Cheryl Galipeau, Director

If you are outgoing, energetic, computer savvy and communicate well, you can excel as a social media professional. Social media is an exciting and growing communication medium used by a wide variety of industries. The program prepares you to explore and select platforms, design strategies to attract target audiences, build relationships and promote a presence using new and traditional marketing methods. You will learn to develop strategies in:

• Storytelling, creative imagery, and video
• Using real-time analytics to understand customer patterns and employ search engine optimization
• Creating effective layout, design and content for print publications

Graduates will apply real-world techniques in social engagement to improve the customer experiences, promote brand profiles, produce and publish relevant, engaging and sharable content. This option prepares you for a career in product and service promotion, marketing and communications in a variety of organizational settings.

Academically prepared students entering Autumn semester may complete the program in four semesters. Students entering spring should meet with an advisor prior to selecting courses.

Student Outcomes:

Upon completion of the program, students will:

• Demonstrate the workplace skills of effective communication (oral, written, nonverbal), problem-solving, managing interpersonal relationships and collaborating with teams, promoting internal and external customer loyalty, dealing with challenges and conflict, thinking critically, and leadership
• Ethically use research and the tools of technology to create and organize business documents efficiently, accurately, and artfully designed
• Design and develop effective online solutions incorporating search engine and social media optimization strategies, attractive user-centered and accessible design for multiple platforms, mobility, and devices relevant to organizational goals and targets
• Plan for career development by creating standard employment documents and honing personal presentation skills
• Understand, appreciate, and recognize opportunities of diverse populations and cultures
• Promote a positive organizational presence through marketing, advertising and relationship building for online and traditional organizational communications and publications
• Create quality digital images using fundamentals of photography, videography and digital editing
• Analyze, monitor and contrast social media categories and sharing platforms appropriate for consumers who actively participate in today’s marketing processes
• Identify social objects, paid media, earned media, owned media and curated media
• Create, deliver and calendar engaging and shareable social media content
• Explore advertising media, budget plans, ad campaign designs, and in-house promotion designs, for radio, television, online and print
• Demonstrate ethical behavior by following social media policies, copyright guidelines, and transparency and disclosure practices
• Be enthusiastic, creative and realistic

Related Job Titles:

• Social Media Editor
• Product Promotion
• Marketing Communications Associate
• Social Media Coordinator
• Social Media Community Manager
• Digital Marketing/Social Media Specialist

Further Educational Opportunities:

All credits earned in the program fulfill partial requirements toward a Bachelor of Applied Science (B.A.S.) degree through the University of Montana OR fulfill partial requirements toward general education core in Communication Studies, Media Arts, or Journalism.

Administrative Management - Social Media Management Concentration Required Courses

Minimum Required Grade: C-