Training Social Media

Simple, Practical Social Media: Socializing without Disruption

Yesterday I presented this so-titled short 30-minute learning webcast for Knexus, a UK-based company that offers rapid learning for marketing professionals.  I’m pleased to say we have partnered with them this year to present a total of four social media webcasts on some aspect of integrating social media into marketing.

In this first one, I presented six very simple, practical ways to integrate social media into corporate marketing.  Each one provides the opportunity to tap into social media but in a way that is non-threatening to the corporate culture, yet begins the process of introducing the value of social media.

These simple tactics are straightforward and don’t require formulating a full-on social media strategy – these are easy and free, or near-free, ways to simply jump in.  That said, nothing replaces the bigger benefits of  - and requirements for - sound social media planning and strategy.  These do though begin to orient the organization to social media thinking.

The Simple, Practical Social Media webcast is available on-demand at the Knexus web site.  Full access requires purchase, but a sample of it is available for free.  Tell us what you think.

Upcoming live webcast is scheduled for April 22, titled my long-standing mantra: "It's Sociology, Not Technology." Come join me!

Advice to Motrin: Put the Ad Back Up and LEAD

Replace it maybe, but Motrin should have not been so quick to take it down. 

If you have no idea what I’m talking about – see my Harper’s Index style post on the dust up.  In a nutshell, Motrin released an ad that got lots of attention over the weekend while offending some in Motrin’s target market.

If I were advising Motrin, I would have advised them to keep it up, but to jump on the opportunity immediately to lead and manage.   Turn it around on a dime into a conversation about :
1) what was offensive (content or tone);
2) why;
3) are they addressing an issue for baby wearers correctly – but in the wrong way;
4) are there other issues they should be addressing;

….and here is the big one:

5) LEAD the vocalizers into solutions for Motrin and maybe ultmately into helping Motin shape a better campaign (which might be suitable for carrying forward into print and offline). 

Taking the ad down from the Motrin web site is meaningless from a practical standpoint – the ad is up on YouTube as are the inevitable response videos.  I downloaded a local copy to use in presentations. It’s out there. Taking it down doesn’t mean a thing.

Leave it up and do the postmortem together. Get out of crisis communications stress mode.   Manage and most importantly, lead your customer.  So much more value could be gained from that than taking it down could ever.

Jeremiah Owyang of Forrester believes the conversation wasn’t so robust that it would adversely affect Motrin in searches.  I say that is short-sighted thinking (and a disappointing analysis to read from Forrester) - the equivalent of “we dodged a bullet.”  Motrin didn’t dodge a bullet, they angered some of their customers and, in the perception, betrayed a trust.

What is especially worth noting to all marketers is that the Motrin campaign is being characterized  as a “social media campaign.”  But it wasn’t really intended to be.  It was "just" an ad on their web site.  But socialized media certainly turned it into a "social media campaign" - and really fast.

Znetlady's Index: 11-16-08

In the spirit of Harper's Index

Motrin Mom's Edition: #motrinmoms  First 24 Hours

Number of hours for #motrinmons to reach #1 on Twitter on November 16:  1:56

Hours for the first response video to be uploaded to YouTube:  3

Views on YouTube for Motrin Makes Moms Mad: 2,507

Number of response videos to Motrin’s video ads on Youtube:  8

Video minutes recapping 1st hour of #motrinmoms twitter posts: 9:15

Number of AllTop’s “top mommy bloggers” who posted  about the ads:  9

Posts about Motrin’s ads tracked at New Old Moms Club:  55

Anti-Motrin stores set up on CafePress:  1

Number of anti-Motrin products offered:  6

Baby-wears Flickr Groups set up: 1

Google search results for motrin moms:  3,500

Screenshots of ad at Small Dots: 7

Number of posts with transcript of ad: 1

Taxi staff proactively monitoring Twitter:  0

Responses on J&J’s blog: 0

Value of  J&J’s Motrin and Children's Motrin advertising account to agency, Taxi:  $18 million

Hours until Motrin.com went offline: 20.5

Znetlady

Goodbye, Mary: When Social Media Goes Campaign-y

This video is a beeeautiful illustration (satire) of why social media is not "a campaign." 

When you integrate social media you are “socializing” your media.  That means there is more than just “you” involved in it.  It means there is some kind of  “we” in it.  It means a relationship (community) begins.  Why waste it?

credits:  video by Scott Blaszak

Social Media Training 2009 Schedule

Finally - a few days later than hoped - but we've posted the 2009 schedule for the Social Media Management™ series of social media training courses.  Registration opens December 1, 2008 for our '09 workshop courses.

Keep in mind these workshops are for those serious about learning to use, leverage, manage and strategize social media. These are not  for casual learning - you know, the 'sit-back-and-get-ideas' kind of gathering. These courses are for those who want to learn the inner workings of social media so they can apply it fluidly to many kinds of  organizational solutions.    In other words, this is not painting-by-numbers but creating individual social media masterpieces.  Well, you get the idea.  Come ready to work.

The Social Media Management Series™

• Social Media Basic Training: Web 2.0 Literacy, Social Media, Social Networks and the New Media Channels 
  Intensive one or two-day workshop
  (Web 2.0 Literacy Certificate of Completion)

• Monitoring and Analyzing the Social Media Conversation
  Intensive one-day workshop

• Building a Social Media Strategy
  Intensive two-day workshop

• Social Media Success Metrics and Methods
  Intensive one-day workshop

• Social Media Marketing Communications and Engagement
  Intensive one-day workshop

Registration for 2009 workshop courses opens December 1, 2008.

Social Media Training: New Workshop Added

There has been a flurry of activity here at MMI getting our workshops underway.

We've added another workshop in Orange County, California - the only remaining workshop for this year. It is  a one-day version of our Basic Training course.  It is called Social Media Primer, is being held November 18th, and it is limited to 15 participants so attendees can get personal (and personal attention) with social media.

We will be posting next week our 2009 calendar, bringing the entire Social Media Management Series to 9 cities in the U.S.

Please spread the word about the November 18th workshop to anyone who wants a professional-level course for a great overview of using social media in the enterprise.  And let them know that Modern Media Institute will be in a city near them in '09.  And, don't forget to let your non-profit colleagues know that we are actively looking for non-profits who are interested in our fellowship grants to attend our workshop courses.

We're also very excited to say that we are about to announce a partnership with a major university system who will be offering our social media series for college credit.  More to come on that next week.

Now that we are able to take our heads out of the logistics of launching Modern Media Institute, we have slated a number of topics to tackle here on this blog.  We'll be pointing you to some of the resources we use in our social media classroom.  We'll be  discussing (hopefully with YOU) enterprise issues of integrating social media.  And we'll be sharing helpful hints we've learned on training yourself and your team on social media topics - jump in with your tips, issues and frustrations (we know you have them).

Non-Profit Social Media Training Fellowships

The Social Media Management™ training series is kicking off October 21 with our Basic Training: Social Media/Web 2.0 Literacy workshop.  The series is made up of these five workshop courses:

• Social Media & Web 2.0 Basics: Social Media, Social Networks and the New Media Channels
• Monitoring the Social Media Conversation: Methods and Analysis
• Strategizing Social Media
• Social Media Success Metrics and Measurement
• Social Media Marketing

If you are a non-profit who wants to learn to implement social media please don't forget we offer 100% fellowships (grants) to attend our workshops.  It's really easy to apply.

We have very small classes (usually 15) so the availability is limited.  We are starting an eligibility list now, so  don't delay in expressing your interest in reserving a fellowship.

While we are actively using the computer and social media tools in our workshop courses, these are not technology classes - these are enterprise social media training classes.  As in using social media to reach organizational goals, such as community building, awareness, fund raising and marketing.

If you are not a non-profit, you  likely know of a deserving one.  Please spread the word and send them to our fellowship application page.

Registration Open for Web 2.0 Literacy Course

Registration for our Social Media Management Series™ of training workshop classes will open September 7, 2008.   We're taking reservations in the meantime.  The classes are limited to only 15 participants, so don't delay in at least reserving a spot if you are even considering attending. 

We're kicking the series off with the Web 2.0 Literacy Basics course in Irvine, California.  This is our immersive, hands-on, two-day training workshop course which gets professionals tuned in, synched up and social media savvy.  It is a survey course that familiarizes you with all the necessary social media basics, and gets you  using social media tools and venues, including blogs, wikis, social networks, media-sharing, and a lot more.   

Our other 4 courses zero in on monitoring and listening, building a strategy, measures of success and a special course on applying social media to marketing and communications specifically.

We're frequently asked how our courses differ from all the social media conferences that have cropped up.  This is not a conference where you often get a great presentation or discussion but no depth. Our courses are 8 - 16 hours of hands-on, intensive, instructor led classes, each focused on a critical business aspect of social media strategy and implementation. 

On September 25th we'll be posting our schedule of courses being offered in at least six other cities in the U.S. in 2009 in addition to Irvine, CA.

And, just a teaser - we are working on a very special announcement about accessing our programs through a university partner program Stay tuned.