UC Irvine Extension Offers New Course: Social Marketing in the 21st Century

Business Wire, August 19, 2008

Course Provides Insight and Education About Non-Traditional Marketing

IRVINE, Calif. -- The University of California, Irvine Extension is offering a new course, "Social Marketing in the 21st Century," designed to educate entrepreneurs and managers about the benefits of social networking. The new course will be held Oct. 6 through Nov. 16 and will be made available completely online. This course will be the first in a series of courses focused on the new social marketing and networking phenomenon.

With the recent influx of online networking sites such as Facebook, Myspace and LinkedIn, companies are discovering the importance and exponential effects of social marketing. In essence, these companies have transformed traditional marketing into one that yields many advantages, including heightened brand awareness, increased membership or patronage, and potential improvement of revenues.

"Social marketing is a cost-effective and innovative way for businesses to leverage a membership base and create networks of loyalty," explains Tamara Nall, B.B.A., B.S., M.B.A., and Senior Associate with Booz & Company and UC Irvine Extension course instructor. "This new course will provide an in-depth overview of social networks arming participants with tactics they can use immediately within their own companies."

"Social Marketing in the 21st Century" will include a review of case studies for two successful social networking sites, Facebook and LinkedIn. Students will also analyze their own companies or others of interest to gain a better understanding about how to use social networking as a platform to increase membership and revenues. Additionally, the course will discuss common mistakes made during the execution of social marketing initiatives and explore the pros and cons of the non-traditional techniques. Through completion of the course, participants will learn to define the concept of social marketing and implement key elements to business and marketing plans.

For more information about the course, please visit www.extension.uci.edu or contact Nancy Salzman at (949) 824-5524 or via e-mail at nsalzman@uci.edu.

About the University of California, Irvine Extension: As the continuing education arm of UCI, UC Irvine Extension is dedicated to providing a university-level learning experience for students, offering thousands of exciting courses and programs to local, regional, and global constituencies. UC Irvine Extension offers a rich array of academic and community programs to support a diverse audience, from a wide selection of academic programs to numerous campus activities. For more information, please visit www.extension.uci.edu.

About the University of California, Irvine: The University of California, Irvine is a top-ranked university dedicated to research, scholarship and community service. Founded in 1965, UCI is among the fastest-growing University of California campuses, with more than 27,000 undergraduate and graduate students and about 1,400 faculty members. The second-largest employer in dynamic Orange County, UCI contributes an annual economic impact of $3.3 billion. For more UCI news, visit www.today.uci.edu.