SoMe. The Future.

SenecaSoMe / Seneca Social Media Launchpad into the continually changing digital landscape. Ministry-accredited Social Media graduate certificate program. Full-Time. 8 months. Friday/Saturday classes. Connect with the future. Now.

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5 tips for using Vine for business

  With over 13 million users, Vine is one of the hottest new social media platforms. Owned by Twitter, the basic premise of Vine is to create and share a 6-second video clip. While 6 seconds may not seem like a long time, the level of creativity that users have demonstrated since Vine launched is astounding.

  Here are 5 tips on how you can use Vine to creatively engage with your customers.

  1. Show what your product can do

Think your product has an interesting feature or aspect that you can show off in 6-seconds? Show it! Or maybe you can demonstrate interesting and uncommon uses for your product. Perhaps you sell packaged food, use Vine to show your followers interesting dishes they can make using your product. Take advantage of Vine's visual nature and make your followers want your product.

Nintendo used Vine to show off exactly what customers would get if they purchased their new WII U bundle

  2. Show off your staff

  Maybe you're not selling a product, but rather selling a service. Show your followers why your staff are the best people available to serve their needs. Do something fun and creative to highlight how amazing your staff are.

Go Local used vine to show off their staff setting up for a conference.

  3. Show off your office/store

Want to get more people in the door of your office or store? Show them why it's such a great place. Vine's 6-second limit doesn't give you enough time to show off the whole office/store so pick the highlights and remember to try and be creative. Try to work some of your staff or customers into the video as well.

Urban Outfitters used vine to show off the exciting things that go on inside their stores.

  4.Tell a story

Using Vine to tell a story is probably the most popular use of the platform. Telling an effective story in 6-seconds is difficult though, so think hard and try to make in thoughtful, entertaining and a little out of the box.

The Gap used vine to tell a story about the history of their denim jeans

  5.Amuse your audience

Remember that the best way to gain a customer’s loyalty is to create an emotional connection with them. Do something unique or funny and make your followers not want to miss a single one of your Vines

Email designer MailChimp crafted this amusing vine of a dog standing on their mascot

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Take a look at some example from the Seneca SoMe gallery and how we used Vine to promote ourselves.

Have you creatively used Vine for your organization? How did it work? Please comment below, and don't forget to share the link!

  -By Warren Johnson

Warren Johnson is a recent Seneca College graduate. After successfully completing post-graduate certificate in Marketing Management, @Warrenh_johnson is currently pursuing opportunities in the marketing field as well as working as a social media strategist for SenecaSoMe.

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6 Social Media Tips for Small Businesses

  Social media provides the perfect platform for any small business to get noticed by prospective clients. Unfortunately lack of experience keeps many small business owners from utilizing or properly utilizing social media.

Here are 6 things for small businesses to remember when using social media:

1.     Know your audience

There is nothing more important than knowing exactly who your customer is and where they are. If your target market is teenage boys, Pinterest may not be the best platform to engage on. Knowing where your audience is located is the first step in reaching them

2.     Set your goals

Too often, companies take to social media with no clear goal in mind. This is a sure fire way to fail. How can you be successful if you don't define exactly what success is?

Set a goal or target and look at the steps you need to take to get there. Do you want to reach a certain amount of followers? Do you want to increase sales by a certain amount? How are you going to meet these goals? Do you need to tweet 10 times a day? Post 20 things on Facebook a week? These are all things that need to be considered when deciding upon your goals with social media.

3.     Take a look at your competition

What's your competition doing on social media? This is not to say that you should copy them, but to outperform them you need to know what they are doing.

If your competition is not utilizing social media properly, you can use their poor performance as a way to interact with and possibly capture their customer base.

4.     Creativity wins, not budgets

Don't feel like social media is a waste of time just because you don't have the budget to compete with the bigger players in your industry.

Take for example the company Blendtec. Spending just $100 on social media has gained them a 700% increase on sales

Social media allows everyone to have a relatively even playing field. Creative use of your platform of choice will always get you greater returns than just throwing money at it. 

5.     Social media isn’t something you do in your spare time

Treat social media just like any other aspect of your business.

You wouldn't do your accounting whenever you have free time. It's an essential part of your business and you make time for it. That is how social media should be treated as well

Whether you need to have a dedicated social media specialist (hopefully a Seneca SoMe graduate) or dedicate time during your day or week , you need to make sure your social media presence gets the attention it deserves. Ignoring or putting your social media presence to the side is a quick way to lose followers, miss out on potential business, and make your firm seem unprofessional and out of touch with the marketplace.

6.     Monitor, and engage

One of the most important parts of social media is monitoring and engaging with your audience.

Monitoring your audience will provide information on what content they find interesting and help you to determine how to best engage with them. For instance, say every time you tweet about a certain subject you lose followers, or whenever you post certain content on Facebook it gets reposted a lot more than other content. Without monitoring the results of your actions you might continue to do things that hurt your social media presence or miss out on opportunities to raise it.

Similarly, without directly engaging with your followers, you miss out on opportunities to grow your business. It's not enough to just tweet out content.Remember, direct engagement with your customers is one of the biggest rewards that social media can give your business.

-By Warren Johnson

Warren Johnson is a recent Seneca College graduate. After successfully completing post-graduate certificate in Marketing Management, @Warrenh_johnson is currently pursuing opportunities in the marketing field as well as working as a social media strategist for SenecaSoMe.

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5 Things to consider about social media for businesses

The great (and horrible) thing about social media is that it’s always changing. It’s hard for your business to stay on top of everything that’s going on in the social media world. Here are 5 things your business should consider when shaping your social media strategy:

1. Facebook isn’t “cool” anymore

Listen, there is more to social media than Facebook. Quite frankly, recent reports show that Facebook is not the “cool” social media site to be on anymore. It’s no longer enough for your company to just have a presence on Facebook. Take a look at some of the other popular platforms out there and see what works best for your customer and their needs.

2. Visual is in

The new trend is visual social media. Instagram, Snapchat, Pinterest, and Vine among others, are the new go-to platforms. Getting on these platforms now can give your business a head start over your competition. Just remember, these platforms aren’t for everyone. It depends on your objectives. Think about whether you can effectively, and creatively, communicate with your customers through these platforms. If not, it’s probably better to skip these platforms.

3. Google + can help with your SEO problems

One HUGE benefit of Google+ is that it’s built and designed by Google! The whole platform plays nicely with Google’s search engines and by incorporating it into your social media repertoire, you can drastically increase your chance of getting discovered on its search engine.

4. Google+ can lead to MORE sales than Twitter or Facebook

A recent study found that sharing content on Google+ can lead to more sales than Facebook or Twitter, especially if what you’re sharing is electronics. If you're looking to book more sales for your business, you should look at Google+.

5. Social media analytics are more important than ever

Knowing how your audience is receiving your social media message is now more important than ever. Even if a social media platform is free, there is a usage cost, and that cost is time. If something isn’t working on a particular platform, you need to decide whether to change your tactics or abandon the platform all together. Given the speed with which information currently travels, knowing how to analyse your social media interactions is one of the most important things a company needs to do in order to be successful. Unfortunately, this is also the hardest thing for businesses to learn to do, especially without outside help. Seneca College has Ontario’s first ministry-accredited social media post-graduate program, SenecaSoMe, and they can teach you the fundamentals of social media analytics, among other things.  

-By Warren Johnson

Warren Johnson is a recent Seneca College graduate. After successfully completing post-graduate certificate in Marketing Management, @Warrenh_johnson is currently pursuing opportunities in the marketing field as well as working as a social media strategist for SenecaSoMe.

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#TorontoFlood? What's that?

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Why Social Media Accreditation Matters

Once upon a time, anyone who knew how to login into Twitter and start a Facebook page could call themselves a social media expert. Thankfully, the world of social media marketing is maturing quickly and hiring managers are increasingly looking for specialized skills in this field.

As a communications professional that works with social media, I believe that hiring managers will soon look to accredited program graduates first when hiring entry-level professionals.

I'm referring to educational programs endorsed by Ontario’s Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities. The endorsement holds up a standard that the curriculum must meet a certain level of rigour -- so employers know what to expect of its graduates. Courses without accreditation use their own definition of standards.

Last month, Seneca College launched the first accredited program of its kind in social media. It won’t be long till other reputable institutions follow suit.

With so many social media experts out there, competition for work in this field can be stiff. Not only is accreditation the way of the future, it can put you ahead of the crowd today.

Here’s why:

An accredited program gives you hands-on experience with professional monitoring tools like Sysomos and Radian6. Many hiring managers today are listing these tools as required skills for social media specialists.

You’ll have a competitive portfolio right out of school. It can take years to develop a professional portfolio in the workforce. An accredited program will expose you to the many different challenges a social media specialist faces -- including strategy building.  

Confidence is key. An accredited program will give you insights into an industry that is changing quickly. You’ll have the industry keywords that hiring managers want to hear and be able to comfortably “talk shop”.

You’ll be connected. Instructors with professional experience will be in the loop with potential employers and clients. Prove your worth and they’ll be happy to introduce you.

This is an incredibly exciting time to be in the field of social media. It’s a space that has already changed the world. I can’t wait to see what happens as this relatively new industry becomes professionalized.

By: Farah Ng

Farah is a communications professional that helps organizations reach audiences through public relations and social media. You can reach her on Twitter: @farahng.

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What To Do After Graduation: Post-Graduate Certificate

  Four years, one undergrad, fresh out of school; what now? The obvious answer is to go out and find a job, but as many recent grads realize, this is easier said than done.

I often hear university grads complain that their university degree didn't teach them anything or prepare them for the real world. I have to disagree with this. Let’s say you’re a carpenters, for example, you may have the knowledge on how to do your job but without your tools you’d still be unable to do it. Similarly, university gave you the knowledge to complete your job, now you just need to find the tools. So how do you, as a student, obtain these tools? Personally I took a post-graduate certificate program from Seneca College after I graduated. I felt as if this was the best way for me to acquire the “tools” I needed to put my knowledge to good use. Here are a few reasons why I think everyone should at least consider doing a post-graduate certificate after they graduate university:

“They are focused"

What I mean when I say “they are focused” is that post-graduate certificate programs only goal is to prepare you for a certain career field. University and college programs are generally set-up to offer you a strong education. Unfortunately, this education often doesn’t train you or provide you the skills you need for the workplace.  

Post-grad certificate programs are focused on a certain career field, and are created to ensure that you're completely ready to work in that field when the program ends. They are designed to teach you everything you would need to get a job.

It’s a different experience

Let’s face it; universities can be an extremely impersonal and lonely experience. On a campus of hundreds - if not thousands - of students, it can be hard to make real connections with students and teachers alike.

Post-grad certificate programs are often smaller and more intimate. You will know the name of all of the students in your program and all of  your teachers, and vice versa. This level of intimacy can completely change your learning experience, not to mention, help you make some friends that are going into the same career field as you.

Cheaper and shorter than graduate programs

Obviously money is always a problem for students. After completing a four year B.A., the idea of adding onto your already, no doubt, huge debt does not sound all that appealing.

Pursuing a masters or PhD can run you into the tens of thousands of dollars and last for years. One of the huge benefits of a post-grad certificate program is that they are on average one to two years and cost substantially less than another university degree. I know for myself, these two facts were the major selling points in my decision to pursue a post-graduate certificate.

Flexibility

Not everyone can be a full-time student. There are a large number of people in the workforce that feel stuck in their current position but lack the education to get out of it. Some people also have family commitments that affect their ability to go back to school full time.

Post-graduate certificate programs are often designed around the fact that people have work, families and other commitments. They are flexible enough to allow you to take care of everything you have going on and still get the education you desire. 

  For all these reasons and more I enjoyed my post-graduate certificate experience at Seneca College. If this is something you're interested in, check out the new Seneca SoMe post-graduate certificate. It's the first government accredited social media program in Ontario. Definitely worth giving a try. 

  -By Warren Johnson

Warren Johnson is a recent Seneca College graduate. After successfully completing post-graduate certificate in Marketing Management, Warren is currently pursuing opportunities in the marketing field as well as working as a social media strategist for Seneca College. 

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A couple of days ago Facebook launched support for #hashtags. But that's merely "breaking news", which is (clearly) old by now. Also, that's not what this blog is all about. 

People are obsessing over hashtags everywhere - #Instagram, #Pinterest, (obviously) #Twitter, and so on. They use them excessively - to a point where their readers are either annoyed by the clutter or start ignoring. Facebook-ers have already started making fun of the exploitation of hashtags. 

So how does that help you as a Social Media Professional who's trying to market a brand using hashtags?

Here's a short answer: a hashtag serves three purposes as of this day:

Multiple hashtags are used to categorize an idea,

A single hashtag is created to round-up an idea, and

A series of related hashtags are used to create a campaign from an idea. 

In some cases, the goal is to create a trending topic, and in others, it is merely to indulge the audience. These answers will possibly change due to the dynamic nature of social media.

A more in-depth understanding is required while crafting a new hashtag or using an existing one - especially when you're using it as a Social Media Professional. If you'd like a detailed, #SlightlyComplicatedToExplainInWriting answer or want to have a chat with us about SoMe, just send us an email. Of course, you always have an option to message us on our social platforms or post a comment below. Don't forget to use #SenecaSome :) 

--- Kruti Dalvi Social Media Strategist SenecaSoMe

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iPhone Wallet Case #SenecaSoMe

iPhone Wallet Case #SenecaSoMe

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You ready to reboot your career?

During this state of purgatory many business will die and many jobs will disappear. In the same breathe, many business will thrive, many new businesses will be created and many new jobs will be created.

- Mitch Joel (@mitchjoel)

Does your career need a reboot?

In a recent podcast,  Mitch Joel, President (or Media Hacker as he prefers to be called) of Twist Image and author of the book “CTRL ALT Delete”, talked about the current state of the marketing industry and how new tools like tablets, smartphones and social media have and will continue to change the status quo.

5 important takeaways for future marketers are:

Due to new movements and trends, the industry has experienced a huge change in how we interact with customers

Human beings have a hard time understanding the current exponential growth in communication platforms and technology we’re experiencing

There is a entire industry growing around understanding the analytics of these new tools

We need to “reboot” our understanding of how to interact with customers

Marketers need to create utility for our clients, not just interact with them

What do these points mean?

This new industry of analytics and understanding how to properly use these new tools is going to be more and more important in how businesses interact with their customer in this new world. In order to properly interact with our customers, we need to understand not just how to use these tools but also how to use them to create utility for our customers. Just like we do to a computer when it’s not working, we need to take a step back and “reboot” our understanding of how things work in order to properly grasp how to make these things work for us.

More importantly, what does these points mean for you?

Getting in on these movements means you’re going to have an advantage as you pursue your career. Remember, your current or future boss is just like a customer. You have a lot of competition for his/her attention. What’s the best way to get it? Create utility for him/her. Bring something to the table that no one else can bring.

Where’s the best place to learn how to do it? Well, after graduating from University, I took a graduate certificate program in Marketing Management at Seneca College. It was a great way to improve my skills and gain new ones. Seneca is currently launching a new graduate certificate program called SoMe, focusing exclusively on education students on how to effectively use social media. It's an industry first!

Interested? Check out http://www.senecacollege.ca/SoMe and give your career the reboot it needs.  

  -By Warren Johnson

Warren Johnson is a recent Seneca College graduate. After successfully completing post-graduate certificate in Marketing Management, Warren is currently pursuing opportunities in the marketing field as well as working as a social media strategist for Seneca College.