We’ve started introducing you to some of our individual Social Media Strategist professionals here at NISM, but we also would like to introduce you to an agency who chose to certify its social media team members.

The social media team at Skol Marketing became the first agency in Minnesota to achieve social media certification through NISM. We hope that by sharing a story about how SMS certification can benefit the work that an agency does, you will not only see the benefits of certifying a team, but you will also check out the great work that Skol Marketing does.

We encourage you to “meet” the staff of Skol Marketing and connect with them through your favorite social media platform or comment at the section below this article.

And with that, meet the staff at Skol Marketing.

 

Ben Theis
President and Founder

 

 

 

Ben, you’ve worked for the Minnesota Vikings, Target and Google. Like many of us, you’re probably still reeling from that NFC Playoff loss. We love the name of your agency. Tell us about the idea behind Skol Marketing and why you decided to start your own agency.

Yea the loss will stick with me forever, like 2009 but I am civil again and able to leave my house. I am obviously a diehard Vikings fan and I am very passionate about the Vikings and what they mean to me. When I started the company, I wanted to find a name that personified me to the area, that I would absolutely love, and people could connect with. I thought Skol Marketing was a great fit as it described what we did, was catchy and obviously displayed my passion for the Vikings and the local area heritage as a whole!

You work a lot with social media, but what is your favorite social media platform and why?

I would say Facebook from a business standpoint and LinkedIn from a personal standpoint.

Facebook works great for business as it’s so widely known that it can make interacting with it and explaining it to clients easier for them. Also, Facebook allows a full suite of advertising options, that some platforms just don’t allow.

LinkedIn is great for me personally as I get to connect with like-minded business professionals, find business content and potentially get leads from it…more often than I would with other platforms. (I also love Twitter for my Viking updates though!)

Well, Vikings updates are certainly important! And we agree with your sentiment that one social media platform might work better for your business while another might be a better fit for your personal life. You certainly use social media a lot, but why did you decide to go through SMS certification with your team?

I wanted to show the community and our potential clients that we take social media seriously and we honestly know what we are talking about. I thought NISM would exemplify the credibility that we have when it comes to social media. I also wanted to make sure that all our employees were on the same page when it came to social media and it’s great to be able to learn, even a few little things, that are new from professionals in our field.

How has SMS Certification helped your team/organization become more successful? Any specifics projects where it has come in handy?

I think it really has done what I wanted it to do, and help us stand out from the competition and give us that added credibility.

What advice would you give other agencies that might be considering SMS certification for their team?

I thought the SMS certification system was great and honestly has given us more credibility. I would highly recommend SMS for the digital agency that wants a way to connect with their team, make sure everyone is on the same page, and get a jump on your competition!

 

Marty McTigue
VP of Operations

 

 

 

Marty, tell us a little about yourself and the work that you do.

I am the Vice President and a part owner of Skol Marketing. I wear a number of hats at Skol overseeing the Social Media Program, managing internal marketing and working on the Web Design team. I went to St. John’s University for Business Management and met Ben Theis while working on the same team for Google in Minneapolis.

What is your favorite social media platform and why?

My favorite social platform for news is Twitter. Facebook is the platform I use the most and Snapchat is my favorite for messaging.

Why were you interested in SMS certification? Anything specific about the program that piqued your interest?

Social media management is one of the core services that we offer small businesses. Clients are comforted knowing that we have done the proper training to manage their accounts. One thing that the program offered that was helpful was the compliance and governance section as this is often missed in other social media training.

That’s great to hear about the compliance and governance sections of our curriculum! Can you give an example of how SMS certification helps you with your job?

Clients are comforted knowing that we have done the proper training to manage their accounts.

What advice do you have for someone who is considering SMS certification?

The training guides are an extremely valuable resource. Really take the time to study and you will do fine! You will not regret it.

 

Emily Theis,
Marketing Coordinator

 

 

 

Hi Emily! Tell us a little about yourself and the work that you do.

I work as the Marketing Coordinator at Skol Marketing, which gives me the unique opportunity to touch most of Skol’s clients. A large part of my position includes researching, creating, and posting for our clients’ social media accounts. We offer our social media packages monthly, which includes a certain number of posts per week and an advertising budget to fit our clients’ needs. In addition, social media, I also help update sites, post blogs, build websites, create and send newsletters, and provide support.

What is your favorite social media platform and why?

On a personal level, I’m a huge fan of Instagram and Snapchat. A large part of why I use social media is to see photo updates from family and friends, and those are image & video-heavy platforms.

For my clients, my favorite platforms are Instagram and Facebook. I love using Instagram for my clients that offer physical products or services that have exciting before/after photos. And of course, Facebook works for almost all businesses. I like these because of the ease of advertising and the ability to measure the success of posts and ads.

Why were you interested in SMS certification? Anything specific about the program that piqued your interest?

We have been offering social media management services to clients for a few years and are constantly looking for ways to improve. Getting certified was a great opportunity to see what we had been doing “right” and what we could improve. Basically, we want to be the best in the biz! And getting certified by NISM was a great place to start.

We love that SMS certification is an avenue to help businesses keep improving. Can you give an example of how SMS certification helps you with your job?

Being certified helps show that we are credible, which is a great selling point when we are talking with potential clients.

What advice do you have for someone who is considering SMS certification?

Take the time to study the guides before you take the test!

 

We hope you’ve enjoyed getting to know Ben, Marty and Emily at Skol Marketing. Keep up the good work, team! Connect with them today!

Author: Amy Berger

Amy Berger is a corporate communications writer based in Minnesota. She has a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Gustavus Adophus College and a Master’s in Business Administration from the College of Saint Scholastica. She is currently interning at the National Institute for Social Media.

Connect with her via LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/amy-berger-m-b-a-85b3149/
and Twitter @amykberger

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