Open Europe piloted the module “Social Media Marketing” which is targeted at beginners in the topic: young people or youth workers who have average skills and knowledge in social media but who are interested in learning more about the marketing potential social media have.
The two people who developed the course were in charge of the piloting process. The initial plan was to organise a blended piloting phase including self-study at home by participants and three face-to-face sessions (one at the very beginning, as an introductory session; one progress monitoring session in the middle; and one wrapping up session to conclude the piloting). The COVID-19 pandemic obliged the organisation to reorganise the activity: two group sessions, where some attended face-to-face and some online, and all the other materials were visited at home by the students.
The recruitment was done online via emails, through our Facebook and Instagram account,s and via WhatsApp (which is the most common means we use when dealing with groups of young people). We also counted with the support of the Youth Department and Mobility Department of Reus Town Hall, who was sending out our invitation emails and publishing the call in their social media accounts as well. At first, almost 20 young people and youth workers (many were Town Hall workers within the Youth Department) but only 16 of them completed the whole course, got the certificate, and fill in the evaluation forms.
The first session took place on 23rd November 2020 and 7 people attended face-to-face (2 of them didn’t give us the rights to use their photos). It was organised in the premises of DS Formació, a center we collaborate closely with. The second session took place on 25th November 2020 and 8 people attended face-to-face; it took place in the premises of OpenEurope. At both sessions, there was a link set up for those who would like to connect to the session online: at the first session, a few of them did and they participated from home virtually; but at the second one no one connected. The rest of the piloting was organised as self-study and self-conducted learning with the indications and instructions of the instructors. The materials were in English, so some participants experienced some difficulties understanding them.
The participants were in contact with the instructors via the WhatsApp group and via email. Only some of them came in person to the office to collect the certificates. The results were very satisfactory from the point of view of the instructors and of the participants, although all coincided that they would have preferred a face-to-face full course.
I am in charge of the Social Media of several organisations and this course has helped me a lot to understand what I was doing wrong and how much more there is to learn about Social Media and its potential as a marketing tool!
Laura López
