How to train to become an expert social media consultant

It can be really tough balancing work with raising children, but for many mums a truly flexible career role or home-based business, remains an untouchable dream. And often the only way you can get close to achieving either, is to transfer your skills or retrain for a more flexible industry.

When it comes to flexible industries, you don’t get much better than social media. With the right social media skills you can work with clients, or your employer, to create powerful online marketing campaigns, and manage them in your own time.

Thanks to easily-available online tools, you don’t need to sit at a desk in an office from 9-5 to work on your company or clients’ social media accounts. Instead you can agree campaign targets and goals, and deliver on them at times that fit around your family needs.

How to train to become a social media expert

But while many mums today are on social media to a degree – even if it’s just keeping up with friends and sharing photos on Facebook – there’s a big leap between dabbling a bit and setting yourself up as an expert freelance social media consultant or employee.

And that’s exactly why Concise Training created the ITQ Social Media Qualification, the first City & Guilds-accredited social media course.

The aim of the course is to give you a thorough grounding in social media, as well as practical experience. So you won’t just be able to tell someone what they can do – you’ll be able to actually deliver it yourself.

Even if you lack confidence and experience now, by the time you graduate from the course you will have created a website and designed a social media campaign, and won’t just feel confident enough to market yourself as a social media expert – you’ll have the tools to do it too!

What will I learn?

The City & Guilds-accredited online course will give you a qualification equivalent to NVQ level 3. The content is structured over 10 e-learning modules and 20 tasks, and usually takes between four to eight months to complete. As an online course, you are free to study where and when you are able, around your existing commitments.

Throughout the course you will learn:

  • How to review the marketing activity of a business.
  • What you should aim for in social media, and how to measure success.
  • How to set up and use Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and Google+ for business.
  • How to use social media management tools to manage your time efficiently.
  • How to use video, blogging, Pinterest and mobile apps.
  • Keywords and an introduction to Social Engine Optimisation (the new SEO).
  • How to create a five page WordPress website.
  • How to effectively use Google Analytics to measure success and set targets.
  • How to develop an ongoing social media strategy and a social media policy.

Who is the course for?

The ITQ Social Media Qualification is ideal if you want to set yourself up as a freelance social media consultant from home. It’s also perfect if your job involves social media responsibilities (or you’d like it to) and you want to understand how to use it properly.

As an online course, you don’t even have to live in the UK to qualify. You can sign up and study from anywhere in the world, and learn important social media principles that you can apply.

How often is the course updated?

As everyone knows, social media is a fast-changing landscape, and you need to have access to the very latest intelligence. That’s why Concise Training continually update the content of their course – to ensure that the skills and knowledge you’re learning are relevant now, and not yesterday.

As an accredited course, City & Guilds also periodically check that the teaching and marking meet their high standards.

What will I get out of the course?

Whether social media excites or slightly terrifies you right now, the ITQ Social Media Qualification will give you a really solid knowledge, and practical experience, of all the skills you need to work within an organisation as a social media expert, or to set yourself up as a freelance consultant at home.

And the great thing about the course is that all the skills you acquire – how to build a website and market a business online – will enable you to successfully launch your own business without the need to pay other people for help.

How much does the course cost and what do I get?

The ITQ Social Media Qualification costs £1,049 (plus VAT if you live in the UK or EU) and will give you:

  • A City & Guilds-accredited qualification equivalent to NVQ level 3.
  • A five page wordpress website.
  • A taskbook to refer back to.
  • Feedback tailored to your individual situation.
  • Continual expert support throughout the programme.
  • Highly marketable skills that will enable you to earn at home.

According to Concise Training, graduates of the course easily embark on rewarding social media careers, with 40% earning back their course costs within three months. Caroline Anderson from Business Boots paid for her course at least six times over within six months of graduating, and Anna Marsden from social_i_media estimated she had saved herself £1,800 by creating her own website and marketing, as well as winning work worth over £1,200 within days of completing the qualification.

How can I find out more?

If you’d like to know more about social media training, visit the Concise Training website.

Please note that this is not a sponsored article. We have received no payment, commission or other benefits for it. This article is based purely on our own opinion, after speaking to Concise Training and reviewing the course contents.