Corporate Social Media Training
How To: Train Your Organization in Social Media in 4 Steps
Jun 26 2013
I’ve been doing social media training for over 5 years now, and one of the things that I’ve noticed is that many businesses still don’t have a solid social media training plan. They want their employees to be more up-to-date on social media, yet they lack any formal or informal training.
Most businesses have now realized the importance of social media, and training is now the final step in the process. The key challenge is how to educate and train your organization on social media.
1. Assess your organization
What is the current knowledge level of the organization? What do they think about social media marketing today? Which sites are they active on?
Start by assessing your organization to understand their current knowledge level and perceptions about social media. We do a “Digital IQ Test” for many of our clients to better understand their current knowledge levels and needs.
2. Determine the learning objectives
The second step is to determine exactly what you want to achieve. What does success look like? What is the current state of the organization and what is the desired future state?
Where are the skill gaps? What is the desired end state?
3. Build a training plan
Create a training plan for your organization. Depending on your learning objectives you may require different types of training programs. Training can be live, online, or on-demand. It can be in delivered as workshops, interactive learning events or in traditional methods.
One thing I do know is that social media or digital marketing training isn’t a one-time effort. This isn’t “set it and forget it”. Since social media is rapidly changing and evolving, training should typically take place over time. Consider the training plan that best matches the learning objectives of your organization.
4. Survey, evaluate and continue
Once you have delivered on your training plan, survey and evaluate. Are you getting the results you want? Have to achieved the desired outcomes? Is your organization more capable and better prepared?
Many organizations that I work with simply want to “Increase the Digital IQ of their organization”. This isn’t a very specific objective. The more clearly you can define the WHY of your training or the learning objectives, the more likely you are to deliver an effective training program.
As you think about your organizational needs for social media and digital marketing, consider what you REALLY want to achieve and start with the end in mind.
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