Why You May Want to Take Social Media Classes

Although you may not want to add another class to your course load, if you’re planning to look for a job in marketing, or if you want to be a young entrepreneur, you might want to consider taking a social media crash course. This isn’t like Facebook 101 or something silly like that. Everyone knows you’ve been using social media since middle school.

What I’m talking about here is a course designed by experts for professionals who want to market themselves or their business ventures online (through social media, of course). Social media is just one piece of the marketing puzzle, but it’s becoming a really important one. At the very least, your extra-curricular coursework will make you more appealing to potential employers and give you an edge over others who are graduating alongside you (and vying for the same exact jobs).

There are a few courses out there. To decide which one is best, you should really take a look through each agenda. Here are three programs I’ve found that seem to be worthwhile. I may even take one or two of them myself. Hey, it can’t hurt, right?

Brazen Social Media Strategy 4-Hour Course – This is an interactive online workshop that walks you through the process of creating an effective social media strategy for business.

Media Bistro – Media Bistro offers online courses on various topics and they vary by season, but there are usually at least one or two social media marketing and strategy courses to choose from. Check out their site for more info.

Inbound Marketing Training Program – This program is designed by HubSpot, a company that pretty much revolves around social media. It’s a comprehensive video series geared towards marketing professionals. The best part? It’s free. How could you argue with free? They also have an Inbound Marketing Certification that might look nice and fancy on your resume.

Those are just three classes that I happen to have heard good things about. However, if you do a quick search among the top online colleges, you'll probably find a lot more.

If you have a few minutes, watch the video below to see a funny parody of Alanis Morissette's song "You Oughta Know" that illustrates the difference between inbound marketing and other marketing efforts -- and then, take a social media class. ;)

Should You Consider a Social Media Degree?

When I was in college, social media didn’t exist. Wow; that really makes me sound old. But, it’s true. Social media wasn’t a thing. There was no Facebook and Myspace wasn’t even around yet. To be honest, I’m kind of glad that my life back then wasn’t documented online. There are some things I’d rather not have out there for the world to see. In that way, I kind of feel bad for the kids in school today; but on the other hand, there are so many more ways to network and connect with other students and influential people that the tradeoff might just be worthwhile.

In the past few years, social media has emerged as not only a way to connect with friends, but as a viable career option. Still, the question remains: Is it worthy of a dedicated degree? To really answer that question, you have to ask yourself a few more questions, and you have to understand that any answers are based in speculation. It’s not like becoming an accountant where you know there will be demand for your specialty for years to come. Because of that, those who decide to major in social media are taking a risk.

On the plus side, they will graduate as one of the very few “experts” in social media marketing. On the minus side, they won’t really know whether their education will be relevant in ten or even five years to come. That’s why many students are shying away from social media degrees. They’ll gladly take social media classes as part of their marketing or business admin majors, but most students feel that a degree dedicated to social media is too risky. I have to say, I don’t disagree. Education is too expensive to gamble your future on a concentration that may or may not help land you a job in the future. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think social media is going anywhere, but I do think things are changing so rapidly that your four year degree may become obsolete way too soon.

Anyhow, as I’ve said, it’s all speculation. If you’re thinking about a social media degree, I’m not trying to sway your opinion. I just think you need to carefully weigh your options.