At the recent MMA (Marketing Management Association) Conference +Todd Kelsey and I described how to integrate Google Analytics into blogger to teach analytics without programming to undergraduates. Our slideshare shows these simple steps and also emphasizes the importance of establishing Google Authorship and how to do by entering those sites to which you contribute in a Google+ profile and registering the associated gmail address. I certainly wish someone had told me about Google Authorship when I was starting out in my professional career (in fact, I wish the option were available). It is a great way to get established as an expert in a particular area and authorship will last an entire career.
It was interesting to see the approaches others have taken to teaching social media, especially to this generation of students.
Dr. Paul Kotz from St. Mary's University in Minnesota shared his research in reaching out to Millennial students, those from ages 11-31, born in 1982-2002. I noticed, as Paul did, that these students like structure and deadlines. So instead of having a social media plan that is due all at once, I have a different deliverable every week that the students should be working on to effectively deliver the plan at the end of the stated time.
Dr. +Jenna Drenten from John Carroll University shared what she is doing with Pinterest in the classroom. The students used a private board in Pinterest to share their ideas about a marketing competition in which they participated. Since it was a national competition, the groups did not want others to see their results. I did not realize that Pinterest allowed at least up to three private boards, so that might be a good way to share classroom information in the future. I have taught Pinterest in class and, like the presenter, found that the men in the class are more reluctant to use the tool. They perceive the tool as more for women and don’t ‘get’ the interface as readily as the women in the class.
Professors +Alisa Agozzino and Kathie Fleck, Ohio Northern University, talked about their social media marketing minor which includes the history of social media, personal branding, strategies and a campaign management class. Their program, which was in conjunction with the communications school, so this curriculum looks like a good choice for them.
In our program,at Aurora University, the social media class is where the students have an introduction to social media analytics. They develop both a personal social media campaign for themselves and one for a corporation or NGO. Our Digital Marketing students also Internet marketing where they will run an AdWords campaign with the option of a corporate social media campaign. Personal branding is covered in depth in our social media class and IMC, Social Media and Internet all cover strategic concepts and history of the medium.
By Debra Zahay-Blatz.
You can find Debra on Google+ and Twitter as well as LinkedIn.
