Online Graduate Certificate in Social Media

This course is a study of the activity by which organizations discover consumer and other organizations' needs and wants, and then provide satisfaction through a mutually beneficial relationship. Students will explore the topics of selecting a target market, conducting marketing research, and designing product, price, promotional, and distribution strategies through the development of a marketing plan.

This course provides students with a broad approach to the history, theory, technology, impact, and strategic uses of social media. Social media (such as Twitter, Facebook, blogging, podcasting, and so on) are relatively inexpensive and accessible technologies that enable individuals, almost instantaneously, to create, publish, edit, and/or access messages intended for audiences ranging from a single recipient to millions of readers or viewers. Students will learn how to explore the possibilities and limitations of various social media and will learn how to apply and adapt basic and advanced marketing strategies to construct and critically evaluate social media texts, their impact, and their practical use in marketing contexts. Students will also examine the general strategic uses of social media for advertising, marketing, public relations, journalism, and civic and political participation. Finally, students will gain basic hands-on experience with several forms of the most current social media technology.

This course will develop the students' ability to effectively and successfully create, and implement a social media marketing campaign and evaluate as well as measure its success. Intensive skill building will be placed on creating, applying and integrating the appropriate social media tool that will enable marketers to build high-value relationships with their constituencies. The course will focus on key elements such as determining and matching social media tactics with the appropriate target market and developing strategies to engage those markets using relevant social media channels.

This course will develop the student's ability to effectively and successfully create and implement a social media marketing campaign and evaluate as well as measure its success. Intensive skill building will be placed on creating, applying and integrating the appropriate social media tools to meet the marketing objectives of the organization. The course will focus on key elements such as a) audience, b) campaign objectives, c) strategic plan, d) tactics, e) tools, and f) metrics to measure the campaign.