I'm Guest Lecturing at McGill University

I’m Guest Lecturing at McGill University

The McGill School of Continuing Studies has started offering a new certificate program in Digital Content and Community Management, and friend and colleague Michelle Sullivan is teaching it. As Michelle explains:

The class provides an overview of current uses of internet-based media (websites, blogs, social networks) in public relations, direct marketing, internal communications, fundraising, consumer relations and reputation management. Participants will leave the course with a firm grasp of best practices, and will be able to implement social media tactics based on strategic considerations.

Well, McGill is my alma mater, so when I was also one of the folks Michelle asked to guest lecture, I couldn’t say no. I’ll be guest lecturing tomorrow evening, Thursday, September 25, and the title of my lecture will be Using Social Media for SEO. Here’s a description of the lecture that I prepared for Michelle so her students would know what to expect:

Social media can support a number of marketing activities. From customer service and retention to community management and ad campaigns, marketers rely on social media to reach a number of their goals. But what about using it to build equity outside of social networks? In this presentation, we look at (1) how SEO is the most targeted source of traffic online, (2) the increasing role that social media is playing in SEO, and (3) how you can sync your social media efforts so that they can help you tap into a user-base that’s already looking for your products and services.

Overall, the students can expect to get a concrete understanding of some of the fundamentals of SEO, as well as how certain social media activities can be modified and optimized to support SEO goals. Basically, they’ll get some insight into how social media can help drive revenue generating activities (i.e. SEO), rather than simply supporting branding and communications goals.

I’d also be lying (only by omission, of course) if I didn’t say I was super stoked to be giving a guest lecture at my alma mater, and to a group that already has real-world experience in the worlds of marketing and communications. In a nutshell, I think it’s gonna be real kick 😉