Certified Digital Marketing Specialist ™ (CDMS)

Program Overview and Objectives Certified Digital Marketing Specialist is a specialized program designed to teach the practical knowledge of digital marketing methods and

techniques. This certificate will help you getting access to insider knowledge, tips, action items you can take to improve your site’s

performance, increase your exposure online, get answers for all your questions and provide you with ways to get more from the web.

Who should attend? This practical certificate is specifically designed for:

• People with limited experience in SEO and internet marketing

• Professionals who are looking to improve their knowledge of DM channels

• Managers of internet marketing campaigns

By attending this course, the added benefits you will receive included:

• Significantly develop your SEO projects and digital marketing results

• Improve your digital marketing strategy, work with testing practices as well as measure ROI

• Ensure that your digital marketing strategies reach their target market

• Identify and stay away from costly digital marketing mistakes

• Successful completion of this course makes you a CDMS Certified Digital Marketing Specialist ™

• You can use the designation CDMS™ on your business card and resume

• Up to 18 month’s membership to the GAFM ® professional body

• Gold Embossed Certificate with your name and designation as MGAFM (Member of the Global Academy of Finance and

Management)

• This certificate implicitly qualifies you to submit to any of the below international exams:

• Google Adwards Certification

• Google Analytics Certification

• Facebook Blueprint Certification

• Hubspot Inbound Certification

This certificate is issued by the Global Academy of Finance and Management (GAFM) and presented in cooperation with Almond Solutions. The GAFM was founded in 1996 by the original founders of the Graduate Leadership Society. The Founders of our Standards Board are CEOs, Executives, Professors, and industry experts from around the globe. GAFM desires to raise education standards and ethics in the business and management industries. The Standards Policy Board awards specialized board certifications, designations, and charters in the fields of: finance, accounting, management, and consulting fields to qualified professionals who have completed internationally recognized or accredited exams & education, government recognized degrees and documented management credentials and experience. Since 1996, the Academy has been promoting accredited graduate standards for certification in business, management, law, and finance. Since the inception with the founding of the Graduate Institute of Leadership in 1996, the Academy has been focused on quality assurance with accredited education, exams, assessment, education, ethics, and continuing education. Further, applicants must also have the necessary experience in practice, experience in practice, research or publications in their respective areas of expertise.

Certified Digital Marketing Specialist Units Titles

Unit1: Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

Unit2: Social Media Marketing/Optimization

Unit3: Google AdWords

Unit4: Google Analytics

Unit5: WordPress

Unit6: HTML5 and CSS3

Unit7: Email Marketing

Unit8: Affiliate Marketing

Unit9: Online Reputation Management

Unit10: Customer Service Excellence Training

Unit11: Customer Relationship Management

Unit12: Online Lead Generation

Unit13: Conversion Rate Optimization

Unit14: Mobile Marketing

Unit15: Content Marketing

Certified Digital Marketing Specialist (CDMS) Course Content

Unit1: Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

a) Introduction to SEO ­ What is SEO? &What do search engines look for? ­ How has SEO changed? ­ Keyword research ­ Competitor analysis ­ Setting goals and objectives for SEO ­ Google Analytics and Webmaster Tools

b) OnSite Optimization ­ How search engines crawl ­ Onsite optimization fundamentals ­ URL structures ­ SEO copywriting for your website and blog ­ Page titles ­ Meta descriptions & Meta keywords ­ Heading tags & The perfectly optimized page ­ Internal linking ­ User experience ­ Information architecture & Sitemaps

c) OffSite Optimization ­ Link building techniques: Full checklist of ethical link

building techniques & Building page rank ­ Managing your backlink profile ­ Content marketing, Outreach and online PR ­ Link building & analysis tools

d) SEO Audits ­ Google Algorithm updates ­ SEO audit tools & Technical SEO audits ­ SEO audit checklist

e) Content Strategy ­ Content marketing ­ Social media and SEO ­ Local SEO & Mobile SEO

f) SEO Strategy ­ Strategy framework: Clear framework for developing a

coherent plan for your SEO activity ­ Web analytics, Measuring the ROI on SEO ­ Actionable SEO planning & SEO reporting

Unit2: Social Media Marketing/Optimization

a) Introduction to Social Media ­ Why Social Media? ­ The power of social proof ­ Pitfalls of Social Media

b) Planning ­ How Social Media aligns with your business plan ­ Establishing your online identity ­ Defining your Social Media objectives

c) Blogging ­ Why blogging is so important ­ Engaging the audience with video ­ What to blog about ­ Sourcing blog content ­ Guest blogging & commenting ­ Using YouTube & best practice

d) Twitter ­ Understanding Twitter jargon ­ Tools to make Twitter easier ­ Finding people with influence ­ Adding a Twitter widget on your site/blog ­ Twitter best practices

e) Google+ ­ Using Circles ­ The power of Hangouts ­ What Google+ mean for SEO ­ Google+ best practices

f) LinkedIn ­ Enhancing your profile ­ Growing your network ­ Collecting endorsements and recommendations ­ Using groups to demonstrate expertise ­ What you can do on LinkedIn as a company ­ LinkedIn best practices

g) Instagram ­ Visual social media overview ­ Addressing copyright concerns ­ Instagram best practices

h) Facebook ­ Comparing profiles, groups and pages ­ Making the most of Timeline ­ Promoted Posts & Ads on Facebook ­ Building a following on Facebook ­ Facebook best practices

i) Pulling it all together ­ Ways of working more efficiently ­ Using Social Media to run a marketing campaign

j) Measuring & Monitoring ­ RSS, dashboards and social bookmarking ­ Alerts and Analytics ­ Monitoring mentions and sentiment ­ Measuring success

k) Strategy ­ Overcoming objections to Social Media ­ Assessing the Who, What, When, Where, Why ­ Planning your Social Media policy ­ Identifying future trends

Unit3: Google AdWords

a) Overview ­ The history of Google, and Google AdWords ­ Using an existing or new Google AdWords campaign to

identify areas of improvement ­ Setting campaign goals and timescales

b) AdWords Settings ­ Placement and content of Ads ­ Partners and search ­ Ad serving and rotation ­ Setting a daily budget and maximum cost per click ­ Language and locations

c) Understanding Keywords ­ Exact keywords, broad keywords and keyword phrases ­ Negative keywords ­ Typos, combinations and plurals

d) Ad Text ­ Use of creative content ­ Dynamic keywords ­ Testing, refining and reviewing

e) Tools and Techniques ­ Diagnostic tools ­ Google's Keyword Tool ­ Website optimizer

f) Maximizing ClickThrough Rate ­ Landing pages ­ Content network ­ Positioning ­ Tight Ad Groups

g) Analytics and Conversions ­ Data analysis and reports ­ Setting and using KPIs

Unit4: Google Analytics

a) Introduction to web analytics ­ The Google Analytics story ­ Tracking scripts ­ What can be tracked with Google Analytics? ­ Natural (SEO) vs. Paid (PPC) Search ­ Google Analytics Terms of Service

b) Administrative interface ­ How to set up an account and profile ­ Standard filters ­ Goals and funnels ­ Site Search ­ Linking with AdWords

c) Reports interface ­ Reports ­ Discuss interface features ­ Date selection tool ­ Exporting and saving reports ­ Customizing dashboards

d) What do you want to track? ­ Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) ­ Traffic sources analysis ­ Lead generation metrics ­ Branding and RIA metrics ­ Keyword analysis ­ Website design/site content optimization ­ Ecommerce

e) Tracking Goals and Events ­ Goals vs. events ­ How to set up a goal ­ Principles for setting up events

f) Monitoring Change ­ Google Annotations ­ Google Intelligence

g) Experimentation and tracking ­ Ad Creatives, landing pages, refining keywords,

shopping cart funnels ­ Manual campaign tracking

Unit5: WordPress

a) Domains and Hosts: Getting the Foundation in Place ­ Understanding DNS Basics ­ Choosing a Good Domain Name ­ Registering Your Domain Name ­ All About Web Hosts and Hosting Websites ­ How to Manage Settings and Features on Your Web Host?

b) Installing WordPress on Your Own Server ­ Installation Requirements for WordPress ­ Downloading WordPress to Install Yourself ­ Installing WordPress on Your Web Host Yourself ­ Setting Your Directory Permissions

c) Getting Around WordPress ­ Becoming Familiar with the Dashboard ­ Posts, Pages, Tags, Media, and More: Content

Administration ­ Tapping into the Core Settings for Your Blog ­ Other Settings

d) Configuring WordPress to Work Best ­ Choosing the Right Settings for Your Blog ­ Moderating Comments and Comment Spam ­ Managing Additional Authors on Your Blog ­ Caching and Other TuneUps ­ WordPress.com Notes

e) How WordPress.com Is Different Than WordPress.org ­ WordPress.com and WordPress.org: Complementary

Differences ­ Creating Your Account ­ Setting Up Different Blogs ­ Becoming Familiar with the WordPress.com

Dashboard ­ Getting Your Settings Right for WordPress.com ­ Picking the Right Theme for Your Blog ­ Configuring Sidebar Widgets on Your Blog ­ When to Add WordPress.com Upgrades to Your Blog ­ The Final Word

f) Organizing the Content on Your Blog ­ Understanding Posts Versus Pages ­ Organize Your Posts with Categories ­ Connect Your Posts Together with Tags ­ Custom Post Types and Custom Taxonomies ­ Adding a Blogroll of Links to Your Blog

g) Creating and Managing Content with WordPress ­ Hands On with the Editors ­ Hands on with the New Image Editor in Detail ­ Adding Media to Your Blog and Posts

h) Finding and Using Plugins ­ Finding Plugins ­ Installing Plugins Quickly and Easily ­ Upgrading Plugins ­ Recommended Plugins

i) All About Themes ­ Understanding the Structure of WordPress Themes ­ Finding Themes and Choosing the Right One for Your

Blog ­ Installing Themes on Your Blog ­ Configuring Extra Features on Themes ­ All About Configuring Widgets ­ Editing a Themes to Make it Your Own ­ Using Theme Frameworks and ParentChild Themes ­ Theme Best Practices ­ WordPress.com Notes

j) Maintaining WordPress ­ Updating and Upgrading WordPress ­ Updating Plugins and Themes ­ Database Maintenance for WordPress Users ­ WPDBManager

Unit6: HTML5 and CSS3

a) What’s Up, HTML5? ­ New HTML5 tags ­ Meet the APIs ­ Video and Audio ­ Canvas, Final Word

b) New Additions in HTML5 ­ New HTML5 elements ­ New form input types ­ HTML5 video ­ The canvas element

c) What’s new in CSS3? ­ Rounding corners ­ Creating Transparency ­ Creating Shadows ­ Media Queries for Responsive Design ­ Webfonts

d) Transitions, Transforms, and Animation ­ Easey Does It (CSS Transitions) ­ CSS Transforms, Key frame Animation ­ CSS Review: Transitions, Transforms, and Animation

e) Introduction to JavaScript ­ What Is JavaScript? ­ Adding JavaScript to a Page ­ The Anatomy of a Script ­ The Browser Object ­ Events, Putting It All Together

f) Using JavaScript ­ Meet the DOM ­ Polyfills, JavaScript Libraries & Big Finish ­ Where does Javascript go? ­ Variables, Operators, Popups ­ Using GeoLocation ­ Local Storage, Offline HTML5

g) Introduction to jQuery ­ jQuery Structure ­ Show and Hide with jQuery ­ jQuery Animation ­ Introduction to jQueryMobile ­ Getting Started with jQueryMobile ­ Adding jQueryMobile elements, Styling jQueryMobile ­ Creating Pages and Transitions

Unit7: Email Marketing

a) What is email marketing? ­ The HTML vs Text email debate ­ Why dialogue is so important

b) Before the inbox SPAM and permission based marketing ­ Factors affecting deliverability ­ Legislation to be aware of, including CANSPAM ­ Best practices for avoiding junk filters

c) Starting the dialogue building and maintaining an option list ­ Opting marketing 101 ­ Subscription tactics for your site ­ Segmentation & targeting

d) In the inbox crafting your campaign for ROI ­ Planning your campaign goals and objectives ­ Know your audience, Getting the frequency right ­ Subject lines & From fields ­ Making it personal using dynamic content & wildcards ­ Email’s next generation mobile, rich media, the iPad

e) Designing your email HTML design basics & tips ­ Best practices ­ Importance of the text version

f) Real-world examples and best practices ­ Great examples of multichannel email campaigns ­ Great examples of bulletproof email design

g) Advanced email marketing methods ­ Use of landing pages for super targeting ­ Social media and email

h) Email Marketing tools to use ­ Tools to use for designing & delivering your campaigns

i) Email Marketing Resources worth reading ­ Resources to bookmark and frequent for email

marketing best practices, tips, tricks and news

Unit8: Affiliate Marketing

a) Introduction to Affiliate Marketing ­ Overview of affiliate marketing and its major players ­ Best affiliate sites for monetization ­ Integrating affiliate strategies into your marketing mix ­ Setting up accounts on affiliate marketing networks

b) Getting Started ­ Finding a niche and selecting the right networks ­ Adding paid sponsorship, Google AdSense and links ­ Determining costs and creating a business plan ­ Obtaining and placing tracking code

c) Know Your Audience ­ Creating compelling content and effective pages ­ Incorporating video, blogs, email and social media ­ Applying and getting approved for affiliate programs ­ Selling executives on affiliate marketing as a viable

income source ­ Understanding the role of search engine optimization

(SEO) in affiliate marketing

d) Maximizing Effects from Your Efforts ­ Measuring the effectiveness of your affiliate campaigns ­ Driving traffic through natural and paid search ­ Negotiating a better deal and higher commissions ­ Leveraging your affiliate channel in other areas of your

business ­ Top tools for optimizing your site

e) Connections and Communications ­ Effective ways to engage your audience ­ Generating revenue through a membership site ­ Blending online and offline campaigns ­ Monitoring your site and promoting your efforts

f) Legal and Ethical Considerations ­ Legal best practices and ethical considerations ­ Trademark bidding and affiliate terms of service ­ Collecting data and protecting customers’ privacy ­ Assessing potential risks and challenges

g) What the Pros Know ­ How super affiliates choose programs to promote ­ Building trust, influence and engagement with customers ­ Methods to make the networks work harder for you ­ Maximizing profits and multiple income streams

h) Case Studies

Unit9: Online Reputation Management

a) Introduction ­ When social media goes bad! ­ The cost of bad reputation

b) Establish a Foundation ­ Protect your position > Register Twitter, URLs etc. ­ How to establish a social media company policy? ­ The socialization of business: Public relations to human

relations

c) Listen ­ Free social media monitoring tools ­ Search ­ Paid for social media solutions ­ What to do with the data

d) Respond ­ Dealing with complaints ­ What to do with praise > Evangelist ­ Crisis Q&As ­ Complaint escalation plan

e) Engage ­ Enhancing reputation online ­ Be seen to listen ­ Ask customers for feedback ­ Build your customers into your R&D

Unit10: Customer Service Excellence Training

a) Service standards ­ Fundamentals of service standards ­ Understanding service standards ­ Creating effective standards ­ Establishing standards ­ Implementing standards ­ Monitoring service standards ­ Assessing the effectiveness of standards ­ Obtaining customer feedback ­ Correcting service problems ­ Management and service standards ­ Building and monitoring the service team ­ Creating an action plan ­ Establishing managerial standards ­ Identifying and overcoming service barriers

b) Service teams ­ Teams as a service solution ­ Understanding customer service teams ­ Maintaining a customer service team ­ Employee selection ­ Conducting an interview ­ Team training and empowerment ­ Implementing proper training ­ Empowering employees ­ Motivation ­ Understanding the importance of motivation ­ Reinforcing desirable behavior

c) Customer loyalty ­ Understanding your customers ­ Knowing your customers ­ Understanding customer criteria ­ Uncovering customers’ needs ­ Customer loyalty development ­ Understanding customer loyalty ­ Building loyal customers ­ Encouraging customer loyalty ­ Employee loyalty’s influence ­ Developing employee loyalty ­ Helping employees to perform ­ Memorable service ­ Creating memorable service ­ Solving customer problems

Unit11: Customer Relationship Management

a) Customer Relationship Management ­ What is CRM? ­ Why organizations undertake CRM ­ Features of good CRM

b) The Customer Relationship Management Role ­ Your role and responsibilities in customer &

stakeholder relationship management ­ Building relationships with customers & stakeholders

c) Managing Your Customers' Needs & Expectations ­ Understanding customer’s & stakeholder’s needs ­ The four basic needs of customers &how to identify them ­ The moments of truth with customers & stakeholders ­ The 4 P’s ­ Understanding what your customers & stakeholders

expect of you and your organization, and managing customer & stakeholder expectations

d) Communication ­ Communication skills of effective CRM providers ­ Building relationships with customers & stakeholders ­ Identifying and using nonverbal communication ­ Identifying customers & stakeholders preferred

communication styles, and adapting your communication style to influence them

e) Active Listening & Questioning Skills ­ Use of questioning techniques to understand, establish

& reestablish customer & ­ stakeholder needs ­ Objectives – Expectations – Motivations ­ Developing empathetic relationships as a tool for

effective influence

Unit12: Online Lead Generation

a) Types of Online Lead Generations ­ Learn what constitutes a lead (conversion) based on

analytic data ­ Learn the different types of leads in a conversion funnel ­ How social and search differ when it comes to conversion ­ Learn how to drive offline leads to online sales

b) Landing Page Basics – How to Build the Perfect Landing Page ­ Learn the real landing page definition and how it's used in

conversion optimization ­ Understand the different types of landing pages and where

they are used ­ Learn how to increase email address captures with the

right landing pages ­ Learn what to avoid when creating a landing page ­ Understand how to build trust and motivate users to

perform your call to action

c) Understanding Customers Personality Types ­ Understand different persona types and how they buy ­ how personas are representations of market segments ­ Understand the filters we use to make our buying decisions ­ Learn how emotional triggers are used in conversion

optimization

d) Writing for the Web and Conversion ­ Learn index page conversion techniques to create your

funnel using optimal content ­ Learn the fundamental rules for writing web copy that sells ­ Understand web copy do's and don'ts as it pertains to

conversion optimization ­ Learn the 5 simple questions you must ask when writing

your web copy for conversions ­ The psychological motivators behind good web copy ­ Understand the "optin" copy techniques to gain more

email addresses

e) Introduction to Testing and The Testing Cycle ­ How to use and implement Google Website Optimizer ­ Learn the different types of testing and how to

implement them ­ Understand where these types of testing work best

f) A/B Testing: Basic & Advanced Testing Topics ­ Overall definition of A/B testing and how it directly ties

into your conversion goals

Unit13: Conversion Rate Optimization

a) The Psychology of Conversion Rate Optimization ­ Understanding the psychology of CRO ­ The importance of perceived value and cost ­ What is Thought Sequence and why is it important? ­ The critical role of EyePath ­ How to improve a web page’s Visual Sequence?

b) Value Proposition & CRO ­ Express your Value Proposition to improve outcomes? ­ The 6 types of Value Propositions ­ The 3 essential qualities of an effective Value Proposition ­ Find evidence to support your Value Proposition ­ Confirming the validity of your Value Proposition

c) Friction Minimizing Customer Effort ­ What is Friction, Understanding funnel length ­ When to use long versus short pages ­ The issue of multiple CallToActions and choice ­ How to design forms to minimize friction? ­ The role of incentive to counter perceived friction

d) Anxiety Minimized Perceived Risk ­ How anxiety impacts on potential conversions ­ Understanding the different types of Anxiety ­ How to address each type of Anxiety? ­ How to discover if your visitors have Anxiety?

e) Moment of Orientation the Critical First 5 Seconds ­ Understanding the critical first 5 seconds ­ How to discover orientation issues from analytics? ­ The vital importance of scent ­ The 3 questions all landing pages must answer ­ The 4 essential elements for all landing pages ­ The benefits of using a familiar template ­ Why and how to perform a 5second test

f) A/B SplitTesting ­ A/B splittesting methodology explained ­ Popular A/B splittesting tools ­ The importance of Statistical Significance ­ Setting up a successful A/B splittest ­ The 4 mistakes often made when A/B testing

Unit14: Mobile Marketing ­ Overview of mobile marketing including: products and

services, user behaviors and interests, players in the ecosystem, and potential costs

­ Setting and refining a mobile strategy ­ Optimizing web presence for mobile ­ Understanding driving user acquisition and

engagement via mobile apps and advertising ­ Assessing the many locationbased marketing options ­ Ensuring that your mobile content is in step with the

customer journey ­ Tools and tactics to produce personalized experiences

Unit15: Content Marketing

a) Introduction ­ Blogs on the way up, static sites on the way down

b) SEO for Content ­ Good clean html code, Regularly updated content ­ Keywords and phrases (in the content and meta tags) ­ Quality, relevant inbound links ­ Researching your keywords ­ Google AdWords tool, Writing anchor text

c) Writing Content ­ Writing compelling titles & bylines ­ Writing bylines ­ 100 words that will tempt people to click through ­ Call to action, what to write in the body copy? ­ Writing style, where to include your keywords & links ­ Length & frequency, Adding images and video ­ Categories and tags (labels) ­ Comments policy &Commenting netiquette

d) Guest blogging ­ Why and how to run external blog(s) ­ Sourcing guest content for your own blog(s) ­ Finding well ranked sites to blog for as a guest ­ What to look for, Links to guest content ­ Comments (on / moderated / active) ­ Approaching other bloggers, Promoting on social media ­ Landing pages ­ Use anchor text to similar posts and reduce bounce rate

e) Have a go ­ Analyzing your existing blog(s) ­ Content strategy brainstorm ­ Writing practice ­ Measuring success with Analytics & Alerts (go for

quality not quantity) ­ Action plan