Will we ever return to large national conferences?
What implications will this have on networking and professional development?
Can this be shifted online and have the same effect?
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Click the tweet to see the 7 reasons why I believe online course development is the best thing teachers can do, and why it will be the future of professional development.
Now, onto this week’s teaching ideas.
🤡 Chief Meme Officer
Why?
Memes are engrained in our culture, and culture plays a role in business.
It’s important for our students to see that meme pages and spam accounts aren’t the only places for them on social media. Companies are starting to value them like they started valuing social media managers a few years ago.
This could start a shift in social media marketing. If Bud Light hits it big with this, other companies will look to do the same.
Discussion Points
What does Bud Light gain by accepting freelance meme developer applications?
Do memes have a place in business? Should more companies take advantage of this to increase their exposure to younger target markets?
Are memes only advantageous to companies that appeal to younger audiences?
Assignment Idea
Have students choose a company that appeals to an older demographic but has a use for a younger audience.
Since they can’t apply to become Bud Light’s Chief Meme Officer, have them do the same for a company of their choosing. The challenge will be making the memes appealing to a younger audience without taking away from their current target market.
Once completed, have students defend their memes and do a vote on which are the best.
Students will have fun with this one while also learning how impactful marketing can be.
🤝 Employee Branding
Why?
Personal branding and business branding are looked at as being opposites with little overlap.
Michael Fulwiler shows how combining the two provides an opportunity for the business to reach a new audience through personal connections.
Students can benefit from seeing examples, like Morning Brew, to develop a deeper understanding of digital marketing strategy and to funnel individuals to their accounts.
Discussion Points
What are the potential repercussions of having a personal and business account intertwined like this?
Does employee branding with labelling towards the company affect how genuine the personal account can be? Is there a way someone can be unfiltered in this situation?
What advantages does “knowing the people behind the brand” give a company over its competitors?
Assignment Idea
Using a fictitious or created brand (like a marketing or entrepreneurship project), have students develop a marketing plan for both a personal and business account on a platform of their choosing.
The approach will differ for everyone, but the focus should be on finding ways to have the two accounts work in conjunction with each other while also making both sound authentic.
Morning Brew is a good case study for this, but there are many others you can leverage on Twitter or Instagram.
💻 Facebook Shop
Why?
In order for students to understand the future of retail, they must realize what impact the growth of e-commerce will have on the industry when they’re older.
They must also understand that entering the e-commerce industry too late can have major effects on your companies ability to succeed in that space.
Competing with major players like Amazon will be tough, but Facebook has the size and power to try that with Facebook Shop.
Discussion Points
Does Facebook have the power to compete with companies like Amazon in the e-commerce space?
What impact would direct purchasing have on Facebook ads? (ads with checkout buttons attached to them)
What advantage does Facebook’s portfolio, including Instagram and WhatsApp, have over Amazon?
Will this improve Facebook’s revenue for advertising or provide them with new companies wanting to advertise? Why or why not?
Assignment Idea
In order for students to understand the impact Facebook Shop can have, they should also understand how Facebook ads work.
Something I’ve done in the past is a “test your idea with a few dollars and a Facebook account.”
Students develop a Facebook ad around a product or service of their choosing. We typically use our entrepreneurship projects for this.
Once the ads are completed, I get students to upload their ads and set a small budget for them. I’ve spent this money out of pocket or out of a business budget in my school.
Once the ads have run, we can analyze the metrics to see what worked and what didn’t work.
Although this isn’t free, it does provide the students with a real-life understanding of Facebook advertising and how Facebook Shop can make that process easier.
🎯 Free Twitter Growth, Influence, and Monetization Course
Why?
This one won’t include discussion points and assignment ideas because it already includes everything you’ll need plus more.
Olivier Cantin provides a ton of social media marketing value on his Twitter account. He recently released a free course on how to grow and monetize a Twitter account that provides hundreds of dollars worth of content to us and our students for free.
Additionally, the course utilizes MightyNetworks to bring all participants together as a community.
I plan to complete the course over the next week and utilize it with my marketing students as well.
It’s rare we are given something like this without an associated cost. I encourage you to take advantage of it not only for your own interests but for your students as well.
✈️ Flight Simulator Relaunch
Why?
Similar to the last resource, there is more to this than specific teaching ideas.
Microsoft’s recent relaunch of their Flight Simulator will be nostalgic for adults but meaningless for students.
However, there’s a ton of learning opportunities if your school (or you) can get copies of it.
Google Maps has been a good tool to explore places in the world. I use it to show my students Wall Street and other major business districts in the world.
Flight Simulator can do the same in a more interactive way.
It also gives students the ability to make decisions, problem-solve, analyze cause and effect, think critically, and learn new skills while exploring.
I’m hoping my students have the ability to play around on it, and I believe your students would benefit from it too.
If you find value in these articles and think other educators can benefit from it, please consider sharing it.
Take care! Until next week,
Sean
