Social Media 101 Class: 25 Tips for Teaching

Last week we taught a Social Media 101 Seminar at a local Chamber of Commerce.  We had a sold out program and a room full of folks ready to learn how social media can help their business grow.

We’ve had requests from around the globe for a recap of what we did so it can be leveraged for other coaches, mentors and trainers. Thus the reason for this post.  If you need more info. please feel free to contact me direct.

We had a mixed audience of  newbies, “sorta knows”, and “know enough to be dangerous”.  There is so much fud about social media we made the decision to ensure all left knowing what social media was and how it could help their biz.

We purposely made the decision NOT to teach the details of HOW you setup a facebook page to a later class.  We had folks in the class who didn’t know the difference between a “twit and a blog” (their words) so talking FBML for Facebook would have lost them at the “FB”.

Just because class participants have a Facebook page or Twitter account doesn’t mean they are experts nor that they know how to properly use them.

We wanted to set the tone as fun and ensure people felt comfortable asking the most basic question.  We kicked off with a role play which included Tiara crowns for the men, slinky’s, money hungry scammers and candy.  This helped everyone comfortable with each other and helped participants feel comfortable asking questions.

Check out our You Tube Channel for videos of the role play.   They were such good sports! I’ll also post a video this week with more specifics on the class and role play.

Tip #1:  Know Your Audience
Know their business, market, knowledge of social media, marketing and technology.

Tip #2: PREPARE!
I can’t stress this enough.  Know your audience, your strategy, your pitch and your content.  Ensure you are prepared so that you can focus on your participants.  The day is about THEM, NOT YOU and your business! Keep the focus on inspiring them to ignite the passion for their biz into new heights!

Tip #3:  Set & Communicate Clear Objectives

Tip #4:  Use a Variety of Mediums
Combine role play, lecture and video to keep participants engaged and learning.

Tip #5:  Include Current & Compelling Statistics Showcasing the Power of Social Media

Tip #6:  Start with a Role Play to Engage your Audience
Check out our video on our YouTube channel for the fun our participants had! @RobZulkoski deserves a huge pat on the back for being such a good sport in his pink Tiara! Our role play focused on the importance of authenticity and content for building profitable relationships in social media.

Tip #7:  Query Your Audience about their Knowledge and Usage of Social Media.
Do this prior and during class if at all possible. See our presentation on Slide Share for an example.

Tip #8:  Review Stats: Ensure they are UPDATED, RELEVANT to your AUDIENCE and COMPELLING

Tip #9:   Address Barriers to Adoption (relevant to your audience).
I used a myth vs truth vs set of questions and had participants guess the answers.

Tip #10:  Review Biz Benefits and methods for achieving a positive ROI (relevant to your audience)

Tip #11:  Review your specific approach to social media.
If you don’t have an approach, define one.  Customers and class participants will expect this level of knowledge and content.

Tip #12:  As part of your “approach” to social media be sure to include goal setting, listening, measuring and executing at minimum!

Tip #13:  Discuss the Importance of Social Media as PART of an INTEGRATED Marketing Program.
It is very important for people to know the best ROI is derived when social media is part of an integrated marketing, not the only medium!

Tip #14:  Demo social media tools as time permits.
If you have time include a demo of a couple automation tools.  This will bring smiles to the fellow geeks in the room.  I’m a geek at heart so can always pick em’ out of a crowd

Tip #15: Share Best Practices.
Include examples from your own as well as industry experts, your mentors social media platform pages, profiles etc.

Tip #16: Share Case Studies
Use case studies from clients you have worked with or are working with.  If you are still in startup and don’t have any to reference be sure to beef up the middle section of your preso when you discuss strategies and approach to adoption of social media.

Tip #17:  Use VIDEO!
Capture video before, during and after the session if at all possible.  You will receive excellent feedback post class to validate your approach as well as help you make improvements for the next session. It’s best to have extra folks there or a 3rd party to manage the video so you can focus on your participants. We partnered with @CateTV for a fun capture of the day.

Tip #18:  Capture 411 of ALL Attendees
We captured names, company, email, Twitter handle and Facebook page url of all participants.  Not only did this provide the 411 but also helped us understand where they were in adoption of social media.

Tip #19:  PARTNER with the Host
Review your goals with the host company or person.  Our session was part of a Chamber of Commerce Biz Ed 101 Series.  We reviewed objectives prior with key stakehlolders to ensure communication and expectations were 100% inline.

Tip #20:  Pre-Market the Class
Maximize every opportunity at networking events, inclusion in newsletters, host communications and PR to publicize the event.  We started promoting our event a couple months before it happened.  They sold out of seats.  It was the first time they had sold out in 1.5 yrs so we were quite pleased.

Tip #21:  Be AUTHENTIC!
Remember people are people.  Be real, be authentic and your class will love you!  If you don’t know an answer to a question, don’t fake it.  Capture it in a parking lot and be sure to answer it within 24 hours.

Tip #22: Post Survey
Have all participants complete a survey.  Since this one was hosted by the Brandon Chamber of Commerce, they took care of the survey.  We received valuable feedback to help us improve for next time.  We also learned key areas of the content they liked.  Our participants enjoyed the role play, statistics, and commented on our knowledge of social media.

Tip #23:  Post-Class Marketing
Share the class immediately.  We posted the videos the same day.  Tag participants in photos, Tweet about them, post on their Facebook pages, include mention of them in your videos.  Publicly thank the host on social media platforms.  Write a blog post just as this one.

Tip #24:  Keep it Fresh!
Don’t use a deck from a year ago.  Social media seems to change by the hour.  Ensure your stats are current, screen captures are from within the last 7 days.  Focus on content that inspires and connects with your audience.  Don’t lecture to them… inspire them!

Tip #25:  Have Fun
Assuming you are well prepared for the class day, there is no reason you simply can’t have fun!  By the day of the class you should be 100% comfortable with the content, have a basic understanding of your audience, know your “pitch” and be ready to rock it out! Focus on inspiring them to ignite their business.  The day should be about them, not you!  Watch their eyes light up as they learn the power of social media, the fact that they can adopt and see real, measurable benefits from social media regardless of how big or small they are.