitive edge and see a return on the investment.

We will include case studies, talk about company policies and explain how to deal with negative feedback. There will be an introduction to some of the popular applications such as LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and Youtube.

If you or your company are…

• looking for new ways to target clients
• searching for a competitive edge
• wanting to learn more about social media

Then you need to attend this seminar!!  Seating is limited so secure your spot.  Click here to register online or call the Salem-Roanoke County Chamber of Commerce at 540-387-0267.