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SOCIAL MEDIA FOR ENTREPRENEURSHIP
Social Media for Entrepreneurship
Social media has quickly become one of the most popular ways to communicate between individuals. However, it
has also become an important tool for businesses to utilize in order to engage with customers, market their brand,
and sell their products.
This sample curriculum developed by Hootsuite suggests lessons for educators to teach budding entrepreneurs
on the importance of using social media for various aspects of business, including community building, digital
marketing, and social selling. Managing a professional setup of today’s top social networks and tips on creating a
personal brand are also covered in this suggested course outline.
How to use this resource
This curriculum suggests ways to utilize Hootsuite Pro and Hootsuite University’s courseware to educate students
in use of social media for entrepreneurship. Educators are free to use any or all aspects of the lessons contained in
this curriculum and apply it to their classroom.
Course Objectives
By the completion of this course curriculum, students will be able to:
✔✔ Understand the need for entrepreneurs to utilize social media
✔✔ Create a social media strategy for their business
✔✔ Create a content marketing strategy for their business
✔✔ Create a strong, professional online presence
✔✔ Understand the top social networks that can be utilized for a business
✔✔ Be more informed of the online entrepreneurship/startup community presence
✔✔ Understand the need for social analytics and how they can help a business
✔✔ Engage and grow an online community
✔✔ Measure ROI for evaluation of a business’ social media efforts
Do you teach at an accredited university or college? You may qualify for Hootsuite’s Higher Education
Program, which provides free access to Hootsuite Pro and Hootsuite University for educators and their
classrooms.
Visit www.hootsuite.com/higher-education to learn more and apply.
SOCIAL MEDIA FOR ENTREPRENEURSHIP
Table of Contents
Why Social Media for Entrepreneurs? ����������������������   3
Social Networks, Part 1 ����������������������������������������������   4
Social Networks, Part 2 ����������������������������������������������   6
Startups and Social Media �����������������������������������������   7
Personal Branding  Social Media Etiquette ������������   8
Competitor Analysis and Monitoring your
Environment ���������������������������������������������������������������   9
Strategizing your Startup’s Social Media Efforts ���   10
Engaging on Social Media �����������������������������������������   11
Creating a Content Marketing Strategy �����������������   12
Selling Through Social ���������������������������������������������   13
Social Media Analytics  Proving ROI ���������������������   14
SOCIAL MEDIA FOR ENTREPRENEURSHIP
Lesson: Why Social Media for Entrepreneurs?
Social media has become an extremely important tool for entrepreneurs starting their new businesses. It has
become a way for businesses to engage with customers, generate leads, sell their products and leverage their
brand. In this lesson, students will explore the need for today’s entrepreneurs to embrace social media, as well as a
high-level overview of today’s top social networks.
Lesson Objectives:
✔✔ Understand the need for social media as an entrepreneur
✔✔ Understand high level applications of the top social networks: Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+, YouTube,
Foursquare, Tumblr, Instagram, and Pinterest
Watch:
‹‹ SCMD 121: Introduction to Social Networks
Read:
‹‹ Is Social Media Necessary for Entrepreneurs?
‹‹ 10 Benefits of Social Media for Business Every Skeptic Should Know
‹‹ How to Connect With Your Customers Via Social Media
‹‹ Every Entrepreneur Must Embrace Social Media
Do:
‹‹ Activate your Hootsuite account and create your Hootsuite University profile
‹‹ Complete your SCMD 121 workbook
‹‹ Complete your SCMD 121 exam
Assignment Suggestion:
Visit www.kickstarter.com and select a project seeking funding. What social media activities is the selected project
currently undertaking? Provide (1) an overview of their social media activities including identification of channels
(E.g., Twitter) and channel purpose (E.g., customer service), (2) your assessment of their use of social media, and (3)
how social media is contributing towards their overall funding goal.
SOCIAL MEDIA FOR ENTREPRENEURSHIP
Lesson: Social Networks, Part 1
Students will learn the fundamentals of creating and managing social presences on Facebook and Twitter,
and how these networks are being used. The material provided in this lesson is intended to give students the
tactical knowledge of how to use these social networks, and how they can use them towards their business. It is
recommended that class time be used to cover the ideas, theory, or application of these networks.
For this lesson, instructors may want students to propose an idea for a new startup. Using their business idea, they
can set up various social accounts to put their social media learnings into practice.
Lesson Objectives:
✔✔ Create and maintain a business presence on Facebook and Twitter
✔✔ Engage with other customer’s social media
✔✔ Use social media to follow the industry and community
Facebook
Learning Objectives:
✔✔ Understand the purpose and target audience for your startup’s Facebook Page
✔✔ Optimize your startup’s Facebook Page
✔✔ Understand how Facebook can help leverage your startup
Watch:
‹‹ SMCD 125: Setting Social Media Profiles Up for Business Success (Optimizing Your Facebook Pages Profile)
‹‹ Lecture Series: 5 Best Practices for New Facebook Pages with Hootsuite University
Read:
‹‹ Facebook Presence Is an Important Clue to a Social Venture’s Future
Do:
‹‹ Create a Facebook business page (for your startup) and ensure the appropriate information, branding, and
contact details are published
‹‹ Briefly describe your Facebook page’s target audience. Determine what the primary purpose of your Facebook is
‹‹ Post content based on the best practices you’ve learned
‹‹ Complete the Facebook portion of your SCMD 125 workbook
Assignment Suggestion:
Create a basic content plan for the next two weeks. Given your overall objectives and audience, in one page,
develop your content goals over the next two weeks (e.g., to inform fans of a new product/startup), develop copy
(and if applicable, choose images), and describe when you will publish the content on your page. Briefly justify your
approach. Why did you choose to create the content you did?
SOCIAL MEDIA FOR ENTREPRENEURSHIP
Twitter
Learning Objectives:
✔✔ What is Twitter?
✔✔ Set Up Your Twitter Account
✔✔ Utilize Applications via Twitter
✔✔ Understand How Twitter Can be Used by Entrepreneurs
Watch:
‹‹ SCMD 125: Setting Social Media Profiles Up for Business Success (Optimizing Your Twitter Business Profile)
Read:
‹‹ Review The Twitter Rules
‹‹ Mom, This is How Twitter Works
‹‹ 7 Things Savvy Entrepreneurs Do On Twitter
‹‹ 7 Ways to Set Your Twitter Feed on Fire
‹‹ 3 Things Entrepreneurs Need to Know About Mobile Video Streaming
Do:
‹‹ If you don’t have one already, create a Twitter account for either yourself or your startup. What are the pros and
cons of tweeting as an individual versus as a business?
‹‹ Find and follow 10 influential entrepreneurs related to your industry. Create a Twitter list
‹‹ Complete the Twitter portion of your SCMD 125 workbook
‹‹ Think about what you will primarily be using Twitter for (e.g., communication, monitoring, news, marketing)
Suggested Assignment:
Research Meerkat and Periscope. In 1-2 pages, (1) define the new technology, (2) comment on how you think this
technology has impacted “traditional” Twitter activity and behaviour, and (c) explain how you think entrepreneurs
can use the new mobile video streaming technology in their business actions.
SOCIAL MEDIA FOR ENTREPRENEURSHIP
Lesson: Social Networks, Part 2
Students will learn the fundamentals of creating and managing social presences on LinkedIn, Instagram, and
YouTube. The material provided in this lesson is intended to give students the tactical knowledge of how to use
these social networks, and how other businesses are using them. It is recommended that class time be used to
cover the ideas, theory, or application of these networks.
Lesson Objectives:
✔✔ Create and maintain a professional presence on LinkedIn
✔✔ Understand the many facets of LinkedIn and how it can be a valuable tool for your startup
✔✔ Understand how YouTube and Instagram can be used in marketing your startup’s brand
LinkedIn, Instagram,  YouTube
Watch:
‹‹ SCMD 125: Setting Social Media Profiles Up for Business Success (‘Optimizing your LinkedIn Profile’ 
‘Optimizing Your LinkedIn Company Page’)
‹‹ Lecture Series: Building a Powerful Community on YouTube with Ryan Nugent from YouTube
Read:
‹‹ How to Use LinkedIn to Find Clients
‹‹ Best Practices for Your LinkedIn Company Page
‹‹ 10 LinkedIn Best Practices (for personal profiles)
‹‹ 27 LinkedIn Tips: LinkedIn Best Practices For Entrepreneurs
‹‹ 10 ways for businesses to get the most out of Instagram
‹‹ How to Use Instagram to Promote Your Products
‹‹ 9 Ways to Reach Customers on YouTube
Do:
‹‹ Complete your SCMD 125 workbook by filling out the LinkedIn section
‹‹ Take the SCMD 125 Exam
‹‹ Create an Instagram account and post your first Instagram. Make sure to use a relevant description and
classroom hashtag(s)
SOCIAL MEDIA FOR ENTREPRENEURSHIP
Suggested Assignments:
‹‹ Find a company on LinkedIn and audit their LinkedIn Company Page. Prepare a short write-up on (1) how they
use LinkedIn, and (2) what best practices from the LinkedIn resource “Best Practices for Your LinkedIn Company
Page” they utilize. Can you suggest any improvements?
‹‹ Find a brand that you feel utilizes Instagram well. Create a 3-7 slide presentation on (1) how the brand uses
Instagram, (2) What they do effectively on Instagram, and (3) how they connect it to their business goals.
‹‹ Given the article “9 Ways to Reach Customers on YouTube”, what two ways would you recommend for your own
startup business and why?
Lesson: Startups  Social Media
Using social for your new business can be daunting, especially when you’re unsure as to how to utilize it properly for
contributing to your business’ success. In this lesson, students will learn more about the role that social media can
play in the early stages of a business as well as how it has been used successfully by other startups.
Lesson Objectives:
✔✔ Recognize the power of social media through entrepreneurship
✔✔ See how entrepreneurs have successfully used social media through their businesses
✔✔ Become part of the communities available online supporting entrepreneurship
Watch:
‹‹ HOOT 100-140: Getting Started with Hootsuite
Read:
‹‹ Freshbooks Success Story
‹‹ How a mattress startup made $20 million in its first 10 months through word-of-mouth
‹‹ 3 Innovative Ways Startups Are Driving Results Over Social Media
Do:
‹‹ Follow @Entrepreneur, @YoungEnt, @EntCommunity, @Alltopstartups and @StartupGrind on Twitter
‹‹ Join the ‘On Startups - The Community For Entrepreneurs’ LinkedIn Group to discuss any startup-related topics
‹‹ Find other entrepreneurship communities in the social channels covered to date and join them.
SOCIAL MEDIA FOR ENTREPRENEURSHIP
Lesson: Personal Branding  Social Media Etiquette
As an entrepreneur, creating a personal brand early on is an important aspect of connecting with potential
customers, and showing to the world who you are. This lesson will cover the importance of personal branding and
developing an identity early on, as well as the guidelines and best practices around social media etiquette and the
nuances of specific social networks to help communicate effectively online.
Lesson Objectives:
✔✔ Understand the Fundamental Dos  Don’ts of Social Media
✔✔ Understand Why Social Media Etiquette is Important
✔✔ Understand Why a Strong Personal Brand is Important for an Entrepreneur
Watch:
‹‹ SCMD 115: The Dos  Don’ts of Social Media Etiquette
‹‹ Lecture Series: Professional Branding and Networking on LinkedIn
Read:
‹‹ The 3 Ways Entrepreneurs Fail at Personal Branding
‹‹ When Building an Online Brand, Start With The Foundation
‹‹ 4 Pillars of Successful Brand Building From Hootsuite CEO Ryan Holmes
‹‹ Building Your Brand on Twitter
Do:
‹‹ Complete your SCMD 115 worksheet  pass the SCMD 115 exam
Suggested Project:
‹‹ Present a professional front and become more discoverable through LinkedIn by using the recommendations
and tips learned through this lesson’s Lecture Series video to either newly create, or revamp your current
LinkedIn profile.
‹‹ In point form, develop a personal social media policy. What are the guiding rules you can set for yourself that
outline what content and messages you can and cannot publish online?
SOCIAL MEDIA FOR ENTREPRENEURSHIP
Lesson: Competitor Analysis and Social Listening
Businesses will typically turn to social media to listen in on what others are saying about their brand. However, it’s
also important that businesses listen to more than just themselves. In this lesson, students will learn the importance
of social listening, and how listening to what your competitors and industry are talking about online can be useful in
making future strategic business decisions as an entrepreneur.
Lesson Objectives:
✔✔ Understand what social listening is and how it can be used to improve your business
✔✔ Use social listening to monitor competitors and gauge what is being said about your new business
✔✔ Learn best practices for dealing with your competition
Watch:
‹‹ HOOT 110: Introduction to Social Listening
‹‹ HOOT 210: Advanced Listening with Hootsuite Pro
‹‹ SCMD 150: Creating an Effective Social Media Strategy, Lesson 1
Read:
‹‹ Startups: Dealing With The Competition
‹‹ Analysing your competitors through social media monitoring
‹‹ 3 Ways to Use Social Media to ‘Listen’ to the Competition
‹‹ Get Competitive! How to Use Your Competitor’s Conversation Map to your Advantage
‹‹ Your Social Listening Checklist: What You Should Be Monitoring Besides Your Brand Name
Do:
‹‹ Set up your Hootsuite Dashboard to monitor the competitive environment for your new business. What streams
are important for you to have? What keywords will provide you competitive and market insight?
‹‹ Audit your competitor’s social media engagement. What do they do well, and what can they improve on? Are
there gaps that your new business can bridge and attract your competitor’s customers?
Suggested Project:
Choose a Fortune 500 company ((http://fortune.com/fortune500/)) and research one of their top competitors.
Using the Hootsuite dashboard and the above article, ‘Your Social Listening Checklist: What You Should Be
Monitoring Besides Your Brand Name’ as a guide, listen to what is being said online through each company, and
through their industry. In 1-2 pages, provide an evaluation of the competitor’s engagement online, and describe
what valuable information was gained through social listening.
SOCIAL MEDIA FOR ENTREPRENEURSHIP
Lesson: Strategizing your Startup’s Social Media Efforts
Social media can be a powerful tool for new businesses marketing their brand. It’s essential for businesses to first
develop a strategic plan for how they wish to incorporate social media into their business. In this lesson, students
will learn the many facets involved with building a concrete social media plan for their startup to succeed in the
digital sphere.
Lesson Objectives:
✔✔ Understand the importance of creating a social media strategy as a new business
✔✔ Understand the components involved in a social media strategy
✔✔ Measure and evaluate the effectiveness of a social media strategy
Watch:
‹‹ SCMD 150: Creating an Effective Social Media Strategy
Read:
‹‹ 7 Essential Social Media Tips for Startups
‹‹ A Social Media Strategy for Startups in 11 Steps
‹‹ What Not to Do: Common Social Media Strategy Mistakes
Do:
‹‹ Review the Social Media Strategy sample document
‹‹ Complete the SCMD 150 exam
Suggested Project:
Download the Social Media Strategy Template and use this as a guide to create a social media strategy for your
startup
SOCIAL MEDIA FOR ENTREPRENEURSHIP
Lesson: Engaging on Social Media
In today’s digital age, customers are engaging online with companies more than ever before. Maintaining a presence
on social media requires continuously engaging with your community and following in order to build strong
relationships and grow a community of followers online. This lesson will cover the whys and hows of how businesses
should best engage online.
Lesson Objectives:
✔✔ Understand why engaging with users on social media is important for a business
✔✔ Understand social influence, and what it means for businesses
✔✔ How to find and engage with influencers
✔✔ How to create and grow a thriving online community
Watch:
‹‹ Lecture Series: Relationships that Drive Results: 5 Key Steps to Engaging Followers on LinkedIn
‹‹ SCMD 162: Growing Your Online Community
‹‹ Lecture Series: How to Build an Engaged Community: A Case Study with Tom Kuhlmann from Articulate
Read:
‹‹ Meet the Aussie Online Fashion Entrepreneur with the Best Social Media Engagement in the Country
‹‹ How to Engage And Create A Lasting Relationship With Social Media Influencers
‹‹ Why Small Businesses Should Care About Their ‘Social Influence’
Do:
‹‹ Complete the SCMD 162 exam
‹‹ Visit Grade Your Social to evaluate your Twitter account’s social grade
Suggested Projects:
‹‹ Grade Your Social and evaluate your Twitter account’s social grade. Understand your strength and weaknesses,
and prepare a strategy on how improve your account’s social grade. Set objectives, determine the strategy, and
implement your recommendations. Assess how well (or not) you met your objectives.
‹‹ Find an example of an online community that you want your startup to aspire towards building. Prepare a 10
minute presentation to (1) introduce the community, (2) how you perceive the business/brand supporting and
engaging with the online community, (3) explain how the community is helping the business/brand achieve their
business objectives, and (4) best practices you could apply to your startup to build its community.
SOCIAL MEDIA FOR ENTREPRENEURSHIP
Lesson: Creating a Content Marketing Strategy
With every second that passes, thousands of pieces of content are being published on the web. How can your
startup use content as a marketing strategy? With so much content available online, how do you ensure that your
content stands out from the rest? In this lesson, students will learn how to most effectively share content with their
audience, what types of content to share, when to share it, and who to share it to.
Lesson Objectives:
✔✔ Understand the importance of creating a content strategy for a new business or startup
✔✔ How to best share content depending on the social network
✔✔ Create a Content Strategy
✔✔ Create a Content Calendar
Watch:
‹‹ SCMD 161: Generating and Sharing Content Effectively
‹‹ Lecture Series: Everything You Need to Know to Kickstart Your Content Marketing
Read:
‹‹ 5 Reasons Why A Social Media Content Calendar Is Important For Your Business
‹‹ Four Ways for Entrepreneurs to Improve Their Content Marketing
Do:
‹‹ Complete the SCMD 161 exam
‹‹ Find three examples on the Newscred Blog of best practices in content marketing that your own startup could
use
Suggested Project:
Given your startup or new business idea and the social channels you are proposing to be active on, create a content
marketing strategy and content calendar. Describe ways you could use content to drive behaviour (e.g., awareness,
purchase intent) to benefit your startup. Then, login to Hootsuite University and visit the SCMD 161 course page
to download the Content Marketing Strategy sample and Content Calendar template. Use these resources as
reference to create a content marketing strategy and calendar for your new business to drive the desired behaviour.
SOCIAL MEDIA FOR ENTREPRENEURSHIP
Lesson: Selling Through Social
A new approach to traditional selling, social selling incorporates social media into the sales process, and provides
the opportunity for businesses to nurture relationships with prospects more effectively and gain leads through
social listening and monitoring. This lesson will guide students through the social selling process and provide
more understanding into the important role social media plays in sales, which is often an important facet of new
businesses.
Lesson Objectives:
✔✔ Identify leads and secure sales through social media engagement
✔✔ Bridge the gap between traditional selling and social selling
✔✔ Understand the social selling process
Watch:
‹‹ SCMD 160: Introduction to Social Selling
Read:
‹‹ 7 Steps of the Sales Process (traditional sales process)
‹‹ How to Boost Your Sales Performance with Social Selling
‹‹ Why Storytelling is Important for Entrepreneurial Success
‹‹ 5 Ways to Increase Leads and Referrals Through Social Selling
Do:
‹‹ Complete the SCMD 160 exam
Suggested Assignment:
Prepare two sales strategies for your startup: one using only traditional selling tactics, and one that integrates social
selling and Hootsuite (see recommended articles above). What are the strengths and weaknesses for each strategy?
Which strategy would work best for you and your new business?
SOCIAL MEDIA FOR ENTREPRENEURSHIP
Lesson: Social Media Analytics  Proving ROI
“Which tweet is getting the best engagement?” “How many people are viewing my Facebook posts?” “Is social media
really helping my business?” These questions can be answered through the use of social media analytics. Social
media analytics can provide a wealth of information regarding which social media efforts are working for your
business… and those that aren’t. This lesson provides an introduction to social media analytics, and how tracking
data can provide valuable insight into the impact social media can have for a new business.
Lesson Objectives:
✔✔ Understand basic and advanced analytics modules available
✔✔ Understand which analytics are useful to track for new businesses
✔✔ Create a social media analytics report using Hootsuite
✔✔ Measure social media ROI
Watch:
‹‹ HOOT 205-240: Advanced Tactics with Hootsuite Pro
Read:
‹‹ How to Measure Social Media ROI For Your Business
‹‹ Guide: Social Analytics and Hootsuite – Measure Your Social Media Success
‹‹ How to Measure Your Return on Your Social Media Investment
‹‹ A Startup’s Guide to Social Media ROI
‹‹ A 6-Step Guide To Tracking Social Media in Google Analytics
Do:
‹‹ Understand what social media measurements should be tracked for your startup. What insight will this provide?
‹‹ Review the modules available through Hootsuite Pro, and create a Custom Report that would generate insight
for your startup. Make sure to stay within your plan’s allotted 50 points (if available)
‹‹ Complete your coursebook  pass the Hootsuite Certification exam
Suggested Assignment:
Imagine that in a year from now, you will be seeking funding from investors. To prove your business livelihood, you
will need to prepare a report about your social media ROI. Prepare a game plan to implement over the next year
that includes your targets, measurement strategies, tracking elements, and proposed Hootsuite Reports.
Do you teach at an accredited university or college? You may qualify for Hootsuite’s Higher Education
Program, which provides free access to Hootsuite Pro and Hootsuite University for educators and their
classrooms.
Visit www.hootsuite.com/higher-education to learn more and apply.

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Social Media for Entrepreneurship

  • 1. SOCIAL MEDIA FOR ENTREPRENEURSHIP Social Media for Entrepreneurship Social media has quickly become one of the most popular ways to communicate between individuals. However, it has also become an important tool for businesses to utilize in order to engage with customers, market their brand, and sell their products. This sample curriculum developed by Hootsuite suggests lessons for educators to teach budding entrepreneurs on the importance of using social media for various aspects of business, including community building, digital marketing, and social selling. Managing a professional setup of today’s top social networks and tips on creating a personal brand are also covered in this suggested course outline. How to use this resource This curriculum suggests ways to utilize Hootsuite Pro and Hootsuite University’s courseware to educate students in use of social media for entrepreneurship. Educators are free to use any or all aspects of the lessons contained in this curriculum and apply it to their classroom. Course Objectives By the completion of this course curriculum, students will be able to: ✔✔ Understand the need for entrepreneurs to utilize social media ✔✔ Create a social media strategy for their business ✔✔ Create a content marketing strategy for their business ✔✔ Create a strong, professional online presence ✔✔ Understand the top social networks that can be utilized for a business ✔✔ Be more informed of the online entrepreneurship/startup community presence ✔✔ Understand the need for social analytics and how they can help a business ✔✔ Engage and grow an online community ✔✔ Measure ROI for evaluation of a business’ social media efforts Do you teach at an accredited university or college? You may qualify for Hootsuite’s Higher Education Program, which provides free access to Hootsuite Pro and Hootsuite University for educators and their classrooms. Visit www.hootsuite.com/higher-education to learn more and apply.
  • 2. SOCIAL MEDIA FOR ENTREPRENEURSHIP Table of Contents Why Social Media for Entrepreneurs? ����������������������   3 Social Networks, Part 1 ����������������������������������������������   4 Social Networks, Part 2 ����������������������������������������������   6 Startups and Social Media �����������������������������������������   7 Personal Branding Social Media Etiquette ������������   8 Competitor Analysis and Monitoring your Environment ���������������������������������������������������������������   9 Strategizing your Startup’s Social Media Efforts ���   10 Engaging on Social Media �����������������������������������������   11 Creating a Content Marketing Strategy �����������������   12 Selling Through Social ���������������������������������������������   13 Social Media Analytics Proving ROI ���������������������   14
  • 3. SOCIAL MEDIA FOR ENTREPRENEURSHIP Lesson: Why Social Media for Entrepreneurs? Social media has become an extremely important tool for entrepreneurs starting their new businesses. It has become a way for businesses to engage with customers, generate leads, sell their products and leverage their brand. In this lesson, students will explore the need for today’s entrepreneurs to embrace social media, as well as a high-level overview of today’s top social networks. Lesson Objectives: ✔✔ Understand the need for social media as an entrepreneur ✔✔ Understand high level applications of the top social networks: Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+, YouTube, Foursquare, Tumblr, Instagram, and Pinterest Watch: ‹‹ SCMD 121: Introduction to Social Networks Read: ‹‹ Is Social Media Necessary for Entrepreneurs? ‹‹ 10 Benefits of Social Media for Business Every Skeptic Should Know ‹‹ How to Connect With Your Customers Via Social Media ‹‹ Every Entrepreneur Must Embrace Social Media Do: ‹‹ Activate your Hootsuite account and create your Hootsuite University profile ‹‹ Complete your SCMD 121 workbook ‹‹ Complete your SCMD 121 exam Assignment Suggestion: Visit www.kickstarter.com and select a project seeking funding. What social media activities is the selected project currently undertaking? Provide (1) an overview of their social media activities including identification of channels (E.g., Twitter) and channel purpose (E.g., customer service), (2) your assessment of their use of social media, and (3) how social media is contributing towards their overall funding goal.
  • 4. SOCIAL MEDIA FOR ENTREPRENEURSHIP Lesson: Social Networks, Part 1 Students will learn the fundamentals of creating and managing social presences on Facebook and Twitter, and how these networks are being used. The material provided in this lesson is intended to give students the tactical knowledge of how to use these social networks, and how they can use them towards their business. It is recommended that class time be used to cover the ideas, theory, or application of these networks. For this lesson, instructors may want students to propose an idea for a new startup. Using their business idea, they can set up various social accounts to put their social media learnings into practice. Lesson Objectives: ✔✔ Create and maintain a business presence on Facebook and Twitter ✔✔ Engage with other customer’s social media ✔✔ Use social media to follow the industry and community Facebook Learning Objectives: ✔✔ Understand the purpose and target audience for your startup’s Facebook Page ✔✔ Optimize your startup’s Facebook Page ✔✔ Understand how Facebook can help leverage your startup Watch: ‹‹ SMCD 125: Setting Social Media Profiles Up for Business Success (Optimizing Your Facebook Pages Profile) ‹‹ Lecture Series: 5 Best Practices for New Facebook Pages with Hootsuite University Read: ‹‹ Facebook Presence Is an Important Clue to a Social Venture’s Future Do: ‹‹ Create a Facebook business page (for your startup) and ensure the appropriate information, branding, and contact details are published ‹‹ Briefly describe your Facebook page’s target audience. Determine what the primary purpose of your Facebook is ‹‹ Post content based on the best practices you’ve learned ‹‹ Complete the Facebook portion of your SCMD 125 workbook Assignment Suggestion: Create a basic content plan for the next two weeks. Given your overall objectives and audience, in one page, develop your content goals over the next two weeks (e.g., to inform fans of a new product/startup), develop copy (and if applicable, choose images), and describe when you will publish the content on your page. Briefly justify your approach. Why did you choose to create the content you did?
  • 5. SOCIAL MEDIA FOR ENTREPRENEURSHIP Twitter Learning Objectives: ✔✔ What is Twitter? ✔✔ Set Up Your Twitter Account ✔✔ Utilize Applications via Twitter ✔✔ Understand How Twitter Can be Used by Entrepreneurs Watch: ‹‹ SCMD 125: Setting Social Media Profiles Up for Business Success (Optimizing Your Twitter Business Profile) Read: ‹‹ Review The Twitter Rules ‹‹ Mom, This is How Twitter Works ‹‹ 7 Things Savvy Entrepreneurs Do On Twitter ‹‹ 7 Ways to Set Your Twitter Feed on Fire ‹‹ 3 Things Entrepreneurs Need to Know About Mobile Video Streaming Do: ‹‹ If you don’t have one already, create a Twitter account for either yourself or your startup. What are the pros and cons of tweeting as an individual versus as a business? ‹‹ Find and follow 10 influential entrepreneurs related to your industry. Create a Twitter list ‹‹ Complete the Twitter portion of your SCMD 125 workbook ‹‹ Think about what you will primarily be using Twitter for (e.g., communication, monitoring, news, marketing) Suggested Assignment: Research Meerkat and Periscope. In 1-2 pages, (1) define the new technology, (2) comment on how you think this technology has impacted “traditional” Twitter activity and behaviour, and (c) explain how you think entrepreneurs can use the new mobile video streaming technology in their business actions.
  • 6. SOCIAL MEDIA FOR ENTREPRENEURSHIP Lesson: Social Networks, Part 2 Students will learn the fundamentals of creating and managing social presences on LinkedIn, Instagram, and YouTube. The material provided in this lesson is intended to give students the tactical knowledge of how to use these social networks, and how other businesses are using them. It is recommended that class time be used to cover the ideas, theory, or application of these networks. Lesson Objectives: ✔✔ Create and maintain a professional presence on LinkedIn ✔✔ Understand the many facets of LinkedIn and how it can be a valuable tool for your startup ✔✔ Understand how YouTube and Instagram can be used in marketing your startup’s brand LinkedIn, Instagram, YouTube Watch: ‹‹ SCMD 125: Setting Social Media Profiles Up for Business Success (‘Optimizing your LinkedIn Profile’ ‘Optimizing Your LinkedIn Company Page’) ‹‹ Lecture Series: Building a Powerful Community on YouTube with Ryan Nugent from YouTube Read: ‹‹ How to Use LinkedIn to Find Clients ‹‹ Best Practices for Your LinkedIn Company Page ‹‹ 10 LinkedIn Best Practices (for personal profiles) ‹‹ 27 LinkedIn Tips: LinkedIn Best Practices For Entrepreneurs ‹‹ 10 ways for businesses to get the most out of Instagram ‹‹ How to Use Instagram to Promote Your Products ‹‹ 9 Ways to Reach Customers on YouTube Do: ‹‹ Complete your SCMD 125 workbook by filling out the LinkedIn section ‹‹ Take the SCMD 125 Exam ‹‹ Create an Instagram account and post your first Instagram. Make sure to use a relevant description and classroom hashtag(s)
  • 7. SOCIAL MEDIA FOR ENTREPRENEURSHIP Suggested Assignments: ‹‹ Find a company on LinkedIn and audit their LinkedIn Company Page. Prepare a short write-up on (1) how they use LinkedIn, and (2) what best practices from the LinkedIn resource “Best Practices for Your LinkedIn Company Page” they utilize. Can you suggest any improvements? ‹‹ Find a brand that you feel utilizes Instagram well. Create a 3-7 slide presentation on (1) how the brand uses Instagram, (2) What they do effectively on Instagram, and (3) how they connect it to their business goals. ‹‹ Given the article “9 Ways to Reach Customers on YouTube”, what two ways would you recommend for your own startup business and why? Lesson: Startups Social Media Using social for your new business can be daunting, especially when you’re unsure as to how to utilize it properly for contributing to your business’ success. In this lesson, students will learn more about the role that social media can play in the early stages of a business as well as how it has been used successfully by other startups. Lesson Objectives: ✔✔ Recognize the power of social media through entrepreneurship ✔✔ See how entrepreneurs have successfully used social media through their businesses ✔✔ Become part of the communities available online supporting entrepreneurship Watch: ‹‹ HOOT 100-140: Getting Started with Hootsuite Read: ‹‹ Freshbooks Success Story ‹‹ How a mattress startup made $20 million in its first 10 months through word-of-mouth ‹‹ 3 Innovative Ways Startups Are Driving Results Over Social Media Do: ‹‹ Follow @Entrepreneur, @YoungEnt, @EntCommunity, @Alltopstartups and @StartupGrind on Twitter ‹‹ Join the ‘On Startups - The Community For Entrepreneurs’ LinkedIn Group to discuss any startup-related topics ‹‹ Find other entrepreneurship communities in the social channels covered to date and join them.
  • 8. SOCIAL MEDIA FOR ENTREPRENEURSHIP Lesson: Personal Branding Social Media Etiquette As an entrepreneur, creating a personal brand early on is an important aspect of connecting with potential customers, and showing to the world who you are. This lesson will cover the importance of personal branding and developing an identity early on, as well as the guidelines and best practices around social media etiquette and the nuances of specific social networks to help communicate effectively online. Lesson Objectives: ✔✔ Understand the Fundamental Dos Don’ts of Social Media ✔✔ Understand Why Social Media Etiquette is Important ✔✔ Understand Why a Strong Personal Brand is Important for an Entrepreneur Watch: ‹‹ SCMD 115: The Dos Don’ts of Social Media Etiquette ‹‹ Lecture Series: Professional Branding and Networking on LinkedIn Read: ‹‹ The 3 Ways Entrepreneurs Fail at Personal Branding ‹‹ When Building an Online Brand, Start With The Foundation ‹‹ 4 Pillars of Successful Brand Building From Hootsuite CEO Ryan Holmes ‹‹ Building Your Brand on Twitter Do: ‹‹ Complete your SCMD 115 worksheet pass the SCMD 115 exam Suggested Project: ‹‹ Present a professional front and become more discoverable through LinkedIn by using the recommendations and tips learned through this lesson’s Lecture Series video to either newly create, or revamp your current LinkedIn profile. ‹‹ In point form, develop a personal social media policy. What are the guiding rules you can set for yourself that outline what content and messages you can and cannot publish online?
  • 9. SOCIAL MEDIA FOR ENTREPRENEURSHIP Lesson: Competitor Analysis and Social Listening Businesses will typically turn to social media to listen in on what others are saying about their brand. However, it’s also important that businesses listen to more than just themselves. In this lesson, students will learn the importance of social listening, and how listening to what your competitors and industry are talking about online can be useful in making future strategic business decisions as an entrepreneur. Lesson Objectives: ✔✔ Understand what social listening is and how it can be used to improve your business ✔✔ Use social listening to monitor competitors and gauge what is being said about your new business ✔✔ Learn best practices for dealing with your competition Watch: ‹‹ HOOT 110: Introduction to Social Listening ‹‹ HOOT 210: Advanced Listening with Hootsuite Pro ‹‹ SCMD 150: Creating an Effective Social Media Strategy, Lesson 1 Read: ‹‹ Startups: Dealing With The Competition ‹‹ Analysing your competitors through social media monitoring ‹‹ 3 Ways to Use Social Media to ‘Listen’ to the Competition ‹‹ Get Competitive! How to Use Your Competitor’s Conversation Map to your Advantage ‹‹ Your Social Listening Checklist: What You Should Be Monitoring Besides Your Brand Name Do: ‹‹ Set up your Hootsuite Dashboard to monitor the competitive environment for your new business. What streams are important for you to have? What keywords will provide you competitive and market insight? ‹‹ Audit your competitor’s social media engagement. What do they do well, and what can they improve on? Are there gaps that your new business can bridge and attract your competitor’s customers? Suggested Project: Choose a Fortune 500 company ((http://fortune.com/fortune500/)) and research one of their top competitors. Using the Hootsuite dashboard and the above article, ‘Your Social Listening Checklist: What You Should Be Monitoring Besides Your Brand Name’ as a guide, listen to what is being said online through each company, and through their industry. In 1-2 pages, provide an evaluation of the competitor’s engagement online, and describe what valuable information was gained through social listening.
  • 10. SOCIAL MEDIA FOR ENTREPRENEURSHIP Lesson: Strategizing your Startup’s Social Media Efforts Social media can be a powerful tool for new businesses marketing their brand. It’s essential for businesses to first develop a strategic plan for how they wish to incorporate social media into their business. In this lesson, students will learn the many facets involved with building a concrete social media plan for their startup to succeed in the digital sphere. Lesson Objectives: ✔✔ Understand the importance of creating a social media strategy as a new business ✔✔ Understand the components involved in a social media strategy ✔✔ Measure and evaluate the effectiveness of a social media strategy Watch: ‹‹ SCMD 150: Creating an Effective Social Media Strategy Read: ‹‹ 7 Essential Social Media Tips for Startups ‹‹ A Social Media Strategy for Startups in 11 Steps ‹‹ What Not to Do: Common Social Media Strategy Mistakes Do: ‹‹ Review the Social Media Strategy sample document ‹‹ Complete the SCMD 150 exam Suggested Project: Download the Social Media Strategy Template and use this as a guide to create a social media strategy for your startup
  • 11. SOCIAL MEDIA FOR ENTREPRENEURSHIP Lesson: Engaging on Social Media In today’s digital age, customers are engaging online with companies more than ever before. Maintaining a presence on social media requires continuously engaging with your community and following in order to build strong relationships and grow a community of followers online. This lesson will cover the whys and hows of how businesses should best engage online. Lesson Objectives: ✔✔ Understand why engaging with users on social media is important for a business ✔✔ Understand social influence, and what it means for businesses ✔✔ How to find and engage with influencers ✔✔ How to create and grow a thriving online community Watch: ‹‹ Lecture Series: Relationships that Drive Results: 5 Key Steps to Engaging Followers on LinkedIn ‹‹ SCMD 162: Growing Your Online Community ‹‹ Lecture Series: How to Build an Engaged Community: A Case Study with Tom Kuhlmann from Articulate Read: ‹‹ Meet the Aussie Online Fashion Entrepreneur with the Best Social Media Engagement in the Country ‹‹ How to Engage And Create A Lasting Relationship With Social Media Influencers ‹‹ Why Small Businesses Should Care About Their ‘Social Influence’ Do: ‹‹ Complete the SCMD 162 exam ‹‹ Visit Grade Your Social to evaluate your Twitter account’s social grade Suggested Projects: ‹‹ Grade Your Social and evaluate your Twitter account’s social grade. Understand your strength and weaknesses, and prepare a strategy on how improve your account’s social grade. Set objectives, determine the strategy, and implement your recommendations. Assess how well (or not) you met your objectives. ‹‹ Find an example of an online community that you want your startup to aspire towards building. Prepare a 10 minute presentation to (1) introduce the community, (2) how you perceive the business/brand supporting and engaging with the online community, (3) explain how the community is helping the business/brand achieve their business objectives, and (4) best practices you could apply to your startup to build its community.
  • 12. SOCIAL MEDIA FOR ENTREPRENEURSHIP Lesson: Creating a Content Marketing Strategy With every second that passes, thousands of pieces of content are being published on the web. How can your startup use content as a marketing strategy? With so much content available online, how do you ensure that your content stands out from the rest? In this lesson, students will learn how to most effectively share content with their audience, what types of content to share, when to share it, and who to share it to. Lesson Objectives: ✔✔ Understand the importance of creating a content strategy for a new business or startup ✔✔ How to best share content depending on the social network ✔✔ Create a Content Strategy ✔✔ Create a Content Calendar Watch: ‹‹ SCMD 161: Generating and Sharing Content Effectively ‹‹ Lecture Series: Everything You Need to Know to Kickstart Your Content Marketing Read: ‹‹ 5 Reasons Why A Social Media Content Calendar Is Important For Your Business ‹‹ Four Ways for Entrepreneurs to Improve Their Content Marketing Do: ‹‹ Complete the SCMD 161 exam ‹‹ Find three examples on the Newscred Blog of best practices in content marketing that your own startup could use Suggested Project: Given your startup or new business idea and the social channels you are proposing to be active on, create a content marketing strategy and content calendar. Describe ways you could use content to drive behaviour (e.g., awareness, purchase intent) to benefit your startup. Then, login to Hootsuite University and visit the SCMD 161 course page to download the Content Marketing Strategy sample and Content Calendar template. Use these resources as reference to create a content marketing strategy and calendar for your new business to drive the desired behaviour.
  • 13. SOCIAL MEDIA FOR ENTREPRENEURSHIP Lesson: Selling Through Social A new approach to traditional selling, social selling incorporates social media into the sales process, and provides the opportunity for businesses to nurture relationships with prospects more effectively and gain leads through social listening and monitoring. This lesson will guide students through the social selling process and provide more understanding into the important role social media plays in sales, which is often an important facet of new businesses. Lesson Objectives: ✔✔ Identify leads and secure sales through social media engagement ✔✔ Bridge the gap between traditional selling and social selling ✔✔ Understand the social selling process Watch: ‹‹ SCMD 160: Introduction to Social Selling Read: ‹‹ 7 Steps of the Sales Process (traditional sales process) ‹‹ How to Boost Your Sales Performance with Social Selling ‹‹ Why Storytelling is Important for Entrepreneurial Success ‹‹ 5 Ways to Increase Leads and Referrals Through Social Selling Do: ‹‹ Complete the SCMD 160 exam Suggested Assignment: Prepare two sales strategies for your startup: one using only traditional selling tactics, and one that integrates social selling and Hootsuite (see recommended articles above). What are the strengths and weaknesses for each strategy? Which strategy would work best for you and your new business?
  • 14. SOCIAL MEDIA FOR ENTREPRENEURSHIP Lesson: Social Media Analytics Proving ROI “Which tweet is getting the best engagement?” “How many people are viewing my Facebook posts?” “Is social media really helping my business?” These questions can be answered through the use of social media analytics. Social media analytics can provide a wealth of information regarding which social media efforts are working for your business… and those that aren’t. This lesson provides an introduction to social media analytics, and how tracking data can provide valuable insight into the impact social media can have for a new business. Lesson Objectives: ✔✔ Understand basic and advanced analytics modules available ✔✔ Understand which analytics are useful to track for new businesses ✔✔ Create a social media analytics report using Hootsuite ✔✔ Measure social media ROI Watch: ‹‹ HOOT 205-240: Advanced Tactics with Hootsuite Pro Read: ‹‹ How to Measure Social Media ROI For Your Business ‹‹ Guide: Social Analytics and Hootsuite – Measure Your Social Media Success ‹‹ How to Measure Your Return on Your Social Media Investment ‹‹ A Startup’s Guide to Social Media ROI ‹‹ A 6-Step Guide To Tracking Social Media in Google Analytics Do: ‹‹ Understand what social media measurements should be tracked for your startup. What insight will this provide? ‹‹ Review the modules available through Hootsuite Pro, and create a Custom Report that would generate insight for your startup. Make sure to stay within your plan’s allotted 50 points (if available) ‹‹ Complete your coursebook pass the Hootsuite Certification exam Suggested Assignment: Imagine that in a year from now, you will be seeking funding from investors. To prove your business livelihood, you will need to prepare a report about your social media ROI. Prepare a game plan to implement over the next year that includes your targets, measurement strategies, tracking elements, and proposed Hootsuite Reports. Do you teach at an accredited university or college? You may qualify for Hootsuite’s Higher Education Program, which provides free access to Hootsuite Pro and Hootsuite University for educators and their classrooms. Visit www.hootsuite.com/higher-education to learn more and apply.