Section 1: Social Media Strategy

Social Media Overview

• Current marketplace
• Trends and latest developments
• Basic principles behind using Social Media

Principles of Social Media

• Reciprocity and Sharing of information
• Conversations through Social Media - how to create a dialogue
• Driving word of mouth
• Cultivating relationships through Social Media
• Delivering trust
• Importance of honesty and integrity

Types of Social Media

• Communication forums - including blogs, discussion groups, micro-blogs
• Collaboration - including wikis, social bookmarking, social news
• Multi-media sharing - including photos, videos, audio sharing
• Reviews, comments and opinions across all sectors
• Entertainment, including games, virtual worlds, game sharing

Audiences for Social Media

• Demographics and statistics
• Driving factors

Why Social Media Matters

• Understanding how it affects brands and businesses
• Understanding the network economy
• Case studies - good and bad examples

Monitoring your brand's presence

• Official and unofficial - what people are saying about your brand in the Social Media space
• Basic analysis techniques and tools
• Interpreting the results
• Benchmarking practices

Legality

• Ethics - the laws behind Social Media
• Best practices

Creating a Social Media strategy for your brand

• Informal discussion about objectives for your brand
• Group exercise, including feedback

Benefits

Following this section, you will understand:

• The depth and breadth of social media and its drivers
• What makes a media social and how it differs from the broadcast media model
• The importance of trust, honesty and transparency
• Social media demographics and how it relates to brand engagement
• How other businesses, organisations and brands are using social media
• How it can go wrong and how to react to problems when they arise
• Best practices, ethics and legislation relating to social media
• Basic techniques and tools for benchmarking your social media presence
• The first steps in creating a social media strategy for your business or brand
• Some of the latest services and trends

Section 2: Social Media Implementation

Introducing Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and YouTube

• How do they fit into the bigger social media picture?
• What differences are there between each tool?
• What is each good for? (eg. SEO, traffic to your site, brand exposure, customer communication)
• What are the benefits of using them for brands and business?
• Measuring and monitoring

LinkedIn – it’s more than just a place for your CV

• For individuals – setting up your account, optimising your profile, adding contacts, asking your network questions, adding applications.
• For companies – introducing company pages and groups, finding potential suppliers, creating a community
• Using LinkedIn for HR
• Case studies and examples

Twitter

• Setting up your account and strategies around personal and corporate branding
• Followers and following – how to find people, best practices in growing your followers
• Tips on what to write and the tone to use
• How to reply to tweets and contact followers privately
• A look at hashtags and why they’re useful Using Twitter search
• Case studies and examples

Facebook – how can businesses use this vast social network?

• An overview of Facebook and how it’s used by individuals
• Advertising opportunities – how Fabcebook adverts work, creating an advert, targeting, costs
• How to set up groups and branded pages, and understanding the difference between each
• What are ‘Likes’ and what do they indicate?
• Apps? What are they and what should you be aware of?
• Sharing content via Facebook
• Adding social sharing buttons to your site
• A look at Facebook Places and Facebook Deals
• Case studies and examples

YouTube & Vimeo – the role of video in business

• Overview of the website and how it works
• Examples of business uses
• How to add a YouTube video to your website or blog
• Uploading a video
• Introducing tags and why they're important
• YouTube comments – how do they work, do’s and don’ts of moderation
• A look at branded channels
• Case studies and examples

Section 3: Digital Marketing

• Digital Marketing Strategy
• Search Engine Optimization
• Online Advertising
• Affiliate Marketing
• Video Marketing
• Data Analytics
• Conversion Optimization
• Case studies and examples

Benefits

Following this training course, you will be able to:

• Use the core functions of Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube and Video
• Feel confident exploring social media websites in your own time
• Understand how each social media tool examined can be used and benefit your business
• Add and link to content such as videos and photos, to social media sites
• Understand how Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube can work together
• Assess good and bad social media best practices
• Grow your relationships with clients, stakeholders and customers
• Know options for advertising on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn
• Feel confident about executing digital Marketing strategy and implementation

Requirement:

• A passing score on the CSDE Examination.
• Bachelor Degree in any field OR;
• A minimum of one years experience in the area of sales, digital marketing and/or social media.
• A Minimum of 30 hours of social media marketing approved training (Optional For those with a Degree).

Exam Format:

The CSDE (Certified Social Media and Digital Marketing Expert) examination is a 3-hour exam, approximately 80 questions multiple-choice examinations in addition to multiple direct essay questions. The exam is given in booklet form.