Digital Marketing Management Training Course

Duration 10 days 18 modules · 65 contact hours
Level Intermediate Certificate on completion
Who attends Marketing Managers, Digital Marketing Managers and others
Fee from USD 2,200 KSh 190,000 for Kenyan organisations
Where 52 cities + online See dates by city
Next start 9 Nov 2026 Course code SD-DM-041

Before you join: Participants should understand basic marketing concepts such as target customers, positioning, campaigns and marketing objectives.

Dates & prices

Two start dates a month in every city, and live online on weekdays or weekends. Fees are per participant; classroom fees include tuition, materials, lunch and refreshments, and the certificate.

Suggest a date or city

Showing the next six months. Later dates, other cities and private deliveries for your team are available on request.

Course overview

Marketing managers are expected to turn digital activity into qualified demand, retained customers and measurable commercial results. That requires more than posting content or buying media. They must make sound channel choices, define audiences, shape offers, commission creative work, control budgets, interpret performance data and explain results to senior stakeholders. This course addresses the management decisions that connect digital marketing activity to revenue, customer value and organisational priorities.

Participants learn to build and manage an integrated digital marketing plan using STP, RACE, customer journey mapping, content planning, paid media structures, email lifecycle design, search strategy and web conversion methods. They set meaningful objectives and KPIs, create measurement plans, interpret GA4 reports, assess attribution limits, improve campaign performance and apply governance requirements for consent, accessibility, brand safety and customer data. The course also covers agency management, marketing technology decisions and practical budget allocation.

Teaching combines short instructor briefings with realistic cases, team analysis, campaign simulations and structured planning work. Participants apply each method to a chosen product, service or organisational priority from the first week. They leave with a completed digital marketing management plan, including audience choices, channel strategy, campaign brief, content plan, budget, KPI dashboard and optimisation approach. A certificate of completion is awarded to participants who complete the course.

The course suits marketing professionals who already understand basic marketing principles and now need to manage digital programmes, suppliers, channels or teams with greater commercial discipline. It is relevant to public-sector communications teams, banks, NGOs, B2B firms, consumer brands and service organisations.

What you will be able to do

  • Develop a RACE-based digital marketing plan linked to commercial objectives and customer journeys
  • Segment audiences using STP, persona evidence and buying-stage requirements
  • Create channel strategies covering search, social media, email, content and paid media
  • Write campaign briefs with propositions, creative requirements, budgets, KPIs and governance controls
  • Configure a measurement plan using GA4 events, UTMs, conversion definitions and dashboard metrics
  • Evaluate paid media performance using reach, frequency, CTR, CPA, ROAS and incrementality evidence
  • Improve website and landing-page conversion using UX, CRO and experimentation methods
  • Present a complete digital marketing management plan for stakeholder review and approval

Benefits of attending

For you

  • A defensible method for prioritising digital channels against commercial objectives
  • Greater confidence challenging agency recommendations and media performance claims
  • Practical ability to turn campaign data into management decisions
  • A reusable planning structure for launches, acquisition programmes and retention activity
  • Stronger capability to present digital investment cases to senior stakeholders

For your organisation

  • Clearer links between digital spend, customer actions and commercial outcomes
  • More consistent campaign briefs, approval criteria and supplier accountability
  • Better allocation of budget across channels, audiences and funnel stages
  • Improved measurement discipline through agreed KPIs, UTMs and conversion definitions
  • Reduced compliance and reputational risk in data, content and media activity

Course modules

18 modules over 10 days

Participants can translate business priorities into a managed digital marketing planning structure.

  • Business objectives translated into acquisition, conversion, retention and revenue targets
  • RACE planning framework mapped to owned, paid and earned activity
  • Marketing funnel stages defined using customer actions and measurable outcomes
  • Channel roles assessed against buying cycles, margins and sales capacity
  • Digital maturity audit covering data, content, media, technology and governance
  • Briefing structure connects commercial priorities, audiences, propositions and channel choices

Participants can define priority audiences using evidence-based segmentation and persona methods.

  • STP model used to select commercially attractive audience segments
  • First-party, survey, sales and behavioural data assessed for audience insight
  • Jobs to Be Done interviews identify functional and emotional purchase drivers
  • Persona profiles document needs, barriers, triggers, channels and decision roles
  • Buying committees mapped across users, influencers, gatekeepers and economic buyers
  • Segment attractiveness scored through value, accessibility, fit and growth potential

Participants can map customer journeys and develop propositions for priority moments.

  • Customer journey maps connect needs, questions, touchpoints and conversion barriers
  • Moments of truth identified from search behaviour, service data and feedback
  • Value proposition canvas matches customer pains, gains and product benefits
  • Message hierarchy separates primary promise, proof points and calls to action
  • Trust signals selected for high-consideration, regulated and unfamiliar purchases
  • Journey gaps prioritised by customer impact, business value and implementation effort

Participants can select and coordinate channels around audience needs and campaign goals.

  • Channel selection matrix compares audience fit, intent, cost and controllability
  • Paid, owned, earned and shared media assigned distinct campaign roles
  • Always-on activity separated from launch, promotional and retention campaigns
  • Channel sequencing aligns messages with awareness, consideration, conversion and loyalty
  • Frequency planning prevents duplicated exposure and conflicting calls to action
  • Integrated campaign architecture links creative assets, landing pages and follow-up

Participants can create a content strategy that supports audience questions and business objectives.

  • Content pillars derived from audience needs, propositions and search demand
  • Editorial calendars schedule formats, owners, approvals, distribution and refresh dates
  • Hero, hub and help content models allocate production effort
  • Content audits assess relevance, quality, performance, duplication and retirement needs
  • Subject-matter experts briefed using interview guides and evidence requirements
  • Repurposing plans adapt core assets for email, social, search and sales
  • Content governance assigns ownership, review cycles, version control and escalation

Participants can diagnose website conversion barriers and specify practical improvements.

  • Conversion paths mapped from entry source through form, purchase or enquiry
  • Landing-page anatomy applies message match, hierarchy, proof and focused action
  • Heuristic evaluation identifies usability friction using Nielsen usability principles
  • Form design reduces abandonment through field minimisation and error prevention
  • Mobile-first checks assess speed, readability, interaction and completion barriers
  • CRO backlog prioritises hypotheses by impact, confidence and implementation effort
  • A/B test plans define variants, primary metrics, duration and decision rules

Participants can manage organic and paid search activity around demand and conversion intent.

  • Keyword research groups queries by intent, volume, difficulty and commercial value
  • Search intent classification distinguishes informational, navigational, commercial and transactional queries
  • On-page SEO specifies titles, headings, internal links and structured content
  • Technical SEO checks crawlability, indexation, redirects, canonical tags and Core Web Vitals
  • Google Ads account structure aligns campaigns, ad groups, keywords and landing pages
  • Negative keyword lists protect budgets from irrelevant search queries
  • Search reporting separates brand demand, non-brand demand and assisted conversions

Participants can plan social media activity that supports brand, demand and customer relationships.

  • Platform selection reflects audience behaviour, content fit and commercial purpose
  • Organic social calendars balance education, proof, participation and promotional messages
  • Community management protocols define response times, escalation routes and tone
  • Social listening identifies recurring questions, sentiment shifts and emerging issues
  • Employee advocacy guidelines protect brand consistency, disclosure and customer confidentiality
  • Influencer assessment examines audience quality, relevance, credibility, reach and disclosure
  • Social metrics distinguish attention, engagement, traffic, leads and conversion contribution

Participants can design permission-based email programmes for acquisition, onboarding and retention.

  • Email lifecycle maps acquisition, onboarding, activation, retention and win-back stages
  • Consent records support lawful mailing preferences, source tracking and suppression
  • Segmentation rules combine profile data, behaviour, recency and customer value
  • Triggered email programmes respond to registration, abandonment, purchase and inactivity
  • Subject lines, preheaders and send times tested against defined hypotheses
  • Deliverability controls address authentication, list hygiene, complaints and engagement decline
  • CRM handoffs specify lead scoring, sales alerts and feedback loops

Participants can allocate paid media budgets and manage performance against defined targets.

  • Media objectives distinguish reach, traffic, lead generation, conversion and retention
  • Budget allocation uses marginal returns, channel constraints and test-and-learn reserves
  • Audience targeting balances first-party lists, contextual signals and platform options
  • Media plans specify spend, flighting, formats, frequency and expected outcomes
  • CPM, CPC, CPA and ROAS interpreted within funnel and margin context
  • Creative rotation plans reduce fatigue while preserving controlled performance comparisons
  • Pacing reports identify underspend, overspend, saturation and delivery constraints

Participants can write actionable campaign briefs and assess creative work against strategy.

  • Single-minded proposition states the customer benefit and reason to believe
  • Campaign briefs define objective, audience, insight, message, deliverables and constraints
  • Creative territories tested against distinctiveness, relevance, clarity and credibility
  • Copy frameworks apply PAS, AIDA and objection-handling message structures
  • Calls to action matched to audience readiness and conversion path
  • Asset specifications cover formats, dimensions, copy limits and accessibility requirements
  • Approval workflows control legal, brand, product and stakeholder review stages

Participants can create a measurement plan that links marketing activity to decisions.

  • Measurement frameworks connect objectives, KPIs, metrics, targets and decision owners
  • GA4 event model distinguishes events, parameters, conversions and audiences
  • UTM conventions standardise source, medium, campaign, content and term tagging
  • Tracking plans document customer actions, data owners, tools and validation checks
  • Data quality audits identify missing tags, duplicates, referral errors and bot traffic
  • KPI trees relate media measures to leads, sales, revenue and retention
  • Dashboard requirements distinguish executive, campaign and channel management views

Participants can interpret performance evidence and prioritise optimisation decisions.

  • Funnel analysis identifies drop-off points between impression, click, conversion and retention
  • Cohort analysis compares acquisition groups by activation, repeat purchase and value
  • Attribution models compared using last-click, position-based and data-driven approaches
  • Incrementality tests distinguish caused outcomes from coincidental observed conversions
  • Performance diagnosis separates audience, offer, creative, channel and landing-page causes
  • Optimisation registers record hypotheses, actions, evidence, owners and expected effects
  • Weekly review routines convert reports into decisions and accountable next steps

Participants can apply essential governance controls to digital marketing activity.

  • GDPR principles applied to lawful basis, transparency, minimisation and retention
  • Consent management distinguishes necessary cookies from marketing and analytics cookies
  • Privacy notices explain data purposes, sharing, rights and contact routes
  • WCAG 2.2 checks address text alternatives, contrast, captions and keyboard access
  • Brand safety controls exclude unsuitable placements, publishers and user-generated content
  • Marketing claims reviewed for substantiation, fairness, clarity and approval evidence
  • Incident escalation procedures address data breaches, complaints and harmful content

Participants can manage agencies, suppliers and marketing technology decisions with clear controls.

  • Agency scopes define deliverables, service levels, responsibilities and commercial terms
  • Supplier scorecards assess strategic input, delivery quality, responsiveness and results
  • Request-for-proposal criteria compare capability, approach, cost, governance and references
  • Martech stack maps CRM, analytics, automation, content and advertising platforms
  • Build, buy and configure decisions weigh requirements, ownership, cost and integration
  • Service-level agreements set response times, reporting cadence and issue escalation
  • Quarterly business reviews examine performance, risks, priorities and improvement actions

Participants can prepare a financially credible case for digital marketing investment.

  • Marketing budgets separate fixed costs, media spend, production and contingency
  • Lead-to-sale assumptions connect conversion rates, sales capacity and revenue forecasts
  • Customer acquisition cost calculated against contribution margin and customer lifetime value
  • Scenario planning models conservative, expected and ambitious campaign outcomes
  • Investment cases state assumptions, risks, dependencies, returns and decision thresholds
  • Variance analysis explains differences between planned spend, delivery and outcomes
  • Finance conversations use agreed definitions for revenue, margin, cost and payback

Participants can organise digital marketing work and report progress to stakeholders.

  • RACI matrices clarify accountability across marketing, sales, technology and agencies
  • Agile marketing boards visualise priorities, work in progress and delivery blockers
  • Campaign operating rhythms schedule planning, production, launch, review and optimisation
  • Stakeholder maps identify decision makers, contributors, blockers and informed parties
  • Executive reporting focuses on outcomes, insights, risks, decisions and next actions
  • Performance narratives explain cause, consequence, corrective action and expected impact
  • Team capability assessments identify skill gaps, hiring needs and development priorities

Participants can assemble, review and present a complete digital marketing management plan for a selected business priority.

  • Plan scope confirms commercial objective, priority audience, offer and planning horizon
  • Audience evidence supports segmentation choices, personas and journey priorities
  • Channel architecture integrates content, search, social, email, website and paid media
  • Campaign brief specifies message, assets, budget, schedule, responsibilities and approvals
  • Measurement plan defines KPIs, GA4 events, UTMs, dashboards and review cadence
  • Risk register addresses data protection, accessibility, delivery dependencies and reputational issues
  • Peer review tests commercial logic, feasibility, measurement quality and stakeholder clarity
  • Presentation structure secures decisions on investment, ownership, timing and next steps

Exercises and examples are adapted to each cohort's sectors and roles.

What you take back to work

  1. RACE digital marketing plan template
  2. STP persona and customer journey pack
  3. Integrated campaign brief template
  4. Channel, content and media plan
  5. GA4 measurement and UTM tracking plan
  6. Digital marketing KPI dashboard specification

Who should attend

  • Marketing Managers — need to plan, coordinate and account for multi-channel digital activity
  • Digital Marketing Managers — need stronger planning, measurement and budget-control methods
  • Brand Managers — need to connect brand programmes with digital acquisition and retention activity
  • Communications Managers — need to manage digital channels, content and stakeholder expectations
  • Product Marketing Managers — need to launch propositions through targeted digital campaigns
  • Account Directors — need to brief agencies and assess campaign performance credibly

Skills and tools covered

Digital marketing planningAudience segmentationChannel managementCampaign measurementConversion rate optimisationMarketing governance

Tools and standards

RACE Planning Framework, STP Model, Google Analytics 4, WCAG 2.2

How the course runs

Training methodology

The course uses short briefings to introduce methods, followed by cases drawn from B2B, consumer, public-service and nonprofit marketing. Participants analyse customer evidence, make channel and budget decisions, interpret campaign reports and resolve common management problems through group work and simulations. Individual application planning runs through both weeks, allowing participants to build material for a current campaign, launch or annual plan. Instructor feedback focuses on commercial logic, measurement quality, practical implementation and stakeholder communication.

Requirements and prerequisites

Participants should understand basic marketing concepts such as target customers, positioning, campaigns and marketing objectives. Experience contributing to marketing activity, commissioning content, managing social channels, working with agencies or reviewing campaign reports is useful. Participants should be comfortable reading simple spreadsheets and discussing commercial measures such as leads, sales, cost and revenue. No coding, graphic design, advanced statistics, media-buying certification or prior experience with GA4 is required. The course explains technical terms before applying them to planning and management decisions.

A typical training day

08:30 – 10:30First session
10:30 – 10:45Refreshment break
10:45 – 12:30Second session
12:30 – 13:30Lunch and networking
13:30 – 15:00Third session
15:00 – 15:15Refreshment break
15:15 – 16:30Workshop and daily review

Live online deliveries follow the same structure in East Africa Time, with shorter screen blocks and longer breaks.

What the fee includes

  • Instruction by a practitioner facilitator
  • Full course workbook and materials
  • Exercise files, templates and case studies
  • Refreshments and lunch on classroom deliveries
  • Certificate of completion
  • Post-course application plan

Frequently asked questions

You should understand basic marketing concepts and have some exposure to marketing campaigns, channels or customer communications. You do not need coding skills, advanced analytics knowledge or prior platform certification.

Bring a laptop if attending in person and, where permitted, a current campaign brief, marketing plan or channel report. Participants can use a realistic case supplied by the instructor if they cannot bring workplace material.

It is designed for marketing managers and experienced marketing professionals who coordinate digital activity, agencies, budgets or campaigns. It is not intended as an entry-level social media or content creation course.

This course focuses on managing an integrated digital marketing programme rather than mastering one channel platform. It covers the decisions that connect channels, budgets, customer journeys, measurement, suppliers and commercial priorities.

Participants build a digital marketing management plan around a live or realistic business priority. The templates can be used for campaign planning, agency briefing, budget approval, reporting and performance reviews.

Training runs from 08:30 to 16:30 each day, providing about 6.5 contact hours daily. The first week builds planning, channel and campaign foundations; the second week develops measurement, governance, management controls and the final capstone plan.

Questions about this course?

Ask about dates, fees, group bookings or running it for your team. Our training team replies by email.