Short Course

Social Media Marketing Essentials Course

21 May 2026

Grow your digital marketing expertise with our online social media marketing course. Upskill in social media strategy, designing campaigns and competitor analysis in just 20 hours.

HOW TO APPLY

Price

Domestic learners

$395 NZD incl GST where applicable

International learners

$821 NZD incl GST where applicable

Qualification

Short course

Duration

20 hours

Entry times

1 June 2026
13 July 2026
17 August 2026
29 September 2026

*For the best learning experience, we recommend 5 hours of study per week over 4 weeks. Learning must be completed within 2 months.

Enrolments open for June or July

In this section

Overview

Learn how to build authentic, engaging relationships with your audience through social media.

Are your social media posts falling flat? This short online social media marketing course gives you the fundamentals you need to evaluate and adapt your approach for social media success.

Through 20 hours of flexible online study, you'll learn how to align your social media activity with your organisation’s goals, assess campaign effectiveness, and apply practical improvements based on competitor analysis.

Exploring best practices in the world of social media content marketing, you'll build the practical skills to plan, execute and evaluate effective social media campaigns. By the end of this digital marketing short course, you'll be able to apply proven social media strategies and insights to your own platforms, moving beyond simply posting content, to understanding how to build meaningful engagement.

This course is ideal for

Marketers looking to upskill in social media
Entrepreneurs and small business owners
Anyone managing social media accounts

UC Online student on computer creating content plan for social media marketing course

Your pathway to postgraduate study starts here

Social Media Marketing Essentials is more than a short course — it’s a chance to experience the type of content and learning available in our Postgraduate Certificate in Digital Marketing.

Adapted from the programme's Content and Social Media Marketing course, this 20-hour online social media marketing course lets you experience online learning, build practical skills, and decide if further study is right for you.

If you enjoy this course, the PGCertDigiMktg — made up of four nine-week courses — will help you progress your career as professional marketer.

You’ll be learning online with a flexible, supportive programme designed to fit around your life and career.

Explore certificate

What you'll learn

In this online social media marketing course you will:

Identify best practices for social media and content marketing
Design an effective social media campaign as part of social media management
Identify how to evaluate and assess the results of a social media campaign
Conduct a competitor analysis, present recommendations for improvement, and apply those recommendations to your own organisation or social media marketing goals

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How it works

Our Social Media Marketing Essentials course is flexible, enabling you to plan your study around your other commitments. You can choose to complete the 20 hours of study when it suits you during the learning period.

We recommend completing around 5 hours of study per week over 4 weeks, but you'll have 8 weeks to complete all learning.

Study anywhere online and feel supported everywhere

Nervous about studying online?
You'll start your course with an optional UC Online Essentials course, giving you a chance to get familiar with the learning management system (LMS). Learn more about how online study with us really works.

Online, not alone
Study anywhere, feel supported everywhere. This accelerated learning course is designed to help you gain new skills quickly and effectively — maximum learning and minimum time commitment. This means there will not be a dedicated course facilitator, but our Enrolment Support and Learner Support teams are always here to help.

Qualification
This is a standalone course that recognises the achievement of specific skills, experience, or knowledge. There are no academic points associated with this course.

Recognition
Upon successful completion of the course you will be issued a digital badge to recognise your learning achievements.

Ready to start learning?

Enrol now for June or July.

Enrol for 1 June

Enrol for 13 July

Course outline

This online social media marketing course is divided into four modules you'll work your way through over the learning period. Each module includes specific learning objectives, educational content across a range of media, activities to apply what you've learnt, plus a 'temperature check' survey to make sure you're getting what you need as a learner from this digital marketing short course.

Module 1: Best Practices for Social Media Marketing

Module 2: Design a social media campaign

Module 3: Evaluate and adapt your campaign

Module 4: Take it to work

Assessments
All assessments are self-assessments, mostly short quizzes with instant feedback to help check your understanding. To complete the course, you’ll simply need to work through all learning modules and complete the self-assessment activities. There are no formal grades for this course.

Requirements

There are no prerequisites for this Social Media Marketing Essentials course – it is open to anyone who has confidence listening, reading, and writing in English.

This social media course online is designed for people working or aspiring to work with social media – if you're not sure please contact us via info@uconline.ac.nz to check if this course is right for you.

Technology requirements

We recommend a laptop or desktop computer and a reliable internet connection.
A PDF reader (like Adobe Acrobat Reader DC) to download PDFs with assessment instructions.
Word processing software (like Microsoft Word or Google Docs) to complete your assignments.

Course fees
Course fees must be paid before learning can begin, either via online credit-card payment, or you can request an invoice by filling out this form. Invoice requests must be submitted by the Monday before the course entry date. If you’re enquiring after that, we recommend paying by credit card to avoid any delay to enrolment.

Group discounts
Get your colleagues together to take advantage of our group discounts:

10% for 3 - 6 learners
15% for 7+ learners

Contact our Enrolment Support Team to learn more and enquire now.

Withdrawals and refunds
Once learning begins, you are eligible for a withdrawal with refund up until the end of day 3. After this date, refunds may be available if your circumstances are exceptional, for example if you've experienced a serious medical event.

Our people

kant Veer a Professor of Marketing in the Department of Management, Marketing and Tourism at the University of Canterbury, leads UC Online’s AI for Marketers

Professor Ekant Veer

MBA Director and Professor, University of Canterbury

Ekant Veer is a Professor of Marketing in the Department of Management, Marketing and Tourism at Te Whare Wānanga o Waitaha | University of Canterbury. He is a multi-award winning teacher and researcher having been named in the Top 40 under 40 Business School Professors worldwide; an Ako Aotearoa Tertiary Teaching Excellence Award winner; UC’s Teaching Medal awardee in 2017 and six times winner of a UCSA lecturer/staff of the year award.

His work looks at the role that marketing can play in both driving social change and community wellbeing as well as what impact digital technology plays in consumer interactions and their sense of identity. His research has been published in numerous international journals and he was the Associate Dean of Postgraduate Research from 2019-2023, supporting the learning journey of UC's research ākonga and supervisors. He was also the founding Kaihautu | Director of Te Pae Rakahau | Canterbury Knowledge Commons from 2020-2022, which sought to bolster relationships between the university and our wider regional partners.

Please note: our subject-matter experts develop and present video content within their courses, but are not always available to answer queries. Our learner experience team will be available to answer your Social Media Marketing Essentials course queries via support@uconline.ac.nz

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