One of the things that I have always tried to do in my classes is experiment and explore new ways to teach students valuable, marketable, and current skills they need to be successful in the workplace. This is especially true when it comes to social media, as the industry continues to change and evolve each and every day.
My social media class has some standard assignments that are always incorporated (ex. personal brand assignment, strategic plan, etc). However, I always leave some part of the overall class grade to one assignment to that I call “Let’s see how this works” to try out. Over the years, this has changed and evolved from doing a Foursquare strategic brief assignment (I know I am dating myself here!) to a Snapchat filter / geolocation filter assignment for a local business.
This assignment emerged by accident in a good way. This came about from last year’s class where I was able to have my students create TikTok content with a product (last year was M&Ms). I gave the students only a certain amount of time to create content – focusing on the need to be agile, adaptive AND creative all at the same time. Think about this as a social media version of the Food Network Show “Chopped.” The students had NO idea they were going to be creating content for this brand, and had to think on their feet.
So the question for this year was: What can I do this year for my class?! I decided to focus not just one, but TWO brands: Betty Buzz and Fat and Weird Cookies.
Why these brands?
First, both brands are not originally from or known in Louisville (yet!), and I told the students that this was the case so they could not really do research ahead of time. I did give them the students some clues on the brands – but not too much. In fact, I did add some easter eggs for both brands throughout the class lectures with the products, but never mentioned these brands would be the ones in focus.
Second, both brands are relatively new and are trying to reach new audiences. I have been impressed with the marketing, branding, and presence here for both brands across the board – and I feel more people need to know about them!
Lastly, both brands had women founders – and this assignment was launched on International Women’s Day.
Here is the overview of the assignment I gave my students:
- You will have class time to coordinate and create this content around Louisville.
- You can 1) work by yourself, or 2) a team of two.
- Brainstorm ideas for how to showcase the brand in Louisville.
- Utilize any platforms to create this group content (TikTok or Reels)
- You can create content for the brand but do not need to post it on your social media accounts if you do not want to (you can create a mockup video instead)
- Each student needs to create a 1 page brief outlining the 1) overview of the brand product, 2) industry they are in, 3) goal of the content, 4) creative strategy for the content, 5) storyboard of the content idea for TikTok / Reels, 6) finished piece, 7) Evaluation and KPIs for the video content and 8) Three social media takeaways from the experience.
What were the results? Here are some main takeaways I saw when reviewing their content:
- Each student / group had a different idea of what they were going to do. Each piece of content was not the same, so it really was fun to see what each student and group created!
- I created content as well for the brands. As they say, practice what you preach – so I followed my own advice as well to my students!
- Give students a choice of doing the assignment via TikTok or Reels. Students are very particular on what goes on their own channels, so you want to give them the option. Or even as a mockup video if they do not want to post it on their own channels. Lots to consider here!
- Choose brands or products students are excited about. I think this is where professors can take a note and listen to see which brands students are excited about and want to create content for that is professional and appropriate for their own brands.
- Giving students the option of choosing which products to focus on was good. I liked how the students were able to choose which brand they wanted to focus on for the assignment.
- Allowing for creativity in assignments is KEY! My students said this assignment was fun and they were excited to do this. Think about this for a minute if you are a professor or professional – have you had a student or an entire class say they were excited for a project and was looking forward to creating content for it? We of course have to give assignments out that follow our learning objectives and program expectations – but we can also do it in a way that allows and encourages our students to be creative. We need more of this in our field.
Overall, it was a great assignment to do with lots of takeaways! Happy to share and discuss this as well.
Have a great day!
Best Wishes,
