Online ExpertTrack in Business & Management

Social Media Marketing

Accelerate your social media marketing skills across a range of channels, measure your success, and optimise your approach

Created by

The Open UniversityThe Open University

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In collaboration with

Target InternetTarget Internet

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Build effective social media campaigns to drive engagement and business outcomes

The growth of social media has led to a fundamental shift in digital marketing, changing how we engage and interact with brands.

This ExpertTrack, developed by The Open University with digital marketing experts, Target Internet, will equip you with the critical skills needed to plan high-quality social media campaigns that resonate with your audience and achieve your organisational objectives.

Put your target audience at the heart of your social media plans

Social media has become an essential tool to help businesses reach a wide audience. However, as its users have become savvier, businesses need to add value to engage effectively.

This course will show you how to identify the needs of your target audience and understand their journey online. You’ll gain the skills to plan and build user-centric content that is authentic, educational, and entertaining.

Develop in-demand skills to successfully use social media analytics

You’ll discover how to use social media listening tools and analytics to gain market insights and measure campaign success.

You’ll also learn how to create a social media policy that can guide your approach, ensure success, and help you avoid social media disasters.

Understand the risks that come with the opportunity of social media marketing

While social media has provided an unrivalled opportunity to create more intimate and effective relationships with existing and potential customers, its use also comes with risk.

This ExpertTrack will help you to understand the nuances of channels and provide you with best practice techniques to avoid wasting budget and focusing on ineffective campaigns, or worse - the risk of creating visibility and engagement for all the wrong reasons.

Create objectives for your social media strategy

By the end of this ExpertTrack, you’ll be able to understand what you are trying to achieve and measure what impact your digital activities are having on your overall objectives. From vanity metrics such as ‘likes’, to techniques like attribution modelling, you’ll hear about a huge range of measures and measurement techniques you can use and which will be most appropriate for you.

You’ll learn from industry experts Target Internet who have more than two decades of experience in planning and implementing digital campaigns for high profile brands such as the BBC, Sony, Tesco, Vodafone, Mercedes, L’Oreal and Warner Bros. Lead Educator, Daniel Rowles, is the voice behind the Digital Marketing Podcast and is an award-winning author in the field.

Whether you are just starting out in social media or would like to improve your expertise, this ExpertTrack will give you the practical social media skills you need to support your organisation and progress your career. The courses within it complement each other and to get the best out of your learning, it is recommended they are taken in the order shown.

Key skills you will learn

  • How to analyse social media analytics
  • Use social listening tools to gain market insights
  • How to monitor campaign success
  • How to use content calendars
  • Understand and use social media management tools

Learning outcomes

By the end of the ExpertTrack, you’ll be able 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

Experience required

This ExpertTrack is ideal for anyone who would like to build confidence in digital marketing and social media. You don’t need any prior knowledge to join, although any work experience will help contextualise and enhance your learning.

Whether you are a beginner or have some understanding of social media marketing in practice, each course is clearly explained in a way that’s suitable for all levels.

Getting started

This ExpertTrack is ideal for anyone who would like to plan and implement social media campaigns to drive their business outcomes.

The courses are suitable for those who want to grow their career in social media marketing, whether new to the field and want to build their knowledge; traditional marketers and communicators who would like to accelerate their digital skills; or more experienced marketers who want to cement their knowledge and learn latest trends.

The content has a global focus and the skills you will learn can be applied to a wide range of marketing roles around the world.

ExpertTrack course overview

Prove you're job ready

Highlight the new, job-relevant skills you’ve gained and supplement existing qualifications with a hard-earned, industry-specific digital certificate – plus one for every course within your ExpertTrack.

  • Learn the latest in your chosen industry or subject.
  • Complete each course and pass assessments.
  • Receive certificates validated by the educating organisation.
  • Impress employers with learning outcomes you can add to your CV.
  • Make your career dreams a reality.

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How ExpertTracks work

Join an ExpertTrack to master new skills in your chosen specialist area. Work through a series of topic-focused courses at your own pace, and pass the final assessment to earn a digital certificate award which proves your expertise.

Join a free 7-day trial

Decide if the ExpertTrack is right for you with free access to the full suite of courses and assessments for a week.

Keep learning for $39/month

Pay a monthly subscription fee of $39 for as long as it takes you to complete the ExpertTrack. You can learn at your own pace and cancel at any time.

Earn digital certificates

Receive a certificate for every completed course and pass the final assessment to earn a digital certificate.

Become an expert

Use your specialist training to progress further in your career or build expertise in areas you’re passionate about.

World-class learning with The Open University

As the UK’s largest university, The Open University (OU) supports thousands of students to achieve their goals and ambitions via supported distance learning, helping to fit learning around professional and personal life commitments.

  • Established

    1969
  • Location

    Milton Keynes, UK
  • World ranking

    Top 510Source: Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2020

This ExpertTrack is in collaboration with Target Internet

Target Internet delivers digital marketing training to some of the world’s leading organisations, as well as building online learning that is used in over 100 countries worldwide.

Meet your instructor

MD TargetInternet.com - helping upskill the world's leading organisations in Digital Marketing & Digital Transformation.

Host of the Digital Marketing Podcast, a global top 20 business podcast.

Learning on FutureLearn

Your learning, your rules

  • Courses are split into weeks, activities, and steps to help you keep track of your learning
  • Learn through a mix of bite-sized videos, long- and short-form articles, audio, and practical activities
  • Stay motivated by using the Progress page to keep track of your step completion and assessment scores

Join a global classroom

  • Experience the power of social learning, and get inspired by an international network of learners
  • Share ideas with your peers and course educators on every step of the course
  • Join the conversation by reading, @ing, liking, bookmarking, and replying to comments from others

Map your progress

  • As you work through the course, use notifications and the Progress page to guide your learning
  • Whenever you’re ready, mark each step as complete, you’re in control
  • Complete 90% of course steps and all of the assessments to earn your certificate

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Start learning today - free 7-day trial

After your free trial you can:

  • Pay $39 per month to keep learning online
  • Have complete control over your subscription; you can cancel any time
  • Work at your own pace and set your own deadlines at every stage
  • Only pay while you’re learning; the subscription will cancel automatically when you finish
  • Complete online assessments to test your knowledge and prove your skills
  • Earn digital course certificates and a final award that you can share online, with potential employers, and your professional network
  • Keep access to the content of courses you complete even after your subscription ends

FAQ

ExpertTracks are a series of online courses designed to help you master new skills in specialist areas. You pay a monthly subscription fee which includes access to all courses within the ExpertTrack, as well as assessments and the final digital certificate.

Each ExpertTrack comes with a 7-day free trial period. You may cancel your subscription at any time and your subscription will automatically cancel when you finish the courses and assessments in your chosen ExpertTrack.

Yes. All of our ExpertTracks come with a 7-day free trial. You may claim one free trial period per ExpertTrack.

You have seven days before you will be charged your first monthly subscription fee. When you join an ExpertTrack you automatically receive a 7-day free trial period. You can cancel at any time during the trial period and no payment will be taken from your account.

Please see our full refund policy here.

No, all of our ExpertTracks consist of fully online courses. This means you can take an ExpertTrack from anywhere in the world.

No. ExpertTracks are designed for you to master new skills in a specialist area. You will earn a digital certificate that proves your learning, but it does not carry accreditation.

If you’re looking for certified or accredited courses, many of our microcredentials offer university credit or professional certification.

Have more questions about ExpertTracks? Read the ExpertTracks FAQs, or contact us.