Social Media Training — “Simulation” Is Critical
Today we’re kicking off a social media workshop for the “Future Leaders” of the Arthur Page Society. It’s a senior group of communications professionals — the up-and-comers of their respective companies.
We’re using a unique approach we’ve been refining the past year which we call “Digital Media Simulation.” That is, we’re simulating a social media strategy project that typically takes 6-8 weeks in a 48-hour workshop. It’s intense, but the participants depart with know-how and skills they can put to use immediately in their jobs.
People can only learn so much from conference speakers, panels and lectures. People learn more by doing, in my view. And that’s what a Digital Media Simulation is all about. The trainers present about 20% of the time (or less), And the participants work on “real” strategy projects for “real” clients the other 80 percent of the time. The last module is a presentation to the real client. The trainers act like “backseat drivers” throughout the process.
You could do this for just about any type of training. At Accenture we used technology-based simulation to train GE marketing managers business planning. The Air Force and airlines have been using flight simulators for 30 years. The concepts are similar.
To do it well requires some key ingredients and preparation:
1. Real experts that can act as coaches and resist taking leadership roles in the workshop.
2. A well-defined and proven project plan and deliverables — the basis for the simulation.
3. Real clients, situations, executives, etc. — the more real you can make it the better.
4. A payoff — the opportunity for the team’s output to be used by the client.
The results are well worth the effort required.
links for 2009-06-25
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Over one-half of adults in a 2008 TNS Global and TRUSTe poll were concerned about advertisers using their browsing history to serve relevant ads.
links for 2009-06-23
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Google AgencyLand — an online educational portal Google is developing for ad shops, one that likely will help the search giant deeper entrench itself in an ad-agency community that's often been wary of it.
links for 2009-06-22
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Federal Trade Commission guidelines, expected to be approved late this summer, would let the agency go after bloggers — as well as the companies that compensate them — for any false claims or failure to disclose conflicts of interest.
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According to Mintel, 34% of US Internet users who bought a product or service based on a recommendation got that tip from a friend or relative, while one-quarter bought based on advice from a spouse or domestic partner.
links for 2009-06-21
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Interesting example of one brand poking holes in another brand's green claims. Dell vs. Apple, in this case.
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This is a cool tool — tells you which sites get the most clicks from keywords.
links for 2009-06-20
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Wikipedia is close to launching an editable online video encyclopedia to enhance the current textual one. The hope is to revolutionize the popular reference site and goad content providers–from public broadcasters to the music industry–into allowing more video to enter the public domain.
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Someday, when you ask your Twitter followers to recommend the most comfortable running shoe or the best digital camera, you might be able to go one step further and buy the product on the Twitter site.
links for 2009-06-19
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"The day the media died…" Good video. Mostly true.
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Dominated by Google, total online US searches increased 20.3% year-over-year, from 7.8 billion in May 2008 to 9.4 billion in May 2009, according to Nielsen Online.
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Broadband adoption is up for everyone in 2009, but it also costs more—especially if you've only got one broadband ISP serving your area.
links for 2009-06-18
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Rafe Needleman of CNET: "Seesmic appears to have a bit more horsepower for dealing with multiple accounts and Facebook, but I still find Tweetdeck's single-account Twitter experience slightly more enjoyable."
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Facebook is incorporating real-time messaging to ensure Twitter does not slow FB's growth.
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Clay Shirky on Iran: "This is the first revolution that has been catapulted onto a global stage and transformed by social media." Good interview with TEDTalks.
links for 2009-06-12
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Forty-eight percent of marketers said that search engine optimization (SEO) was the best method for generating conversions online. More than one-half of marketers with budgets over $1 million agreed.
links for 2009-06-05
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More than one-half (53%) of the US female Internet population of 79 million actively participated in some type of social media at least weekly. Of the female social media participants, 75% took part in social networking and 55% used blogs.