Course outline — Digital marketing for beginners

Duration: 8 weeks | Audience: Beginner (no prior marketing experience assumed) | Objectives: Understand core digital marketing strategies; apply foundational tools and frameworks; plan a basic digital campaign

Progression rationale

The course moves from context to concept to application. Weeks 1–2 establish what digital marketing is and why it matters — without this, later frameworks have no anchor. Weeks 3–5 introduce the core channels and tools one at a time, avoiding overwhelm. Weeks 6–7 teach integration — how channels work together — which requires the individual channel knowledge built earlier. Week 8 is application only: learners plan a real or hypothetical campaign using everything covered.

Module 1 — What is digital marketing? (Week 1)

Topics: Definition and scope of digital marketing / How it differs from traditional marketing / Overview of the digital marketing ecosystem (channels, audiences, data) / Why businesses invest in it — goals and measurement basics

Learning goal: Learner can explain what digital marketing is, name its major channels, and describe one reason a business would use it.

Pacing note: Do not rush this week. Learners who skip foundational framing struggle with every later module. One session should be dedicated entirely to the ecosystem overview — it is complex and worth the time.

Module 2 — Knowing your audience (Week 2)

Topics: What a target audience is and why it matters / Customer personas — what they are and how to build one / Segmentation basics (demographic, behavioural, psychographic) / How audience definition shapes every marketing decision

Learning goal: Learner can build a basic customer persona and explain how it would influence channel and message choices.

Pacing note: Persona-building is the activity for this week — allocate at least half a session to a hands-on exercise. This concept underpins Weeks 3–7.

Module 3 — Content and SEO (Week 3)

Topics: What content marketing is and what it is not / Types of content (blogs, video, social posts, email) / Introduction to SEO — what search engines do and why content quality matters / Keywords basics — how to find and use them

Learning goal: Learner can explain the relationship between content and search visibility, and identify one keyword strategy for a given topic.

Module 4 — Social media marketing (Week 4)

Topics: Platform overview — which platforms serve which audiences / Organic vs paid social / What makes content shareable and why that matters / Community management basics

Learning goal: Learner can select an appropriate platform for a given audience and describe what organic social content should achieve.

Pacing note: Avoid going deep on any one platform — the goal is channel literacy, not platform mastery. One session per platform category (visual, professional, short-form) is sufficient.

Module 5 — Email marketing and paid advertising (Week 5)

Topics: Why email remains a high-ROI channel / Email list building, segmentation, and basic automation / Introduction to paid advertising — search ads and display ads / How paid and organic channels relate

Learning goal: Learner can describe the purpose of email in a digital marketing mix and explain how paid ads target audiences differently from organic content.

Module 6 — Analytics and measurement (Week 6)

Topics: Why measurement matters — what good data enables / Key metrics: traffic, conversion rate, cost per acquisition, engagement / Introduction to Google Analytics concepts / How to read a basic performance report

Learning goal: Learner can identify three key performance metrics, explain what each measures, and describe what a change in each metric might indicate.

Pacing note: Analytics is often intimidating for beginners. Lead with real examples of dashboards before introducing terminology. Ground every metric in a business question: “If this number goes up, what does that mean for the business?”

Module 7 — Putting it together: integrated strategy (Week 7)

Topics: How digital marketing channels work together across a customer journey / The role of each channel at different stages (awareness, consideration, conversion, retention) / Budget allocation basics / Common strategy mistakes and how to avoid them

Learning goal: Learner can map a simple customer journey and identify which channels serve which stage.

Module 8 — Campaign planning (Week 8)

Topics: Campaign planning framework — objective, audience, channels, message, budget, measurement / Learner applies the framework to a real or hypothetical product / Peer review of campaign plans / Final reflection and next steps

Learning goal: Learner produces a one-page digital campaign plan covering all six framework elements and can explain the rationale for each decision.

Pacing note: This week is application only — no new content is introduced. If earlier modules have fallen behind, condense Module 7 to one session and protect the full Week 8 for the campaign plan. The plan is the primary assessment and should not be compressed.

Scope adjustment guidance

• If the scope feels too large: merge Modules 4 and 5 into a single “channels” week and extend Module 8 to two weeks. This preserves application time while reducing channel depth.
• If learners are moving faster than expected: add a guest case study session in Week 6 or 7 — a real campaign dissected using the frameworks taught. This deepens rather than extends the content.