Overview – Social Media Management Certificate

A Certificate for Modern Marketers and Communication Specialists

For working professionals who want to get ahead of the curve on building a brand, managing content and boosting awareness and sales in today’s online marketing landscape, Point Park University’s online Social Media Graduate Certificate will prepare you to advance your career. As you engage with the rigorous coursework delivered in a fully online format, you’ll tap into the pulse of cutting-edge social media marketing and management trends. The social media graduate certificate is also designed to be digestible and accessible. As a student in the program, you will have the freedom to choose how many courses you take and when you take them. In our socially driven and constantly connected economy, an online social media graduate certificate will give you the platform to become an expert in social media marketing.

Curriculum Overview

Point Park University’s online social media certificate equips graduates with the tools to navigate the nuances of developing effective social media practices. With courses that are carefully crafted for professionals by professionals, graduates gain an advantage in the job market as they learn industry-specific topics like handling social media crises, crafting strategic communications, compiling and analyzing data from social media and developing and implementing compelling campaigns.

A Professional and Academic Springboard

For working communication professionals who want to integrate a social media skill set into their careers, Point Park’s online social media graduate certificate can open new doors in your career as a social media marketer or digital content specialist. The certificate program will also give course credit for future educational opportunities as credits earned in this program can be used toward Point Park University’s online master’s in communications degree.

Contact an enrollment counselor to learn more.

  • Next Start Date: August 27, 2023

Est. Program Length: 1 Year
Credit Hours: 12
Course Length: 8 Weeks
Cost Per Credit: $759

  • Est. Program Length: Less than 12 months

  • Credit Hours: 12

  • Course Length: 8 Weeks

  • Cost Per Credit: $710

  • Transfer Credits Accepted: N/A

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Course Offerings

Admission Requirements

Course Description
This course will provide students the conceptual and technical understanding of the power and philosophy of social media. The course will specifically focus on how social media is changing media, business, journalism and government in fundamental ways. Upon completion of this course, students will have practical knowledge in the use of social media tools and building and maintaining an online community as well as a solid foundation in writing and reporting for social media.

Course Description
This course involves intensive work in preparation of information for newspapers, radio, television, magazines; speech writing; brochures, newsletters; planning publicity campaigns. Prerequisite: JOUR 503 or equivalent competency.

Course Description
This course will teach students how to prove return on investment (ROI) to clients by understanding and evaluating analytics. In addition, students will learn search engine optimization best practices to further increase a brand’s social media ROI. Students will have a deeper understanding of the principles and how to measure and prove the ROI of social media and a working knowledge of various industry-standard analytics tools. Students will write social media reports for clients based on ROI and analytics results.

Course Description
Students will research, write and implement advanced social media concepts including analytics, advertising, activism, influencers and budgets. Social media for journalists will be emphasized. Students will either work directly with business or nonprofit clients to plan and execute a social media campaign or publish an advanced social media journalism project.

Career Outcomes

Careers in the field of communications, which encompasses social media marketing, are on the rise. With Point Park University’s online social media graduate certificate, graduates can find rewarding careers in these kinds of leadership positions:

Social media managers can expect to implement marketing campaign content across a variety of channels and platforms. In addition to developing engaging posts to reach targeted audiences, they can also expect to interface directly with both followers and customers. Ultimately, it’s the job of social media managers to build and curate the content on a business’s social media pages. Social media managers typically oversee a staff of customer service and social media representatives to accomplish a business’ marketing goals.

Social media specialists help brainstorm, implement and analyze the effectiveness of a company’s social media campaign. As businesses produce and publish content, it’s the job of the social media specialist to optimize posts to maximize their efficiency and reach targeted audiences.

Digital marketing specialists primarily help build and implement engaging content across different social media and digital channels. Importantly, digital marketing specialists focus on strategizing effective marketing campaigns to accomplish core business goals.

Next Steps

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Discover the Point Park University Online degree that will help you further your current career or forge a new career path.

Online Application

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Official Transcripts

Print and complete the Transcript Request Form and email it to getstarted@pointpark.edu