Marketing

A “New” College Degree

The school year always has me wishing I were back in college – studying, learning and going to coffee shops for group projects and more studying and learning!

I graduated from the University of Minnesota – Twin Cities with a degree in Management (Marketing) / Mass Communications (Advertising) / English. I could not be more proud of the school I went to and the various “colleges” within that school I attended (Carlson School of Management, School of Mass Communications and Journalism and the College of Liberal Arts.)

But as the days and years go by, I can’t help but wonder, “why did we never discuss social media and/or emerging New Media in general?” People have been blogging for years. I just graduated in 2005. Granted, Facebook “took off” during my years at the University, but the era of “Internet” and “New Media” had begun long before.

How are colleges, junior colleges and Universities in general preparing students today for the here-and-now and ever-evolving future? There quite possibly could be a “social” component to most any marketing and communications degree.

I imagine the following “degree breakdowns” to be extremely beneficial:

Management → Marketing → Social Media (as it relates to Strategic Thinking)
Management → Economics → Analytics & ROI
Management → Integrated Communications → Community Management
Management → Marketing → Social Media (as it relates to English/Creative Writing/Copywriting)

((Beyond that you could do even further breakdown of specific platforms. Ie. Management → Marketing → Social Media (as it relates to Strategic Thinking) → Twitter))

Note: These are just a few. Clearly there could be a hundred different ways!

Perhaps there are already plenty of schools who offer this – do you know of any? I would love to know!

Marketing vs. Social Media Marketing

I graduated with a degree in Marketing/Mass Communications/English (yes, 1/3 of each)!

Marketing is my passion. There is nothing about marketing that does not excite me!

Wait, except for one thing.

Traditional marketing taught me (us) how to “broadcast” a message. It taught me how to dive into the end user’s brain and craft ways of broadcasting to them in a way that would entice them to buy. This is why Psychology classes accompany marketing and advertising classes, and why Professors have us wrapped up in “case studies,” “SWOT Analysis” and more. And it is also why when I was in college ((not (even)-so-long ago)) marketing was almost always a parallel to sales. Most of my marketing classes focused on marketing as it relates to sales vs. marketing as it relates to research, communication and messaging. Basically, I learned how to scream a message, and it was this “sales-pitch” portion of marketing that I just could not fall in love with. Sure, I did it. And I could be successful with it. But it didn’t match the marketing outlet I had always envisioned.

And then along came ~~Polly~~….Social Media as a form of Marketing. I gravitated towards it immediately. This was the form of marketing I had been waiting for.

Less broadcasting of the message & more interacting on the message.

When I say, “more interacting on the message,” I’m not talking about the product = the message. I’m talking about the product/brand = the topic of interest for discussion. Since Udi’s Gluten Free sells “gluten-free products,” I’m not looking for them to broadcast to me the product features/benefits and when it’s on sale 24/7. I’m looking for Udi’s to provide gluten-free information, recipes, advice, info and interaction. This is interaction on the message. It is interaction on their “message” of gluten-free products.

This “new media” way of marketing is thrilling. I get to take “messages” I am passionate about and interact with other people who have the same passions towards it. I never have to feel like I am “cold calling” on them daily. Sometimes it can feel “luke warm,” but for 80% of the time it’s interaction, conversation, sharing and engagement.

I fear the day when 80% of Social Media Marketing transitions into the “old” broadcast mechanism. Too many are already beginning to revert to the old way of broadcasting, but just using the new platform. Please, for the love of forward-thinking remember:

Less broadcasting of the message & more interacting on the message.

A “New” College Degree

Marketing vs. Social Media Marketing

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