PSCOMMKR1306 - Strategic Social Media for Business Certificate

How do you reach a target audience? A social media presence is no longer optional for small businesses.

This course equips you with the tools needed to reach a target clientele on social media and create encompassing content that resonates with your target market. Learn the rules behind platform algorithms, as well as how to measure success in the social media space. Topics to be covered include: Social media specific strategy, content creation and planning, targeting and communicating with a target customer audience, video content, ad strategy and measuring the impact of your audience response on your social media pages. This course culminates with an action project - managing your own social media page through each of these stages, which will be presented in the final class.

Throughout this course, students receive exclusive one-on-one personal coaching between classes to complete your own full social media campaign on your page. This coaching provides the student with personalized attention to their social media marketing needs similar to contracting our instructor as your personal social media marketing coach. With both the group classes and the personal coaching, students create their own successful social campaigns while learning the techniques needed to continue on their own.

Attendance policy: You must attend all classes and complete the social media campaign with presentation to earn the certificate of completion.

Class 1 - Social Media Strategy - In this class, discuss the differences among each social media platform, why you should choose a certain channel for your organization, and how to engage your audience on each one. This initial class helps you set marketing goals for your social media, create a strategy and discuss the social media platform you would like to expand engagement on during the course of this class series.
Class 2 - Social Media Content - This course teaches the details of highly engaged social media posts, how to organize engaging content for your target audience, and which topics will give your page the reach it needs to stay relevant in the "noise." Content calendars are presented, as well as full instruction on how to apply them in relation to social strategy.
Class 3 - Creating Video Within Content - In this class learn about the history of social media video to today's Facebook and TikTok world. By examining the past we can better analyze the present and most importantly prepare for the future. Our goal is for you to leave this session equipped with case studies and solutions to begin implementing video content strategies with your social media team.
Class 4 - Measuring Analytics & Data - Learn the components that your organization should be measuring and how to put it all together. We will go through Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram showing you where to find the data that will help you propel your organization and we will give you ideas on how to put them in a nice package to give your supervisor.
Class 5 - How Facebook Ads Aren't as Bad as You Think - In this workshop, we will show you how to best leverage Facebook Ads to reach more of the people you want to reach and get them to engage with your organization. We will also cover how Facebook iOS 14.5 release of privacy has affected the ads due to privacy concerns, what’s changed and what can we do about the ads.
Class 6 - Final class presentation - In this final class of the series, students share their screen to teach a 5-10 minute presentation on what they created, managed, learned, and grew within their social media project over the course of the class. There is also required class discussion to learn from each other's experiences in observing the fellow social media pages the class has been managing.

Course Details

Class 1 - Social Media Strategy - In this class, discuss the differences among each social media platform, why you should choose a certain channel for your organization, and how to engage your audience on each one. This initial class helps you set marketing goals for your social media, create a strategy and discuss the social media platform you would like to expand engagement on during the course of this class series.
Class 2 - Social Media Content - This course teaches the details of highly engaged social media posts, how to organize engaging content for your target audience, and which topics will give your page the reach it needs to stay relevant in the "noise." Content calendars are presented, as well as full instruction on how to apply them in relation to social strategy.
Class 3 - Creating Video Within Content - In this class learn about the history of social media video to today's Facebook and TikTok world. By examining the past we can better analyze the present and most importantly prepare for the future. Our goal is for you to leave this session equipped with case studies and solutions to begin implementing video content strategies with your social media team.

Class 4 - Measuring Analytics & Data - Learn the components that your organization should be measuring and how to put it all together. We will go through Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram showing you where to find the data that will help you propel your organization and we will give you ideas on how to put them in a nice package to give your supervisor.
Class 5 - How Facebook Ads Aren't as Bad as You Think - In this workshop, we will show you how to best leverage Facebook Ads to reach more of the people you want to reach and get them to engage with your organization. We will also cover how Facebook iOS 14.5 release of privacy has affected the ads due to privacy concerns, what’s changed and what can we do about the ads.
Class 6 - Final class presentation - In this final class of the series, students share their screen to teach a 5-10 minute presentation on what they created, managed, learned, and grew within their social media project over the course of the class. There is also required class discussion to learn from each other's experiences in observing the fellow social media pages the class has been managing.

This course culminates with an action project - managing your own social campaign, which will be presented in the final class.

Anyone doing marketing for their own business
Communication Professionals
Marketing executives
Sales directors
Entrepreneurs
Networking groups such as Business Network International and young professionals
Social media marketers for small businesses

The estimated Cost of Attendance (COA) for the Strategic Social Media Digital Marketing for Business Certificate is $1,025.

Financial assistance information can be found on Rice Financial Aid's Visiting and Continuing Education Students page.

Due to the high demand for courses, registrations are considered final as of 10 working days before class starts. No refunds will be issued after these dates and credits will not be given for future classes. No refunds will be granted for participants who miss a portion of a program. Refund requests before the deadline are subject to a 10% processing fee and must be made in writing to gscs@rice.edu. If books have been issued, the cost of the books and any shipping fees will be deducted. Refunds for credit card payments will be processed as credits to the accounts from which they were paid and may not appear as a credit until the following statement. Refunds for enrollments paid by check take up to four weeks to be processed and mailed by the Rice University accounting office. There is a $30 charge for any check returned for insufficient funds.

Digital materials are included.

Applies Towards the Following Certificates

Strategic Social Media for Business Certificate : Social Media for Business

Thank you for your interest in this course. Unfortunately, this course is either full or not currently accepting registrations.