Is it ever possible to keep up with the constantly changing nature of Digital and Social Media Marketing?
The answer is – YES, with continuous professional development. This comes in many forms and for an industry that relies on online content there are plenty of online resources to keep those “grey cells” active.
One of the latest courses is a Digital and Social Media Marketing MOOC.
This most recent offering from Salford Business School (part funded by the European Union) has been developed through a JEMSS project partnership of universities in Europe. The partnership draws on consultation with digital marketing recruitment specialists The Candidate Ltd and the leading European Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) provider – Iversity.
Why is Digital Marketing important?
The online market place has no conventional country boundaries. If an individual is interested in a product or a service based thousands of kilometres away, the physical distance can be breached with a single click.
The digital industry growth at 11.8% in 2014 has significantly outperformed the 3% GDP growth in Europe.
In 2014, digital advertising became the second largest spend in Europe after TV budgets. In some countries such as the UK – online advertising spending surpassed that of TV budgets in 2009. Many other countries are catching up for example, Slovenia has recorded a 41% growth year on year!
This fast growing industry needs skilled individuals who are able to understand the digital consumer and develop content that engages Generation Y employees and customers. The Digital and Social Media Marketing MOOC is based on original research conducted by the #passion4digital community. It is based on workshops, interviews and surveys of professionals and students across Europe and helps organisations to prepare for the Digital Single Market.
The Digital Single Market aims to offer
“Better access for consumers and businesses to digital goods and services across Europe”
… but in order to benefit from this access, organisations need skilled employees in digital marketing.
#passion4digital community
This MOOC is a great way to hone your digital marketing skills. You will be part of the #passion4digital community which will help you to develop relationships with others who are passionate about the subject. The social aspect of learning is crucial and this MOOC allows you to hear and learn from individuals based all over the globe.
The international partnership is led by the University of Salford and includes international partners from Kaunas University of Technology, University of Lodz, University of National and World Economy (UNWE) and CITY College. The ultimate aim of the partnership is to offer the first cross European Joint Master’s degree in Digital and Social Media Marketing.
Surveys and focus groups have been held across five countries in Europe and the top digital marketing skills have been identified. We have also consulted the digital marketing community on the importance of these skills in educating graduates. We explored questions such as “Should SEO be taught at University” with the influential MOZ community which suggests that there is a need for this dynamic industry to be recognised more formally in University curricula.
An international panel of digital marketing Advisory Board members helps us to keep the course relevant and close to the industry. These individuals represent large internationals such as Microsoft, leading digital marketing software tool providers such as SEMrush and Fast Web Media as well as digital marketing agencies – State of Digital and PressedMediaUK.
Is this Digital and Social Media Marketing MOOC for me?
MSc Marketing students, Salford Business School, University of Salford
The Digital and Social Media Marketing MOOC is aimed at individuals who are new to digital marketing but who have some basic understanding of what networks such as Twitter do. If you are new to Twitter, have a look at this online training which will allow you to set up your online personal brand including understanding how to use Twitter:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9CVY3pp91Dc
The Digital and Social Media Marketing MOOC starts by highlighting the importance of digital marketing as a long-term commitment of an organisation. It then explores how to understand the online consumer and ends with a programme of continuous learning from digital marketing projects.
What is Digital and Social Media Marketing?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VufHCbNSGg4
Marketing is, at its essence, a process of understanding the needs of the target audience and developing products and services to satisfy these needs. A business that engages in this process faster and more effectively than its competitors always remains current and relevant to its customers. This also applies to any other not for profit organisation that wants to offer products and services that satisfy their users.
In the case of the Digital and Social Media Marketing MOOC, this course will develop an understanding of the needs of digital consumers. You will learn how to use tools and methods for listening, developing and optimising content for new online communication channels. Digital marketing is one of key methods to transform a traditional business model to a digital business model. This is at the core of the Digital and Social Media Marketing MOOC.
Digital and Social Media Marketing message
The message is clear. If your organisation wants to avoid going the way of Blockbuster, you need to constantly evolve your business model and digital marketing can help you with this evolution.
Please be aware that we are now in administration.
For more information and customer assistance please visit: http://t.co/yIFOTTACiM
— Blockbuster UK (@Blockbuster_UK) November 12, 2013
Anyone who runs a small business or a large marketing department needs to be aware of what digital offers. Learning how to maximise this channel to engage with the growing number of digital consumers can help in keeping your business sustainable.
Will I get a certificate for the Digital and Social Media Marketing MOOC?
The Digital and Social Media Marketing MOOC is offered free of charge. This means that if you learn on this course you don’t have to pay for the content. However, if you would like to have a certificate, you will have to pay for an online graded exam which costs €49.
How can you join?
You are only a click away from the Digital and Social Media Marketing MOOC. This MOOC can help you to secure the digital marketing skills needed for the digital economy Join here – https://iversity.org/en/courses/digital-and-social-media-marketing
Do you have any further questions or comments about the Digital and Social Media Marketing MOOC? Please do share them in the comments below!
This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication [communication] reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.