Social media strategy for growth

“Once you learn to engage influencers, you differentiate yourself from the noise online”

Behind all the online likes, follows, and algorithmic rankings is a far less understood social media stagecraft: a deeper strategic analysis and brand development that differentiates the amateur from the professional.

“Not a lot of people tap into social media for those things,” says Alice Goldstein, a technical product marketer with experience in enterprise social analytics, natural language processing, semantic intelligence, machine learning, Apache Hadoop, and virtualization.

Goldstein, the instructor for Leveraging Content and Social Analytics starting July 11, has recently redesigned UCSC Extension’s Social Media Marketing professional award program to emphasize analytics and data visualizations, storytelling, influencer programs, content strategies, and the balance of personal and business branding.

“Once you learn to engage influencers, you differentiate yourself from the noise online,” she says.

In Leveraging Content and Social Analytics students make this jump. They learn to take customers on a behind-the-scenes adventure, write great content, and assemble and manage an influencer program designed for campaigns, product feedback, and tutorials.

“This class is not for the novice,” says Goldstein who has worked on campaigns at major Silicon Valley tech companies. “This is more of a strategy course. I jump right in on the first day and talk about livestreaming to build revenue, social market research, and storytelling. We talk about how to enhance a WordPress site and blog with the latest features to drive conversions from social.”

Product managers, marketers, entrepreneurs and engineers who want to be more persuasive learn how to illicit emotion with messaging and reinvent their organization’s social media goals and strategies for better results.

The social media landscape, however, is as full of opportunities as it is distraction. You want to really analyze your product launches in real time, target the right audience on the right social media channel, and understand social lead generation, Goldstein says.

Students will practice both B2B and B2C digital strategies using Facebook Live, Periscope, Pinterest, Instagram, Google+ communities, and Hootsuite. They will learn how to crash a Twitter party, create a campaign, blog weekly, work with influencers who multiply an audience, and analyze and present the results to stakeholders.

“Visual literacy—how to tell a story with color, lighting, symbols, sound, pictures—contributes to an effective social media campaign,” Goldstein says. “These are the kinds of things that help captivate the right audience for your business. Think about Stanley Kubrick’s use of visual language in his movies.”

Goldstein is also teaching Social Media Marketing Fundamentals starting Aug. 15, another course in the Social Media Marketing professional award series.

Stay tuned for “Understanding the Benefits and Pitfalls of Facebook Marketing,” a three-part social media fundamentals blog series byUCSC Extension instructor Alice Goldstein.

ALICE GOLDSTEIN, BA, is a technical product marketer with EventLoop, a global event technology provider that provides solutions for associations, trade shows, companies, and festivals. Her expertise includes digital technologies and algorithm-friendly marketing tools, as well as social lead generation, story crafting for brands and products, and reaching a targeted audience through blogging and live video. She has redesigned UCSC Extension’s Social Media Marketing professional award program with an emphasis on analytics and product branding for all levels of experience.