The “What Is Social?" MOOC is for business owners, executives, and marketing professionals who want to significantly improve their abilities to grow their social strategy using effective, proven methodologies. This hands on, "how to" program won’t just tell you how to grow your professional persona using social – you will actually do it! This course is the first in the six-course specialization, Social Media Marketing: How to Profit in a Digital World.

While the course can be audited for free, paid learners will receive additional content beyond the course basics. For MOOC 1, the toolkit includes a special video from Alessandro Acquisti on Big Data and a set of studies done by IBM on engagement and social marketing strategies with bottom-line profits. This course has been designed to give you the tools, insights, knowledge, and skills to immediately impact your organization. In addition, we will help you network with thought leaders in social. After completing this course, you and your organization’s staff will be able to position, engage, and grow relationships with the consumers of highest value to you. Today, we are living in a period of massive disruption. New technologies are changing the way people engage with each other and with the organizations that interest them. This course will start you on the path to growing your own social strategy using effective, proven methodologies. Additional MOOC 1 faculty include: * Judy Ungar Franks (President, The Marketing Democracy, Ltd. & Lecturer, Medill Integrated Marketing Communications, Northwestern)

In this second MOOC in the Social Marketing Specialization - "The Importance of Listening" - you will go deep into the Big Data of social and gain a more complete picture of what can be learned from interactions on social sites. You will be amazed at just how much information can be extracted from a single post, picture, or video. In this MOOC, guest speakers from Social Gist, BroadReader, Lexalytics, Semantria, Radian6, and IBM's Bluemix and Social Media Analytics Tools (SMA) will join Professor Hlavac to take you through the full range of analytics tools and options available to you and how to get the most from them. The best part, most of them will be available to you through the MOOC for free! Those purchasing the MOOC will receive special tools, templates, and videos to enhance your learning experience. In completing this course you will develop a fuller understanding of the data and will be able to increase the effectiveness of your content strategy by making better decisions and spotting crises before they happen! MOOC 2 bonus content in the paid toolkit includes access to Semantria's analytics engine to extract some data on the markets you are developing and have it analyzed.

As a student in this course, you are being provided the opportunity to access IBM Bluemix® platform-as-a-service trial for up to six months at no-charge with no credit card (up to a $1500 value). NOTE: By enrolling in this course, given access to IBM's Bluemix technology for one month for free as well as Lexalytics' Semantria tool. For those earning a Course Certificate, you will be given an additional five months of Bluemix and three months of Semantria at no cost with a special key code. By enrolling for a Course Certificate for this MOOC, you are acknowledging that your email will be shared with Lexalytics for the sole and express purpose of generating your individual key code. After the key code has been generated, Lexalytics will delete your email from its records. Additional MOOC 2 faculty include: * Steve Dodd (SVP Business Development, Effyis - dba BoardReader and Socialgist - Global Social Media Content Access) * Seth Redmore (CMO, Lexalytics, Inc.) * Chris Gruber (Social Media Analytics Solution Architect, IBM) * Russell Beardall (Cloud Architect, IBM) * Tom Collinger (Executive Director Spiegel Research Center and Senior Director Distance Learning, Medill Integrated Marketing Communications, Northwestern) * Tressie Lieberman (VP Digital Innovation, Taco Bell)

In this third course in the Social Marketing Specialization - "The Engagement & Nurture Marketing Strategies" - you will learn two of the most effective social strategies used by organizations today. You'll see real-world best practice examples and learn what metrics they use to gauge success. You will also learn the importance of infographics and the impact a well-designed landing page can have on your bottom line. All of the social skills you have learned thus far will be put into action with a multimedia filter and focus blog that you will create to demonstrate how social can enable real-time marketing results. After this MOOC, you will have developed a plan to reach your target consumer markets and know when it is best to either use or avoid specific social marketing strategies.

Additional MOOC 3 faculty include: * Randy Krum (Data Visualization & Infographics Designer | Consultant | Author | Speaker | President, InfoNewt) * Stanford Smith (CEO, Pushing Social) * Andy Crestodina (Co-Founder & Strategic Director, Orbit Media Studios) * Ellen Valentine (Veteran Marketing Leader & Evangelist, Silverpop, IBM)

Want your content to go viral? Who doesn't! It takes a thoughtful, integrated approach to make content that stands out in our increasingly oversaturated world. In this fourth course of the Social Marketing Specialization - "Content, Advertising & Social IMC" - you will learn how marketers are successfully navigating today's media landscape. You will learn why developing engaging content for your audience is an essential component in effective social marketing. A panel of experts will unlock the paid/owned/earned media riddle and replace it with an integrated who/what/where approach that utilizes platform-specific messaging to grow your market share. This course also includes an overview of the integrated marketing communications strategy for social and how it is being deployed around the globe, as well as gamification tips to keep your audiences coming back for more. In addition, you will learn the secrets to advertising on Facebook and other social sites.

Additional MOOC 4 faculty include: * Judy Ungar Franks (President, The Marketing Democracy, Ltd. & Lecturer, Medill Integrated Marketing Communications, Northwestern) * Steffi Decker (Junior Partner, Chong and Koster) * Joey Strawn (Director of Integrated Marketing, Industrial Strength Marketing)