Our social media marketing course isn’t just for beginners, it is also for experienced digital marketers who wish to develop their skills. The course will equip you with the skills you need to help you use popular platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Pinterest, and many more, as powerful marketing tools.

Social media – sites including Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, You Tube, and Pinterest – have had a profound effect on businesses.

It is often defined as a “group of internet based applications … which allow the creation and exchange of user generated content”.

But, for each organisation that has embraced social media and has integrated it into its PR and communication activities, there are plenty of organisations who have not.

This is for various reasons. They might not have the resources or the expertise. Others might be “frightened” of social media, and consider the disadvantages of using social media as a communications channel or tool outweigh the advantages.

There are several distinct advantages for businesses:

  1. You can measure the results.
  2. You can put your message over the way you want to.
  3. You can provide ‘social proof’ – ie testimonials, comments and endorsements from customers.
  4. You can engage directly with potential clients.

And you can use it to:

  • Increase your brand recognition.
  • Increase website traffic.
  • Improve search rank.
  • Generate leads.
  • Increase sales.
  • Provide customer support.
  • Reducing marketing costs.
  • Reducing client support costs.
  • Do market research.
  • Educate your market.
  • Become the go-to expert in your field.

Although Facebook, Twitter and YouTube are among the most popular sites, there are others that fall under the heading of social media.

Any site or online tool that allows content to be easily shared is considered to be “social media”. That content could include, but is not limited to, images (Instagram, Picasa, Flickr); video (YouTube, Vimeo, Vine), blogs (WordPress, Blogger, Weebly), forums, wiki sites and even podcasts.

Most businesses concentrate on the main social media platforms when considering which ones will best serve as important communication channels or tools.

The ones you select should depend on the overall outcome – what you want to achieve with your communications activity. There are some tools available on the market which attempt to bring the management of several social media platforms together in one application, but these vary in functionality.

See our social media marketing course