Dv8 Sussex teamed up with Albion in the Community to host a two day master-class for young people in how to make money by working with Social media . Most of us use Facebook everyday – and businesses know that having access to all those people can make them a success.

Some of the guest visitors included Head of Social Media for American Express talking about their strategy to engage customers, including the innovative American Express Unstaged project (check out their videos here).

Oliver and Graimes also came down. They are a Brighton creative agency working with national and local clients. They talked through how they use social media to reach new audiences with tools like Facebook advertising.

Some of the interesting learnings the young people took away with at the end of the event included:

* Brands used to pay lots of money to advertise to us through TV and in print, whereas now thanks to social media, customers promote brands they like to their friends and networks. The trick is put up engaging content and let your message grow virally.

* There are no real experts in social media. It is a unique industry that 16-18 yr olds are just as knowledgeable as those working professionally… perhaps more so.

* Are we sharing too much? we all researched each other to find out what we can online. The results were very surprising – do you know the impression you give to people looking you up? Carina Wrestling talked about curation – how we can curate our online presence to give the right impression.

Richard Freeman, our Operations Manager at Dv8 Sussex said:
“It was fantastic to see a range of young people, from those looking for work right now to those planning their options post-college. The collective expertise of Dv8 Sussex, Oliver & Graimes, American Express, goodmoney and Albion In The Community ensure that the attendees had well-rounded advice on social media careers, which has already resulted in some job interviews.”

Our Live Events lead tutor James Turnbull also attended the event and had this to say about it:
“Social Media is developing fast. This generation of 16-19 yr olds are what’s known as digital natives – born with technology at a point of advancement that it is a core part of the way we communicate. The way of getting your message out to your audience (be it for an event, a product, social idea) has changed drastically in the last 5 years. Businesses are looking for specialists who know best how to hold a presence online. and there is no doubt those specialists will be these young people. “

If you’re interested in social and digital media, why not  check out our great Apprenticeship opportunities here!