This certificate program is ideal for marketers who want to gain working, practical knowledge of a new skill that will increase their value in the marketplace.
You will gain working, practical knowledge of a new skill that will increase your value in the marketplace as more and more companies hire content marketing staff. According to recent data from the Content Marketing Institute and Semrush:
- 89 percent of B2B companies are using content marketing
- 71 percent of B2B marketers say content marketing has become more important to their organization in the last year
- 75 percent of companies increased their production of content marketing
- 52 percent of B2B businesses focused on creating and posting more content
- 48 percent of content marketers cited not having enough content as a challenge in scaling production
- 51 percent of companies had a content marketing manager on staff
Week 1: Foundational overview of content marketing
- Content marketing defined
- The difference between content marketing and advertising
- A timeline of content marketing through the years
- Content marketing’s top channels
- The 10 benefits of content marketing
- Content marketing best practices
Week 2: Building a content marketing strategy
- Content marketing business models
- Using content across the customer journey
- The content marketing campaign process
- Marketing objectives of content
- The “Create Once, Publish Everywhere” approach
- How to brainstorm content marketing ideas
Week 3: Developing content for marketing campaigns
- Roles & responsibilities in content marketing
- Planning content marketing campaigns
- Best practices when working with creators & artists
- Overview of best practices with content marketing channels
Week 4: Promoting and syndicating content marketing
- Developing the content marketing distribution strategy
- Leveraging owned media for content distribution
- Building paid media campaigns for content distribution
- The value of earned media in content syndication
- Master headlines that will be shared
Week 5: Measuring impact and optimizing content marketing campaigns
- The questions you should always ask yourself about your content programs
- Content marketing measurement best practices
- The most important metrics and KPIs of marketing measurement
- Optimizing content marketing programs
- How to write effective calls-to-action (CTAs)
Week 6: Hands-on project to build a content marketing plan
In this final class, students will apply everything they’ve learned in the previous lectures to develop a step-by-step content marketing program for a fictitious brand of their choice. This is a working session with all students filling out and sharing their work with their peers.
Do I get DePaul credit for this class?
No, this is a professional education class with different requirements than courses taken for academic credit.
How big is the class?
Class size is limited to allow for a more interactive environment in the classroom. Most classes have fewer than 20 students.
Will I have to write papers and take exams?
You will have to create a content marketing editorial plan aligned to the stages in the buyer’s journey hackathon. You must successfully complete the project presentation to receive the certificate.
What is the difference between a certificate and a certification?
A certificate is earned after completion of a course or a series of courses. Certificates are usually awarded by a training provider or an educational institution. Certification typically includes an experience, an educational component and requires passing an exam. Certifications are awarded by governmental and/or professional agencies and often require recertification to remain certified.