Our August 2011 meeting recap is offered by  Written by Annie Rubens.  If you would like a shot at blogging one of our Recaps, please let one of the managers know at the meeting.

Google minute

New feature at SMB will be quick tips from Google at our meetings. Rich Hankison  and Katy Morgan, with Google in Madison were present. They first announced the winners from review competition. 3^rd place: Wendy Soucie review of Yola’s Café, 2^nd Belleni – Allan Elderbrook, 1^st place Fromagination, Tracy Fisher

With Google here in Madison, we are one of four cities  they are launching beta products.  The product featured today was TalkBin.com, and a video was played of the owner of Fraiche Yogurt. From what I could understand from the brief demo, TalkBin is online technology that allows customers to send Feedback via a text or message right away. They can ask or answer  questions that the business has on table-tent cards throughout their store. Such as: Can we do anything better? Customers can send a message right then and there and not have to log in anywhere or wait until they are home. The advantages are that it is easy to use, and they can have conversation without giving personal info.

Google announced they will provide free on “how to” strategize with marketing and customer service with Google Products. TalkBin is available on a trial basis for three months, and the business that garners the most engagement will win a free subscription.

Social Media and Job Skills

Madison College West was the host for a full crowd of 120 Social Media Breakfast goers on August 17, 2011. Marketing professors Steve Noll and Kristin Uttech were joined by program graduates Liesel Olson and Steve Davis to present information about their new Social Media certificate program.

Development by Demand

The trend in social media (SM) and the job market is that it is expected to be part of your skill set. Madison College wanted to be ready for that, and what they see coming for the future.

Instructor Steve Noll said they want to ask themselves “Is what we are teaching today relevant for the future needs of students?” They see their role to train future workers.

Kristin Uttech added that expanding into this program was part of their evolution of rebranding their logo and name from Madison Area Technical College to Madison College. While the community often think of them as only a technical school their program offerings go beyond vocational training.

The Social Media Certificate

Madison College launched the 12 credit curriculum last year for their new Social Media Marketing Certificate. It is designed to be cross functional and to include skills needed by professionals in marketing, graphic design, journalism, visual communication and web design. While many of those in SM in the workplace have “learned on the fly” this is designed to give formal training in a number of areas. Topics include interactive design strategies, SM campaigns, web usability, SEO, SM campaigns and writing for new media. Two elective courses are offered to choose from, one on adapting SM tools and one on digital storytelling. The classes are offered online and also in a hybrid format where students and the instructor meet once a week in person.

Two Student Testimonials

Liesel Olson has just completed the certificate. “I liked the class, it was practical and we did real campaigns.”  While she has a degree in marketing she said “I was learning as I went, and I didn’t feel very credible, so I took the course because I wanted to learn concrete strategies.”  An unexpected benefit was how it “opened up my exposure to other comprehensive areas like web design.”

Steve Davis, who is employed at Smart Toyota spoke about his background in internet business, a solo venture, and then his shift into the car business where he has been for 8 years. He knew SM was a big player in the tools available to interact with customers and resolve complaints. “I knew we needed a strategy that helped us learn how to zero in on where the customers are and interact with them.” Smart Motors even surveyed their customers to make sure they were in the right space, and Davis noted through SM “we’ve learned a lot about our business from our customers.”

Tomorrow’s Social Media Job

Steve Noll’s presentation started with the question, what is a Dr. M.O.P.O. smx (SM expert)? Are we all social media experts? M.O.P.O. stands for Multiple Online Personality (dis)-order. In today’s world we are all fractured into different pieces.

His next question is what have been the trends of the past, and where are we going? Trends of 2009 included: Leveraging offline contact via social networks, Mobile web and Iphone applications, more video communications and conversation.

Trends for 2011: consumer content curation, niche location-hyper localizing things

Gamification and social gaming, QR codes and social commerce-shopping based on your friends.

Noll said less than 1 in 5 consumers trust advertising. People are looking for recommendations and tips rather than ads, and this is a fundamental shift.

What is coming for 2012: The Year of Trust. How many of us think about using copyright images we just copy and paste from the web?  How many companies have SM policies?  How many HR people are trained in SM?

What Makes a Media Person Social?

Yesterday’s advertising class cared about “points” and “cost per point”, in SM today we are talking about metrics and accountability. What spaces do you hang out in as a person? Who are you? Who do you want to be? In the future need to think about your SM personality I may not necessarily be “Steve”. When I go shopping I may not want to be “Steve.” You have to get into the mindsets of consumers. In the past- 42 year old female means she likes shoes, drive a mini van, has 2.3 kids and you are your demographic-it was simple.

Now with the rise of SM you used to be able to compartmentalize, but it is now being all put together. Your Facebook friends know all about your lives. When you are thinking about your clients and customers are you thinking about how they integrate all in one place?

Today’s skills

Today’s professional needs to know how to do strategic planning, be tech savvy, have consumer insights, be a PR expert and a professional geek. But what is a “Social Media Expert?” Is there such a thing? It is becoming more common to have a SM employee, yet some in the corporate world are not committed to spending the money. The average wage is $55,000 a year, yet you always have to be accessible 24/7, be a writer, be an HR expert, be a lawyer and be a marketer.

Noll does expect this salary average to go up as big business will see the value of having dedicated person to SM

What skills is your company looking for in a social media manager?