As you know, I’m a HUGE fan of growth hacking and content marketing. Businesses need to embrace the most powerful digital engagement strategies and make data-driven decisions!

And what’s a core ingredient to make this happen? Skills!

We need new marketers that understand how to mine data to build PERSONALIZED relationships. We need project managers that know how to run an EFFECTIVE content calendar. We need data scientists and developers that can build the tools to TRANSFORM industries.

How do we build these skills? Through partnerships and development of an ECOSYSTEM. That’s exactly what we are doing with the Nustory Project. We’re matching student teams with startups to work on real-world challenges building and executing on content marketing plans.

Recipes for success:

Pair students with living, breathing startups

For this project, we are leveraging two key components of our ecosystem: faculty and students from our Academic Initiative AND startups from our Global Entrepreneur Program.

Faculty realize the need to build content marketing skills. As Peter Cardon from USC’s Marshall School of Business says, “Social media has turned brands into publishers, and the pressure to produce quality content is growing.”

Startups realize the importance of building content strategies to differentiate themselves as digital engagement becomes increasingly important.

Give students access to the best tools and platforms

To create a culture of success, we need to give students and startups access to the best tools!

Again we leverage our ecosystem, bringing in Hootsuite, the world’s most widely used social relationship platform and a key IBM social business partner . Through Hootsuite’s Higher Education Program, students access the Hootsuite platform for sharing content across social media and measuring its effectiveness. Startups access the platform to validate content and provide feedback.

For a successful content marketing strategy, COLLABORATION is KEY! And when it comes to collaboration, developerWorks offers a best-in-class suite of tools, whether its wiki for posting challenges or the forums for sharing best practices across a number of student teams.

Use analytics and certification to drive performance

Today’s volatile business environment demands a flexible data-driven strategy to drive success. Throughout the Nustory Project, students assess the reach, engagement and action from the social content they generate. They use agile processes to constantly move in the direction of higher value for customers and the startups they represent.

It’s one thing developing skills, but how can students actually PROVE that they are knowledgeable in Content Marketing? All students in the Nustory Project have access to Hootsuite University’s Certification Program – one of the best in the business for social media and content marketing.

So remember, when it comes to successful growth hacking and content marketing, think SKILLS and think ECOSYSTEM!

Learn more:

1) Come see my presentation on Growth Hacking @ InterConnect!

2) Hootsuite University – Stay up to date in today’s rapidly changing media landscape through social media education and industry-recognized certification

3) Whether your are a student, faculty member or business, get involved in the Nustory Project