Get Guardian on GoogleAmerican Corner Ibadan and the U.S. Mission in Nigeria, in collaboration with SMMC, hosted a five-day AI and Social Media Management bootcamp with 55 participants in attendance.
The bootcamp aimed to turn young people from casual social media users into strategic digital communicators.
Sessions covered content planning and copywriting with AI, video creation for Instagram Reels and TikTok, social media strategy, analytics and portfolio building. The training ended with group capstone presentations before external assessors.
Artificial Intelligence helps communicators plan, write, produce and measure content faster and more precisely. Social media management supplies the strategy, storytelling and audience insight that give that content purpose. Together, they equip young people for the modern digital economy.
The Director of American Corner Ibadan, Karamat Ajala, said the idea was born out of the realities of the age of AI.
“The content we put out must evolve. It is no longer enough to simply post; we must communicate strategically and tell our stories in a way that engages and inspires,” she said.
She added that content creation is no longer a side job but an important profession, and that the way to succeed is to infuse AI into how stories are crafted and shared.
Ms. Ajala thanked the U.S. Mission in Nigeria for making the bootcamp possible and for empowering young people in Ibadan and beyond.
In the same vein, co-founder of SMMC, Wisdom Saviour, said the initiative was established to introduce young people to AI and demonstrate how the technology could be integrated into social media management.
The facilitator, Mr Wisdom Saviour, who has about eight years’ experience in marketing and works as a senior account manager at All Seasons Zenith, Lagos, said the partnership with American Corner had enabled the organisers to offer the training free of charge.
He urged participants to embrace continuous learning, noting that the rapid pace of technological advancement required digital professionals to keep updating their skills.
The Programme Director of SMMC, Adetoun Raji-Kolade, said the Ibadan edition was the eighth bootcamp organised by the group and the fourth held in the city.
She disclosed that she was a beneficiary of the programme in 2022 while serving as a corps member in Ibadan, said the experience opened professional opportunities for her and eventually led to her involvement in organising subsequent editions.
She said SMMC was committed to helping aspiring professionals enter the marketing and communications industry while equipping existing practitioners to improve their skills.
She urged participants to apply the knowledge acquired, build sustainable careers and share their Skills with others.
“Don’t let it end here. Make sure that you take everything we have taught you and use it to become a better person. And don’t forget to pass it forward when you become a professional,” she said.
One of the facilitators, Augustine Olaniyan, urged young social media managers to acquire skills in AI and data analytics to improve their professional competence and remain relevant in the evolving digital marketing industry.
Speaking on analytics and reporting, Olaniyan said social media management should go beyond content creation, posting updates and running advertisements to understanding data and using it to achieve business objectives.
He introduced participants to the four stages of data analytics: descriptive, diagnostic, predictive and prescriptive analytics.
He explained that while descriptive analytics identifies what is happening, diagnostic analytics examines the reasons behind particular outcomes. Predictive analytics anticipates future trends, while prescriptive analytics recommends actions to achieve desired results.
Olaniyan, one of the participants at the Bootcamp, said AI could help young practitioners develop analytical capabilities faster, provided they understood the fundamentals of data analysis and combined the technology with sound business knowledge.
He urged them to develop technical expertise and use AI to automate tasks, conduct predictive analysis and provide solutions to clients and employers.
Some participants said the training had improved their understanding of digital communication and provided practical skills they could apply to their businesses and professional activities.
She said the organisation, which uses culture, social gatherings and community engagement to promote environmental sustainability, would deploy the knowledge acquired to improve its visibility and expand its reach.
Another participant, Emmanuel Oyewale, an electrical and electronic engineering graduate involved in solar and electrical installations, CCTV, video editing and social media management, said the training had improved his understanding of digital strategy.
