• Prepare for a career in social media or marketing
• Gain skills and knowledge for your social media responsibilities
• Earn a recognized credential

Program Format

• Complete the 5 required courses (69 hours)
• Can be completed within 1 semester up to a maximum of 3 years

Program Requirements

• You must have strong computer and file management skills.
• You must be comfortable working in a Windows environment.
• Although you do not need special software, you must have access to a computer for occasional out-of-class work

Foundations of Social Media for Business
Analyze the role of social media in business and explore the power of these tools to build relationships with your customers.

Social Media Strategy
Learn to create a practical and effective social media strategy. Develop social media objectives, advanced target market profiles, engagement maps and several content development frameworks. This approach is effective regardless of the channels used.  

Online Community Engagement (Previously: Branding and Online Communities)
Use online communities to deepen customer trust and loyalty, increase employee engagement, manage brand reputation and stimulate marketing.

Social Media Analytics and Optimization
Gain practical experience with tools to measure the awareness, attention, reach and influence of your brand using social media.
It is recommended that students taking this course have a basic understanding of social media.

Social Media Final Project    
Apply the knowledge you gained in all previous courses to address a marketing challenge for an organization.  If you attend the in-class version of the course, you will work in groups with fellow students to develop a comprehensive social media plan for a local, real-world non-profit organization.  If you register in the online version of the course, you will have the option to work individually or in a group, and you’ll be able to create a plan for your own business (real or hypothetical), the organization you work for, or for a non-profit of your choice.  (Please note that you will not be matched up with a non-profit in the online version of the course).
Prerequisite: Previous 4 Social Media for Business courses

Ernest Barbaric
Ernest Barbaric is a trusted authority on digital and social media marketing. His work has been featured in Forbes, Canadian Business, USA Today, Financial Post, Mashable and Social Media Today, among others.

He works with leaders, entrepreneurs and marketing professionals to build online authority, increase qualified inbound traffic, improve conversions and develop brand awareness – all through digital marketing.

Ernest is one of the founders of the Social Media for Business program at Mount Royal University. He teaches the Social Media Strategy course and the Twitter for Business workshop. He is dedicated to providing a great classroom experience with real-life marketing examples and interactive discussions.

You can find Ernest at ernestbarbaric.com and twitter.com/ebarbaric

Ted Flitton
Ted Flitton is the principal of Base Reputation Management. He has almost twenty years’ experience as a journalist, corporate spokesperson and issues manager. He helps companies, non-profits and associations strengthen their practices, primarily in the disciplines of issues management, media relations and training, employee engagement and customer experience strategies. 

He has studied with the Reputation Institute, received a B.A. in political science from York University, completed the Canadian Securities Course and earned a diploma in Human Resources Management from Seneca College, among others. He regularly writes about reputation issues.

Karen Richards
As the Word of Mouth Marketing Strategist at Mount Royal University, Karen combines marketing, grassroots community initiatives, a love of brand, technology and social media to ensure she, and the university, are always ahead of the curve. Karen's passion is embracing and creatively implementing word of mouth marketing principles to meet business goals while cultivating a loyal community in person and online that help spread the good word about MRU.

Karen holds a Bachelor degree in Psychology from the University of Calgary, is an active member of the international Word of Mouth Marketing Association, presenter and workshop facilitator and is personally very active in the Calgary community using social media to create unique events and connect people with businesses, charities and each other.

Chris Garrett
Chris Garrett is the Chief Digital Officer for Copyblogger Media, and is the co-author of several books, including Problogger with Darren Rowse. He has more than 22 years of professional internet consulting, direct marketing, advertising, and web development experience, working with global brands such as Toshiba, Durex, Heinz, Procter & Gamble, and Coca-Cola.

Before joining Copyblogger full time, Chris ran a successful consulting business for 8 years. As well as teaching at MRU, Chris speaks at conferences and organizations around the world on the topics of online business, web development and content marketing.

David Howse
David administered the world’s largest Facebook Group for marketers (Marketing 2.0) in 2007.

Originating in Lethbridge, Alberta, he established David Howse Marketing, a one-man operation that grew its client base by gaining the trust of local businesses.  In the fall of 2015, his company merged with Salmon Dev Studios Inc. a specialized I. T. company to form Matterhorn Business Solutions Inc.

David manages and executes marketing strategies for several prominent Calgary businesses in a range of sectors.  Clients include Borger Group of Companies, Waterford Station Land Development, and Q Haute Cuisine. For more details, visit www.davidhowse.com.

David has a marketing diploma from College of the North Atlantic and a management degree from the University of Lethbridge.

Lizzie MacNeill
Lizzie MacNeill leads partnerships, social media and PR for later.com, an Instagram marketing platform with over 2 million users. Before joining Later, Lizzie led social media and communications teams across Canada in the non-profit and retail sectors to help brands grow and monetize their online audience. She was the former social media manager at Hockey Canada and Saje Natural Wellness.

Lizzie is an alumni of Mount Royal, completing the first two years of her Bachelor of Communications – Public Relations program at the institution before transferring to Royal Roads University in Victoria, B.C. to complete her Bachelor of Professional Communications with an emphasis on social media.

Kat Macaulay

As an early adopter of social media, Kat is a “pioneer” of the new rules of marketing and public relations. She was named an entrepreneur to watch by Inc. Magazine, and her work has been featured in publications both nationally and internationally. 

Kat is known for making difficult topics easier to understand and more entertaining. She’s worked with some of the world’s largest brands and counseled dozens of senior leaders, helping them navigate and leverage social media in ways that matter.

Last December she founded the Facebook Live show “Social Media Questions with Kat” where she responds to social media and digital marketing questions from marketers, business owners and entrepreneurs.

Kat holds a degree from Mount Allison University in History and Political Science, as well as an Advanced Diploma in Public Relations from NSCC. But her social media education began in 2005 when she accepted an invitation to Facebook and continues today.

When Kat isn’t busy teaching, she’s planning her retirement to Cape Breton.

You can find Kat at www.takcam.com and on Facebook www.facebook.com/therealtakcam

Nancy Smith

Nancy Smith loves to help businesses understand and develop strategies for social media. As an early adopter and avid social media user, it has been a natural transition for her to apply knowledge from her marketing career to assist brands such as Travel Alberta, SportChek, and Samsung.

As a passionate advocate for social media, Nancy has been an instructor at Mount Royal University since 2015 in the Social Media and Marketing and Strategic Communications programs. Nancy is also an acclaimed speaker, with more than 10 years of experience providing workshops and sessions at large-scale conferences dealing with issues related to social media.

As the mother of a teen, Nancy can also relate to the challenges parents face in today’s digital world. Realizing that there was a gap in the information available for generating positive discussions, she has recently launched SocialCitizens.ca as a resource for parents in order to provide the practical advice that parents were looking for—and that kids needed. She enjoys helping adults learn about the positive aspects of social media and working with kids on how they can be responsible social citizens in a rapidly changing global environment. She is an author of a book, Social Citizens: A Positive Approach to Social Media & Parenting in a Digital World.