We are at a pivotal point in history. Right now, everything is changing at the speed of light as every piece of life seems to go digital. The way we speak is evolving, the way we disseminate information is reshaping, and the way we show up for social movements is mobilizing, and just like any form of communication marketing must adapt. The internet and by extension, social media have provided the world with an entirely new way of communicating with the content and messages we consume. Users can directly interact with the media they consume on a real-time basis, unlike in a one-way model of communication such as television in which the audience does not have any immediate effect on the content being shown.
Due to Social Media’s interactive nature, marketers can no longer assume that the content they create will behave the same once available to the public. Audience members turned users can directly comment, repurpose, and remix the media they interact with. Marketers need to be prepared to do things like quickly creating content that is catered to their audience, interacting with consumers on a twenty-four-hour basis, and quickly reading analytics to know how best to engage with viewers.
This begs the question; how do you prepare people for this shift in marketing? While many people are learning how to engage with social media marketing as it evolves, many colleges are now looking to implement these skills into their courses and programs. Raritan Valley Community College has also jumped on this trend with the introduction of the Social Media Specialist Certificate. This program is designed to help students earn jobs in social media marketing positions, as well as learn more about how social media has changed and continues to change the world around us. This program features ten classes and is designed to co-exist with the school’s Communications Studies degree. Students who obtain this certificate will also gain important portfolio pieces for future resumes and hands-on experience as they run their social media campaigns and work with clients.
The Social Media Specialist Certificate can be easily completed in three semesters. While the first semester focuses on English prerequisites, the real magic happens in the second and third semesters. In the second semester courses are focused on discussing the underlying theories of how and why we communicate and how those theories are used in social media marketing. Students can expect to run their campaigns when taking the Social Media Theory course. While the certificate program is currently in its first run, the third semester is slated to focus on real-world applications of theories as students work closely with a client to help meet social media marketing goals.
To assess the benchmarks that the certificate needs to meet for students to be fully prepared for the workforce, the Raritan Valley Community College Career and Technical Education (RVCC CTE) Program Advisory Committee is a group that sits down periodically to take a look at how certificate programs help their students. A Committee meeting for the Social Media Specialist Certificate was held on Dec. 12, 2023, to take a look at how the first semester of the program went and to shape it for the future. I was chosen as a student currently undergoing the certificate program to provide my view of it thus far. Other members of the board included faculty, staff, and business and industry partners.
Some of the most important takeaways from this meeting were that students who achieve this certificate need to be well-versed in analytics, have real-world experience, and have a focus on ethics. A large part of social media marketing is being able to not just read analytics but to understand how to use them to keep engagement up. Many committee members who are involved with social media marketing for a living discussed the importance of being able to work with this type of statistical data. Students who are interested in this certificate can expect coursework to cover analytics to prepare them for the workforce. Many members of the committee also spoke about the significance of having experience before entering the workforce. This includes anything from proper interview etiquette to understanding the logistics of social media marketing. For this reason, the certificate program emphasizes internships and the Service Learning Program’s opportunities for RVCC students. One last point brought up during this meeting was that students should have an in-depth understanding of brand storytelling. The second semester’s Social Media Theory class, taught by Professor Thomas Bentey, when paired with Principles of Marketing (also featured in the second semester) gives students a well-rounded and in-depth understanding of what it means to take part in brand storytelling through textbook learning and hands-on application.
What makes any of this important though? Why is it so crucial for students to not just engage with the Social Media Specialist Certificate Program but, on a larger level, begin to think about Social Media Marketing? To take a deeper look at this question I spoke to Madeline Hall who runs an Instagram account called @buffalofoodslut. Based in Buffalo, New York, Hall started her journey in 2019 as a personal chef who posted food reviews. Soon, her account took flight and three years and over thirty thousand followers later she runs multiple successful accounts, manages her own clothing brand, and owns her own marketing business.
When I asked Hall why she thought programs like this matter, she had some insightful responses. One of the first things she said is that social media programs are important because, “All these companies have [recently had] to switch and pivot.” She described to me the situation that many companies find themselves in which they try their best to switch their marketing over to social media. Many legacy companies that have only ever used a broadcast medium like television are not prepared to take on the challenges that come with consumer interaction on the Internet. A certificate like the one RVCC offers students a chance to understand an interactive system of marketing and communication before going out into the workforce.
Hall also mentioned that social media gives voice to people who alternatively would not have had the means to market themselves. She said, “Now small businesses are having the opportunity to do marketing on a platform for free.”. Hall shared a lot with me about what it was like building her brands from the ground up using social media. Even as a new creator, she was able to use Instagram’s analytics feature to find her footing as a food reviewer. She said,“Using the analytics feature provided, I was able to realize that people were interacting with my food more than any other [type of] post.” From there, she was able to use social media to market herself in ways that had previously only been available to larger companies.
Lastly, Hall mentioned,“Classes on analytics would be huge because that’s a huge part of my business, studying analytics and engagement” She noted that a large part of what makes classes like the ones under the certificate program so important is that they can prepare students with the specific critical thinking skills they need to sort through analytics and understand what to make of them. When asked about what she would have done differently along her path knowing what she knows now Hall said that she wishes she had taken more business classes in addition to communications classes. Programs like this certificate can teach students the things they need to know to enter the workforce with a competitive edge.
Hall’s story also speaks to the power of social media. In her own words, “I use my work to do some awesomeness.” She does this by uplifting her community. Hall does so much to service those in Buffalo regardless of whether that means teaming up with charities for an event or shouting out other local businesses and vendors at events. Many people have this idea that social media is inherently negative, but Hall proves this notion wrong by consistently using her voice and platform to better the lives of those around her. Social media is meant to be social, social media is meant to connect people together, and through this it gives people like Hall the extraordinary power to do “awesomeness”.
As the world around us evolves and changes, students need to be prepared to take on the challenges of this exciting new landscape. Getting a Social Media Specialist Certificate enables people to be prepared for the world ahead of them. By talking to your academic advisor today, you could also have the chance to take part in and help shape the media landscape around you.
