Overview
The HubSpot Academy Social Media course provided valuable insights into key marketing concepts, such as the difference between social monitoring and social listening, and the importance of brand voice versus brand tone. I found the 80/20 content mix particularly impactful, emphasizing the shift from pushing brand content to focusing on audience interests. The courses also highlighted the necessity of social media policies, guidelines, and SLAs in creating clear expectations and fostering effective communication. These lessons are directly applicable to my current role and will help me as I continue to grow my marketing knowledge and skills, while also supporting my sister’s business.
Reflection
After completing the HubSpot Academy Social Media certification course I had an opportunity to reflect on the learning process. I completed the Inbound Marketing certification course at the same time and the content overlapped which helped to reinforce the learning. I’m a visual learner so the video format made absorbing the content easier. There was also overlap between the subjects which helped to reinforce the material.
Some of the concepts I learned were the difference between social monitoring and social listening, and how both should be used to learn about your audience and taking action to participate in the conversations that are going on. We also learned about brand voice and brand tone and how to differentiate between the two but understand that both are important to humanizing your brand. Brand voice is the personality of your brand and brand tone is like the attitude and mood depending on the context of the situation.
I particularly found the 80/20 content mix interesting because companies seem to just be pushing their content without taking into consideration their audience’s preferences. The 80/20 rule states that 20% of your content should be directly related to your business and the other 80% should be content that relates to your audience’s interests. The purpose then shifts from pushing content to trying to engage your audience’s interests.
I found the section on social media policies, guideline and SLA’s very interesting because it explained the need for each and how they can be used. It’s important for companies to have a policy for employees so they are aware of the company’s expectations on how they use social media. Service level agreements are also incredibly helpful when directing individuals on the response expectations of a company’s social media channels.
In the future I see myself using much of these concepts in my day-to-day full-time job and while I build my marketing knowledge, skills and experience. It’s all very relevant to my full-time job not just because I’ve taken on marketing tasks but it’s information that relates to overall business strategy and goals. I can’t wait to use more of what I learned to help my career grow and help my sister build her business.
I honestly, held the courses until the last 2 weeks and it was most likely to do with exam anxiety. I wanted to retain as much of the information as I could in a shorter amount of time knowing I had to take an exam after. I feel this approach helped me in the long run, but I can also see how the course material and course learning plan and assignments all built together and overlapped.
I did well on the exam but took it upon myself to review the questions I missed so I could make sure I wasn’t misunderstanding anything. I tend to overthink questions and I tried to rely on the knowledge that I gained and make sure I was reading the questions through thoroughly to make sure I answered correctly. I appreciated that the course had quizzes after most of the chapters just to knowledge check. I think that helped to get me ready and prep for the exam format. I did not use the study guide, but I did take notes and downloaded the slides to help with studying.