Social media is no longer just a fascination for early adopters and digital natives. Its influence is now being felt at the highest levels of business and politics. Marketing and communications professionals are successfully implementing campaigns that are impacting the bottom line and creating high profile outcomes.

Chris Aarons and Geoff Nelson of Buzz Corps will share insights from their groundbreaking efforts with 31 Days of the Dragon and other leading examples of social media marketing successes. During an all day course being offered at UT Austin on October 23rd, they will take you through what they have already learned and prepare you to implement your own successful word-of-mouth efforts.

I’ve written before about how Buzz Corps is representative of the new breed of marketing and communications professionals in the digital age. Come learn for yourself exactly what they do and how you can utilize their strategies and tactics for your own business or organization.

Following is a description of the course as it is described on the University of Texas website. You can click on the title to go straight to the UT site for registration.

Buzz Marketing

Word-of-mouth or social media marketing isn’t actually about generating word-of-mouth messages — it’s about identifying and working with key influencers to deliver your messages organically via third-party endorsements. And, when word-of-mouth marketing works, it creates buzz. People start to communicate in positive ways — online or off — about what you do or make. Instead of just marketing to your targets, you’re developing an entire network of brand advocates.

Buzz marketing is about thinking rather than just spending, about pulling in customers rather than pushing products toward them. This workshop introduces you to marketing techniques that connect consumers to consumers with positive messages about your brand. You’ll see how buzz marketing makes word-of-mouth marketing strategies scalable by connecting credibility to technology, which can generate both buzz and business.

No prerequisite is required for this course.

Who Should Attend

• Marketing, sales, and public relations professionals
• Small business owners
• People interested in the blog or social media phenomenon
• Anyone who needs to know how to get people to talk to each other about their products and services

Objectives

• Identify the key influencers who can drive your word-of-mouth or buzz
• Understand different types of word-of-mouth or buzz marketing and how to use each
• Integrate word-of-mouth or buzz marketing activities into your existing marketing and overall business strategies
• Apply strategies to monitor both online and offline venues
• Understand the ethics of word-of-mouth, buzz, blog, and social media marketing practices

Course Information

TH, Oct 23, 2008
8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m.
at TCC 3.108
PD09075
$275.00 course fee
$255.00 if registered by Oct 2 OR for four or more participants

Please contact Chris@buzzcorps.com or Geoff@buzzcorps.com for more information.