CURV 823 - Social Media Marketing Strategy
Course Description
A strong understanding of social media advertising can significantly enhance your career in digital marketing, enabling you to create effective, data-driven campaigns that drive real business results. In a rapidly changing digital economy, skill sets for campaign types such as Meta, TikTok, and LinkedIn Ads are increasingly in demand across governments, industries, and other organizations.
In Social Media Marketing Strategy, you’ll demonstrate your mastery of designing a performance-based paid social media marketing strategy that incorporates multiple platforms and aligns with the client’s goals and needs. This assessment-based microcredential evaluates your ability to leverage different tools and channels to develop effective strategies to maximize impact.
You will also be required to:
- Recommend an appropriate strategy based on audience/channel research that will help the client reach their business goal
- Establish target demographic profile (age, gender, location, marital status, interests, etc.)
- Conduct competitive analysis and current landscape research
- Identify appropriate social media platforms for marketing according to the client's brief and needs
- Recommend a winning strategy aimed at improving the reach and KPI given by the client
What to Expect
Once you register, you’ll gain access to resources and exercises to help you refresh your skills in social media marketing. Next, you’ll complete an assessment to showcase your ability to produce a paid social media strategy and plan for a particular client. An expert will review your submission and provide personalized feedback. If you meet our standard for expertise, you’ll earn a Toronto Metropolitan University Curv microcredential from The Chang School that validates your ability to:
Design a performance-based, multi-platform (e.g., Meta, TikTok, LinkedIn.), paid social media marketing strategy according to the client's needs and KPI.
For the assessment, you will:
- Be assigned a realistic workplace scenario involving a client’s e-commerce business and campaign objectives
- Conduct audience and channel research based on a provided client brief
- Apply knowledge of social media campaign capabilities and industry best practices to produce a robust campaign strategy using a provided template
- Demonstrate your knowledge of social media campaign structure, audience targeting, ad placement, creative recommendations, and optimizations
- Record a video walkthrough explaining your social media strategy and research to the client
This microcredential confirms that you can independently design, explain, and deliver a high-impact social media campaign strategy grounded in industry standards and driven by measurable outcomes
Meet the Curv Creator
Meet Aisling! Aisling McCabe is an expert in the digital marketing industry and currently leads the North American team for Tug Agency, a global advertising agency. Aisling is the General Manager overseeing both the Toronto and New York offices with departments in Paid Media, SEO, Data Science and Strategy. She began her digital marketing career in paid media and has expertise across paid search, paid social and programmatic buying. Her experience spans across many verticals, with a particular focus on education, B2B and eCommerce advertising.
Learn more about Aisling
Who Should Take This Program?
This program is designed for marketers who want to refine their skills and stay ahead in the evolving social media landscape.
Whether you're looking to move beyond organic content or position yourself as a specialist in paid social advertising, this microcredential will help you stand out.
You might be an early-career marketer, a self-taught advertiser, or hold a degree in Business, Marketing, Communications, Media, or a related field. What defines you is your ambition to validate and elevate your expertise.
No matter your starting point, this microcredential demonstrates that you’re prepared to succeed in today’s dynamic and performance-driven marketing landscape.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the requirements for this microcredential?
You should have foundational knowledge and skills before enrolling. If you can answer ‘yes’ to all of the following statements, then you may be ready to enrol:
- Basic computer literacy (hardware, software, Internet, etc.)
- Knowledge and familiarity with at least one generative AI tool (e.g., ChatGPT, Google Gemini, Bing Chat, etc.)
- Proficiency with spoken and written English
- Experience analyzing data
- Familiarity with tools such as Zoom and QuickTime for virtual collaboration and recording
- General awareness of advertising principles and how social media functions as a marketing channel
- Understanding of social media and the various platforms available (Meta, TikTok)
- Understanding of what paid social media is and how campaigns work on platforms such as Meta and TikTok
- Understanding of paid campaign types and their functions on each social platform
- Ability to conduct audience research and turn a client brief into a strategic plan
- Knowledge of common industry standard practices and documents/templates
What do I need to do for the assessment?
You will be given a practical workplace scenario where you must produce a paid social media marketing strategy and plan for a particular client. Utilizing a supplied template, you will:
- Create a plan based on audience research that aligns with the client’s goals, and f the parameters of the scenario.
- Apply knowledge of social media campaign capabilities and industry best practices to produce a robust campaign strategy that demonstrates your knowledge of campaign structure, audience targeting, ad placement, creative recommendations, and optimizations.
- Record a video walkthrough or submit a written explanation with a screen recording, explaining your strategy and decision-making process
What are the technological requirements for the assessment?
You will need a:
- Stable Internet connection (no minimum connection speed required)
- Computer with an Internet browser (e.g., Edge, Safari, Chrome, Firefox, etc.) Note: Chrome Internet browser is recommended for optimal experience
- Mobile phone* capable of receiving an SMS text message
*Why do I need a mobile phone? To log in to the my.torontomu.ca portal and access the microcredential environment (D2L Brightspace), you will need a mobile device for two-factor authentication.
How much time do I have to complete the assessment after enrolling?
Your microcredential will last two weeks. In the first week, you will have access to the microcredential environment (D2L Brightspace) to explore the supporting materials and practice activities that prepare you for the assessment. The supporting materials are self-paced and can take approximately two to seven hours to complete, depending on your prior knowledge and experience.
In the second week, you will gain access to the assessment. You will be able to open the assessment window at any time within that second week. Depending on the microcredential, the assessment window may be time limited (for example, three hours).
What are my support options?
Upon enrolling, you will have access to supporting resources that will help you access the required software for the assessment. If you have any questions or experience any technical issues, you may contact Toronto Metropolitan University’s Computing and Communications Services (CCS) by email or phone.
What happens once I complete the assessment?
A week after you complete the assessment, you will receive your result from an expert assessor.
If you are able to meet the criteria and pass the assessment, you will receive a shareable Curv microcredential digital credential from The Chang School at Toronto Metropolitan University. This credential can be shared on your LinkedIn profile, personal website, or anywhere you want to display your achievements.
If you are not able to meet the criteria and do not pass the assessment, you can re-enrol and try again when the next offering of this microcredential is available. Be sure to review your feedback and ensure that you have filled any gaps in knowledge or skill before registering for a future offering of this microcredential.