In the past, a more experienced marketing professional necessarily had an edge on new graduates. But this is changing. Whereas old timers have the benefit of years of experience, new graduates are more likely to be digital natives, who live and breathe Facebook, Twitter and the other social media tools that have taken the discipline by storm.
But don’t despair. You don’t have to have been born into the Internet age to master it. With a little effort, you can brush up on your social media skills. A way to help is to take a refresher marketing courses designed for established professionals.
Instead of plunging into a whole other marketing program, simply look for professional development courses at a nearby business school that can bring you up to speed on such social media marketing practices as:
- hiring a community manager
- outsourcing marketing
- handling social media marketing yourself
- encouraging participation, especially feedback
- interpreting metrics
- establishing an online plan
Can’t find a marketing program that offers social media training in your area? You have at least two options:
- Contact the marketing program at your community college to request that social media training be added to the curriculum. The school will be happy to know that there is a desire for a new kind of training. Try to be as specific as possible in your request for new marketing courses. Is it mobile marketing that most interests you? The ins and outs of professional networking sites? Tips and tricks for increasing the share rate on your email campaigns? Be specific with your request.
- Consider distance learning. One advantage of taking marketing courses online is that it can fit more easily into the already busy schedule of an active marketing professional. No need to take time off work or to rearrange your schedule!
As with all professional development marketing courses, you may want to approach your employer first to see if they would be willing to pay for all or part of your training. Be sure to frame your request as you would a marketing campaign, by explaining the benefits from the listener’s point of view:
- a marketing program refresher course will benefit your team by allowing members to more effectively evaluate success rates of campaigns
- social media marketing courses can help solve specific problems that your organization has been facing, for example, what is the right way to handle a negative comment on your Facebook page? (The answer may surprise you, but it is generally frowned upon to delete negate comments made by consumers. It is better to respond to them in a pro-active manner.)
But wait… Is college really the right place to learn social media marketing?
Community colleges are one sector that has applied social media marketing skills to their own recruitment campaigns. The lecturers responsible for marketing courses may also have first-hand knowledge of the school’s own social media strategies.
Professional development is a must in all disciplines, but all the more so in marketing, where the practice has been revolutionized by an explosion of new tools. So don’t be shy. Seek out extra marketing courses where needed.
Visit Mohawk College for more information on a business marketing diploma.
But don’t despair. You don’t have to have been born into the Internet age to master it. With a little effort, you can brush up on your social media skills. A way to help is to take a refresher marketing courses designed for established professionals.
Instead of plunging into a whole other marketing program, simply look for professional development courses at a nearby business school that can bring you up to speed on such social media marketing practices as:
- hiring a community manager
- outsourcing marketing
- handling social media marketing yourself
- encouraging participation, especially feedback
- interpreting metrics
- establishing an online plan
Can’t find a marketing program that offers social media training in your area? You have at least two options:
- Contact the marketing program at your community college to request that social media training be added to the curriculum. The school will be happy to know that there is a desire for a new kind of training. Try to be as specific as possible in your request for new marketing courses. Is it mobile marketing that most interests you? The ins and outs of professional networking sites? Tips and tricks for increasing the share rate on your email campaigns? Be specific with your request.
- Consider distance learning. One advantage of taking marketing courses online is that it can fit more easily into the already busy schedule of an active marketing professional. No need to take time off work or to rearrange your schedule!
As with all professional development marketing courses, you may want to approach your employer first to see if they would be willing to pay for all or part of your training. Be sure to frame your request as you would a marketing campaign, by explaining the benefits from the listener’s point of view:
- a marketing program refresher course will benefit your team by allowing members to more effectively evaluate success rates of campaigns
- social media marketing courses can help solve specific problems that your organization has been facing, for example, what is the right way to handle a negative comment on your Facebook page? (The answer may surprise you, but it is generally frowned upon to delete negate comments made by consumers. It is better to respond to them in a pro-active manner.)
But wait… Is college really the right place to learn social media marketing?
Community colleges are one sector that has applied social media marketing skills to their own recruitment campaigns. The lecturers responsible for marketing courses may also have first-hand knowledge of the school’s own social media strategies.
Professional development is a must in all disciplines, but all the more so in marketing, where the practice has been revolutionized by an explosion of new tools. So don’t be shy. Seek out extra marketing courses where needed.
Visit Mohawk College for more information on a business marketing diploma.
RSS Feed