What to look for in social media courses
Social media courses are gaining incredible popularity. And why not? While it took decades for TV and Radio to amass 100 million viewers, it’s taken social networking sites less than 1 year to do the same. So how does social media affect you?
- Do you want to know about latest method on how to increase customer loyalty in your business?
- Do you want to increase your ability to engage with current and potential customers?
- Do you want to know a way to expose your business a billion people world wide without breaking the piggy bank?
If you haven’t created and implemented successfully a social media marketing plan, then it’s time that your business discovers the fastest growing trend in small business advertising – social media marketing.
Social Media Courses | Why are they important?
Facebook is expected to hit one billion users by the end of this year. It has taken Google+ about 7 months to exceed 100 million users and is projected to be around 400 million by the beginning of 2013. YouTube has over 1 trillion uploads a year. Do you see an opportunity from these social media statistics for you to obtain potential customers from this pool?
Absolutely, but only if you know what you are doing. Social media courses are designed to teach small businesses on how to best capitalize on this trend. Here are some examples of social media courses you should take if you want to succeed in business:
- How to set up the basics– your business should have its own business page on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Google+ at the minimum. How do you set up and optimize? Which type of social site is best for your particular business?
- How to use video marketing– understanding how to create, optimize, and interact on YouTube is incredibly important. Not only do most people prefer to watch video over reading text, but the SEO benefits are incredible as well.
- How to market to your direct targeted audience– understanding how to utilize PPC (Pay Per Click) ads in your marketing plan will allow you to get your message out efficiently to the exact demographic that you are seeking. While there is a financial investment for PPC, the results should offer you a positive return quickly.
- How to get found- if you have a brick and mortar business, then you will want to get your business listed on as many online local search directories as possible. What are online local search directories? Imagine Yellow Pages on the Internet (except people use them). Google Pages, Yelp, and Yahoo Local Listings are a few examples. You’ll want to know dozens more and how to set up for best search results.
- How to combine social media optimization with search engine optimization– how does Google social search, tweets, and Facebook posts interfere with SEO?
The answers to these questions are the difference between having a thriving social media marketing campaign or losing business to your customers. That’s why you need to take social media courses designed to show you the ‘how tos’ of social media.
Social Media Courses | What should I look for?
You will probably pay anywhere from a $1000 to $20,000 social media courses. The deviation comes from whole training program, the speaker, the company running the course or possibly the follow-up and/or training offered. If you want to grow your own business or the business for which you work through social media, then educating yourself in social media courses is the best first step to take.
Here are some of the items you should look for prior to purchasing any social media courses:
- Video training– video training is important for two reasons:
- Dynamic industry– social media is an ever changing business, where social networking sites are constantly updating. Print social media courses will be obsolete by the time they hit the stores. Also, it’s much easier to learn from a video demonstration than read instructions.
- Proof company is an expert– if you’re watching a series of ‘how to’ videos, then the people conducting the videos are obviously practicing what they preach. When deciding on from which of the many social media courses to choose, keep in mind that you’ll want to learn from an expert who’s practicing in the field in which he teaches.
- Preview- a good social media course should provide you with some example of their training for free. Maybe it’s an eBook or even access to a free video series. The point is to demonstrate for free the quality of their information. If the free stuff is good, imagine how good the social media courses will be?
- Guarantee– finding online social media courses with guarantees is rare because most companies very seldom will allow people to access their training and then refund them their money. But this is the sort of moxie I look for in a social media marketing company. If they’re brave enough to offer a guarantee, then the quality of their education must be good.
- Implementation Software– social media courses can provide great information. But great information is only good if put to use. That’s why I recommend looking for social media courses that also offer social media management tools. Social media management tools allow for individuals to put their knowledge to work for them. After all, you can learn all you need to on how to farm, but if you don’t have the right tools or equipment, you’ll never get started.
- Testimonials– social media courses testimonials are very key. Any company can say they’re the best, but I like to hear it from others instead. I tend to trust them more. If you can’t find any testimonials about social media courses, then you should probably keep looking.
Social Media Courses | Conclusion
There is no end to what you should learn using this new marketing paradigm. The industry is always changing, and you deserve social media courses that change along with it. After all, the implications for business are astounding. Various experts are stating very bluntly the following observation: if your business is not connected with Social Networking Sites, then in 3 to 5 years time, you will not possess a business. If you don’t know how to create and implement a social media marketing plan, then it’s time to get enrolled in some social media courses.