Social Media Marketing (YG004)

Gain the skills to create stand-out social media campaigns with this CPD course from The Open University (OU). Whether you are new to social media marketing or want to build on existing experience, this course will equip you with the critical skills you need to use social media in a way that engages and resonates with your audience.

Standalone study only

• You will not be awarded credits for studying this course. It is available for standalone study only and cannot be counted towards an OU qualification.

What you will study

• Throughout this Continuing Professional Development (CPD) course, you’ll benefit from expert insight into how to achieve your social media marketing goals. Practical exercises will help you apply your new knowledge, and sharing your thoughts and opinions with co-learners will help you further reflect and deepen your understanding.

Delivered over four easy-to-digest sections, you will cover:

The user journey

• Understand the role of social media in the user journey
• How to align social media with your target audience
• User journey mapping and social media
• Define objectives at each stage of the journey
• Fake accounts, vanity metrics and misleading data
• How to keep iteration at the core of social activity

Social media channels

• How to align channel selection with target audiences and user journeys 
• Considering channel adoption and engagement 
• Managing and keeping up to date with channel updates 
• Channel key features and benefits 
• Channel drawbacks and risks 

Paid and organic social media

• Understanding the differences between organic and paid social media
• The benefits and limitations of organic social media
• The benefits and limitations of paid social media
• Organic and paid social media working together
• The key organic vs. paid features of the most popular social channels 

Managing social media

• What differentiates great social media?
• Social media insights and monitoring
• Social media policies
• Avoiding social media disasters
• Social media channel management tools
• Content calendars and social media processes
• Social media measurement

You will learn
By the end of this CPD course, you’ll have the skills to:

• Develop and plan effective social media campaigns that align user journeys and business objectives
• Apply social media listening tools to gain market insights and monitor campaign success
• Assess and plan to avoid social media disasters
• Evaluate and analyse social media campaigns using social and web analytics.

Vocational relevance

• With more than 4.74 billion users across the globe, social media is now an essential part of any marketer’s toolkit. Keeping pace and developing the skills to use social channels for business are key to helping you succeed in an ever-evolving digital world.
• This course has been created by the OU in collaboration with industry experts and leaders in digital marketing. It’s hosted by Daniel Rowles, CEO of Target Internet, who has worked in digital marketing and digital transformation for over 20 years, helping a wide range of high-profile brands to use digital effectively. Daniel is also the voice behind the Digital Marketing Podcast and a renowned author in the field.

Learner support

• There is no tuition on this course and all study is self-directed. Throughout the course, you will have the opportunity to enhance and reflect on your understanding by sharing your thoughts and opinions with co-learners.

Teaching and assessment
Assessment

• This online course includes a mix of video, audio and written materials. You can learn at your own pace with complete flexibility. Throughout the course, you will be asked to respond to questions, reflect on your experiences and learning, and carry out short exercises to help you develop your understanding.
• At the end of each section, you will be asked to answer a set of multiple-choice questions to test your knowledge. You can attempt these as often as you need to. It is important to complete them because they count towards your final score.
• To receive a Certificate of Completion, you will need to complete every section and achieve at least 70% in all tests. ​