Today’s widening global skills gap impacts businesses, employees, and customers. It has become more important than ever to empower professionals with social media education to provide value to business. The Advanced Social Media Strategy Certification (ASMS), created by HootSuite and Syracuse University’s S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications—two global leaders in digital communications—provides strategic social media skills to an evolving digital workforce. In this case study, discover how ASMS Certification provides value to businesses and professionals through the stories and key takeaways of enrolled professionals.

1. Staying Competitive in
Today’s Digital Workforce:
Advanced Social Media Strategy Certification

2. The Story 81%
Today’s widening digital skills gap impacts both
businesses and employees. It has become more
important than ever to empower professionals with
social media education to provide value to business.
The Advanced Social Media Strategy Certification
(ASMS), created by Hootsuite and Syracuse University’s
S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications—two
global leaders in digital communications—provides
strategic social media skills to an evolving digital
workforce.
of ASMS participants surveyed say the
ASMS Certification gave them strategic
social media skills
78%
of ASMS participants surveyed directly
applied ASMS Certification skills to their
current professional role
90%
of ASMS participants surveyed found the
ASMS Certification to be professionally
valuable to further their career

3. The Challenge:
Digital Skills Gap for an Evolving Workforce
Businesses are experiencing a serious lack of candidates
with technical competencies.
85% 18%
of companies have a corporate
social media policy
say that their employees’ knowledge of
social media usage and policy is “good”
or “very good”
The State of Social Business, Altimeter Report, 2013
As competitive companies scale their social media across the
organization, a majority of their employees lack the technical skills to
support strategic efforts.

4. The Solution:
Advanced Social Media Strategy Certification
In a recent survey of 43 countries, the most likely business solution to alleviate talent
shortages was to train and develop existing staff to meet their business needs.
The Advanced Social Media Strategy Certification (ASMS) combines industry knowledge
gained from the world’s most widely used social relationship platform and the academic
excellence from one of North America’s most prestigious communication schools.
The course, taught by Newhouse Social Media Professor Dr. William J. Ward, is comprised
of 15 self-paced, comprehensive lessons on social media strategy and covers the entire social
media ecosystem.

5. To showcase the value of Advanced Social Media
Strategy Certification, we spoke to four enrolled
professionals to hear their insights.

6. Jason Boucher
Social Media Manager at University of New Hampshire
Once a student at the University of New Hampshire
(UNH) and former President of Social Media Club New
Hampshire, Jason Boucher now manages the growing
social communities of students, prospects, and alumni for
UNH. Jason first introduced the university to Hootsuite,
eventually moving multiple teams online and becoming
Hootsuite-certified through Hootsuite University.
Recognizing an opportunity to further his professional skills,
expand his career, and relay advanced strategy back to the
university, Jason pursued ASMS Certification.

7. Jason Boucher
Social Media Manager at University of New Hampshire
Jason’s Top ASMS Takeaways:
• Content Strategy: Jason learned how to turn a content calendar into a social media
strategy for the university.
• Improve the ROI of Social: He learned how to define individual departmental and
organizational social goals to optimize how success is measured.
• Enhance Career Growth: The certification enabled Jason to take a more senior look
at his role and refine his career trajectory.
“Hootsuite and Syracuse University are both world renowned. With this
additional education, I’m confident that I can grow my position as I bring
that much more to the table.”
Jason Boucher, Social Media Manager at University of New Hampshire

8. Nick Nunes
Social Media and Search Manager at Bell Canada
Nick Nunes is a man of opportunity. Starting out at Bell
Canada as a contractor, he was soon offered a permanent
job as a Marketing Communications Manager, before
eventually transitioning to his current role building Bell’s
B2B social media strategy. As Social Media and Search
Manager, he ensures messages from Bell Business are
unified to support multiple business units. Working
directly with more than 20 stakeholders and leaders who
encourage him to grow his knowledge base, Nick took
it upon himself to complete the ASMS Certification to
enhance his career.

9. Nick Nunes
Social Media and Search Manager at Bell Canada
Nick’s Top ASMS Takeaways:
• Strategic Communication Planning: Nick learned how to scale social across the
organization, which is important as he connects with multiple departments.
• ROI Reporting: He discovered how to measure the ROI of social messages to prove
its worth to executives.
• Case Studies: Through teachings from other organizations, Nick learned successful
real world social media strategies to add more value to his business partnerships.
“Hearing about how these organizations solved their challenges and
capitalized on opportunities from the case studies provided me with many
key takeaways and motivated me to think outside the box. That knowledge
and motivation ultimately adds value to my partnerships across Bell.”
Nick Nunes, Social Media and Search Manager, Bell Canada

10. Brenna White and Laura Arbuthnot
Safeway Operations (Canada), Sobeys Inc.
Two communications professionals at Safeway Operations
(Canada) enrolled in ASMS Certification. Digital Marketing
Specialist, Brenna White’s main enrolment goal was to
educate colleagues, promote social to the executive team,
and develop strategies for the future. Laura Arbuthnot,
Digital Marketing Supervisor, wanted to streamline
communications across the organization by advocating for
social in every department.

11. Brenna White and Laura Arbuthnot
Safeway Operations (Canada), Sobeys Inc.
Brenna and Laura’s Top ASMS Takeaways:
• Content Strategy & Curation Process: Both Brenna and Laura found the ideas and
strategies useful for brainstorming new processes as they build a new content strategy
from the ground up.
• ROI Reporting: They gained added knowledge on how to prove the ROI of social to
secure more buy-in from executive teams.
• Improve Communication: Laura learned how invaluable social media and social
relationship platforms are for collaborating and communicating among teams and
organization-wide.
“Safeway is such a large company under a massive transition into Sobeys.
With that comes silos of information and communication is critical. The
ASMS Certification shed light on some ways to advocate social across the
organization and break down internal barriers.”
Brenna White and Laura Arbuthnot, Safeway Operations (Canada), Sobeys Inc.

12. Social Media Education for
Professionals and Businesses
The Advanced Social Media Strategy Certification from Hootsuite and Newhouse School
benefits businesses as more candidates and employees are armed with the social skills
necessary in today’s competitive digital landscape. Professionals who want to increase
their knowledge and meet career goals will be suitably empowered through social
media education.
Learn more at newhouse.hootsuite.com