Social Media Marketing is the driving force behind many of the developments in digital marketing. Applications and tools such as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn offer marketeers a wealth of options to connect with audience and brands, allowing you to further develop your business.

The Professional Diploma in Social Media Marketing designed in conjunction with the leading social media marketing practitioners. This course provides you with the best foundation available in all of the main theories, concepts, techniques and application expertise required to effectively develop plan and implement your social media campaign.

Who Should Study?

This course is for anyone who would benefit from using social media for their business:

• Brand Managers
• Online PR Professionals
• Marketing Executives wishing to expand their skillset and career prospects
• Small businesses who rely primarily on local community
• Anyone having a passion for social media and wishing to incorporate it into their career

During this course you will learn the following:

• Listening is one of the most important skills in social media marketing – you will be introduced to some of the most important listening and monitoring tools and applications that are currently available.
• You will learn how social media is now such an integral part of the digital marketing landscape and how what you say through your social media commentary can have an impact on company brand, awareness, sales and, ultimately, profits.
• Throughout this course you will learn how to plan your social media campaign so that your implementation goes according to this plan.
• You will learn how to collate news and information from various online sources that will help you to build your conversation while expanding your digital presence, promoting trust while creating supporters and promoters for your business.
• You will learn how to manage “online rumours”, enhance your online PR and enhance your crisis management abilities.

Module 1: Introduction and Strategy / Listening and Building

• Introduction to the strategic approach to planning and implementing a social media marketing strategy
• You will be introduced to some of the various platforms from wikis to blogs, from online video to social networks
• This module covers creating a strategy for online marketing, social media, blogging and digital video for business.
• You will understand how to develop a plan for your web site, social media & email database, focusing on the best investment of your time & money
• Establishing the goals and KPIs for your social media communications program

Module 2: Facebook

• What is Facebook and how it can be used for business
• Current Facebook statistics and the growth of Facebook
• Creating your Facebook personal and business pages
• Using Facebook to build your community
• Facebook terminology
• Integrating Facebook into your communications plan
• Facebook - growing your personal profile to drive traffic to your business page
• How to communicate effectively with your Facebook community
• Facebook advertising, events, places, tips & cool tools
• Monitoring you Facebook social community
• Facebook Tips and Tricks
• Best practice case studies of Facebook

Module 3: Twitter, Pinterest, Google+

• What is Twitter and the anatomy of a Twitter profile
• Tips and Tricks for optimizing your Twitter business
• How and what to post to Twitter
• Who to follow and how to find potential followers
• Twitter Tools – free and paid
• What is Pinterest and Who is it for?
• Branded pages – examples and case studies
• Is Google+ "just another social media application"?
• What is Google+ and how is it shaping the social media landscape?
• How can it be used to build your business (and personal) profile
• Google+ Circles, Sparks, Hangouts and Huddles
• Google+ Business pages
• Case Studies

Module 4: LinkedIn

• Getting your LinkedIn profile to 100%
• Building and developing your LinkedIn connections
• Personalizing your Account to stand out from the crowd
• Adding applications to your profile
• Updating your status
• LinkedIn Groups & Events and how to use them
• LinkedIn Premium – should you upgrade and pay?
• Best practice in setting up and using Company Pages
• Develop Business Leads with LinkedIn searches
• LinkedIn extras
• Best Practice case Studies

Module 5: Social Media Futures

• Social Media and how we have reached the current state of the social media landscape
• Social Trends – what can we expect over the coming months and years
• Social Capital – how to develop your goodwill and value, personally and for your business
• Gamification, Social Gaming & Social Strategy
• Crowdsourcing, Crowdfunding – what makes the crowd powerful and how can you take advantage of this development?
• Social Learning, Social Enterprise – the new community enterprise
• How Social Collaboration and Social Commerce can be integrated into your business
• Virtual Worlds
• Case Studies

Module 6: Social Media Monitoring

• Introduction to Social Media Monitoring
• Free versus paid Monitoring Tools
• Influencer Analysis and how you can use this to your advantage
• Monitoring your Social Media presence
• Facebook Monitoring – best practices and tools
• Twitter Monitoring – best practices and tools
• A comprehensive overview of cross social media monitoring platforms
• Monitoring Group Exercises
• Case Studies

Module 7: Online PR

• An overview of PR and developments in Online PR
• Reputation monitoring tools
• How to write an excellent online press release
• Creativity and how it drives engagement
• Online reputation management through Online PR

Module 8: Using Video in Social Media Marketing

• Introduction to Digital Video
• Introduction to YouTube (and other video sites)
• Understanding YouTube, Vimeo, etc
• Using YouTube, Vimeo and other video hosting as social media websites
• Using YouTube as part of your marketing plan
• Creating a YouTube account and an understanding of best practices
• Developing, Creating, Editing and Uploading video
• Linking and Embedding videos
• Managing and Reporting your video inventory
• Case Study

Module 9: Business Blogging

• Overview of Business Blogging
• Overview of WordPress
• Key Factors to Consider when Blogging for a Business
• Case Studies of Businesses Using Blogs to Promote
• Their Business and Nurture Leads
• Why blogging should be part of your digital marketing strategy
• The structure/format of a business blog
• Blogging and its impact on SEO
• Developing your blog – deciding on and creating content, blogging platforms, managing your publishing calendar, blog policies
• Building your community through blogging
• Developing your blog “persona”
• Growing and enhancing your site traffic using your blog(s)
• Case studies

Module 10: Social Media Strategy and Planning

• Overview of Social Media Landscape
• Core Components of Social Media Strategy
• Social Media Strategy and Planning frameworks

Assignment

The Professional Diploma in Social Media Marketing course requires that you complete a written assignment. You will be required to develop a social media plan for your business. This assignment will then be assessed by a panel of experts.