Hands On Social Media Smarts for Direct Marketers

TopRank Online Marketing is pleased to announce a parternship with The Direct Marketing Association to develop and present a series of 2 day workshops on social media marketing for direct marketers. 

On December 4th in New York the new course entitled: “Social Media Smarts: An Introduction to the Social Web, Tools and Strategies” will introduce participants to the marketing and communications channel opportunities of social media through practical demonstration of social media tools, case studies and exercises. The first 3 workshops will be held in New York, Chicago and then again in New York.

Decreasing marketing budgets and increased consumer skepticism towards traditional advertising is driving many companies to new ways of attracting and engaging customers.  At the same time, new communication channels such as social media represent the most significant change in marketer/advertiser communications with customers in the history of marketing.

To help educate in-house and agency side direct marketers on how to better understand and engage the social web, the DMA has engaged TopRank Online Marketing to launch a series of social media marketing workshops called, Social Media Smarts, providing practical insights into social media as a communications and customer engagement channel.

The two-day workshop will enlighten attendees on strategy and cost effective tactics for succeeding on the social web with services ranging from Facebook to Blogs to Twitter. Along with tools and practical examples of best and worst practices, attendees will develop a framework for building a social media strategy specific to their business.

Attendees will learn the basics of blogging, blog marketing and online reputation management as well as social networking, news, bookmarks, video sharing, image sharing, wikis and podcasting. Social media monitoring, analytics and measurement strategies will also be presented.

Understanding social media usage and platforms along with practical exercises will enable attendees to create the framework for a strategy and business case for social media by the end of the course.

The ideal audience for a workshop like Social Media Smarts includes marketing and communications professionals at all levels working in advertising, direct marketing, internet marketing, communications and public relations fields.

Event Details:
Social Media Smarts: An Introduction to the Social Web, Tools and Strategies

Workshop Locations and Dates:

12/4-5, 2008
MicroTek New York Facility
90 Broad Street 11th Floor
New York, NY 10004

4/22-23, 2009
MicroTek Downtown Chicago
230 W. Monroe – Suite 550 
Chicago, IL 60606 

6/4-5, 2009
MicroTek New York Facility
90 Broad Street 11th Floor
New York, NY 10004

More information and registration is available here.

Also, be sure to follow updates on DMA Social Media via Twitter.