Which platform should a business actually invest in — Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube, or all of them at once? Most businesses don't have a clear answer, and that's exactly where a lot of marketing budget gets wasted. Getting this right starts with understanding customers, not with copying whatever competitors are doing.

This course, delivered by the Arab British Fellowship Training Academy, gives participants a practical, platform-by-platform approach to social media and online marketing, along with the customer research and content skills that make any platform choice actually pay off.

Participants also learn how to track what people are saying about their brand online, respond to negative feedback without damaging trust, and connect their day-to-day social media work to broader public relations and marketing communication principles.

Who Should Attend?

• Media and PR directors and specialists.
• Marketing managers and staff responsible for online presence.
• Editorial and content teams in media and communication departments.
• Government and corporate spokespersons.
• Students in media-related university programmes.
• Anyone interested in growing their knowledge of digital and social media marketing.

Knowledge and Benefits:

By the end of the programme, participants will be able to:

• Choose the right platform mix for a specific business and audience.
• Create content that attracts customers and measure how well it performs.
• Run a marketing presence on Facebook, Twitter/X, LinkedIn, YouTube, Instagram and WhatsApp.
• Read online data accurately to measure campaign results.
• Apply core public relations principles that support long-term brand marketing.

• Choosing Your Platforms: Matching Channels to Business Goals

  • Deciding which platforms actually fit a given business.
  • Principles of effective online marketing.
  • Turning platform choice into a strategic plan.

• Marketing through Facebook

  • Setting up a business presence and page infrastructure.
  • Strategies for marketing through pages and groups.
  • Running a successful advertising campaign and promotions.

• Marketing through Twitter (X) and LinkedIn

  • Setting up an account and building a professional brand.
  • Growing followers and managing a professional page.
  • Tools that help manage accounts more effectively.

• Marketing through YouTube and Video

  • Setting up a channel professionally.
  • Creating and editing video content.
  • Marketing a business through video.

• Marketing through Google, Pinterest, Instagram and WhatsApp

  • Setting up accounts and using platform-specific tools.
  • Marketing through pages, forums and events.
  • New ideas and strategies for each platform.

• Knowing Your Customer Before You Post

  • Identifying and segmenting target customers.
  • Studying online customer behaviour.
  • Reaching target customers in the most effective way.

• Research That Actually Informs the Plan

  • Conducting marketing research online.
  • Methods for analyzing competitors.
  • Using research findings to shape a marketing plan.

• Content That Converts

  • Creating valuable content in different formats.
  • Using content to attract and retain customers.
  • Measuring how effective content is.

• Engaging Communities and Measuring What Matters

  • Using social media to engage consumer communities.
  • Setting measurable goals and integrating sustainability principles.
  • Researching, analyzing and evaluating campaign results.

• The Public Relations Thinking Behind Good Social Media Work

  • The history and evolution of the public relations discipline.
  • Principles from communication and social sciences applied to practice.
  • Ethics, risk and how PR practice differs across sectors.

• Where Social Media Fits into Broader Marketing Communication

  • The difference between advertising, integrated marketing communication and PR.
  • The growing role of PR within the marketing process.
  • Corporate and internal branding.