Digital Marketing Strategy and Optimisation Training Course

Duration 10 days 18 modules · 65 contact hours
Level Intermediate Certificate on completion
Who attends Digital Marketing Managers, 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-040

Before you join: Participants should have practical familiarity with common digital channels such as websites, email, social media, search advertising or web analytics.

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

Digital marketing teams are expected to generate measurable commercial results while managing fragmented customer journeys, rising media costs, privacy restrictions and competing internal priorities. Many plans still begin with channel activity rather than customer evidence, commercial objectives and a clear measurement model. This course addresses that problem by teaching participants how to diagnose demand, select priority audiences, design channel roles and improve performance through disciplined testing.

Participants develop an integrated digital marketing strategy using STP, RACE, customer journey mapping, conversion funnel analysis, media planning and attribution principles. They learn to set SMART commercial objectives, define KPIs, structure measurement in Google Analytics 4, plan search, social, content, email and lifecycle activity, and connect campaign decisions to revenue, retention and customer value. The course also covers SEO, paid media bidding, landing-page conversion, marketing automation, budget allocation, experimentation and governance.

Teaching combines short instructor briefings with worked cases, channel-planning workshops, campaign simulations, analytical reviews and application planning. Participants work progressively on a strategy for their own organisation or a realistic business case, producing evidence, channel choices, measurement logic and optimisation priorities. They leave with a completed digital marketing strategy and optimisation plan suitable for discussion with managers, agencies, sales teams and finance stakeholders.

The course suits marketing professionals responsible for planning, managing or improving digital activity across B2B, B2C, public-sector and service organisations. It is particularly valuable for people moving from channel execution into strategic planning and performance management roles.

What you will be able to do

  • Diagnose digital demand using market, audience, competitor and channel evidence
  • Segment audiences and create prioritised customer personas using STP
  • Design an integrated digital marketing strategy using the RACE framework
  • Construct measurable funnel KPIs, dashboard specifications and reporting cadences
  • Plan search, social, content, email and website activity against customer journeys
  • Allocate media budgets using channel economics, forecast assumptions and marginal returns
  • Run structured optimisation using A/B testing, conversion analysis and attribution evidence
  • Present a complete digital marketing strategy and optimisation plan to stakeholders

Benefits of attending

For you

  • Produce strategy recommendations supported by customer, channel and performance evidence
  • Move from channel execution to commercially accountable marketing planning
  • Improve confidence discussing attribution, conversion and media efficiency with senior managers
  • Apply a repeatable method for diagnosing underperforming campaigns
  • Build a portfolio-quality digital marketing strategy for current work

For your organisation

  • Improves alignment between digital activity, revenue targets and customer priorities
  • Reduces wasted media spend through clearer channel roles and testing discipline
  • Creates consistent KPI definitions across marketing, sales, agencies and finance
  • Strengthens first-party data, consent and measurement planning
  • Produces actionable optimisation plans for campaigns, websites and customer journeys

Course modules

18 modules over 10 days

Participants can diagnose the commercial and digital conditions shaping a marketing strategy.

  • Business model analysis linking revenue drivers, margins, demand and retention
  • Market demand signals drawn from search behaviour, sales data and enquiries
  • Competitor digital audits covering propositions, channels, content and conversion paths
  • PESTLE and Porter's Five Forces applied to digital market conditions
  • Owned, earned, paid and shared media assessed against business objectives
  • Digital maturity assessment across data, skills, content, technology and governance

Participants can identify priority audiences using evidence-based segmentation and insight methods.

  • STP segmentation using needs, value, behaviour and buying context
  • Jobs to Be Done interviews identifying functional, emotional and social motives
  • First-party data sources including CRM records, enquiries and website behaviour
  • Persona profiles built from evidence rather than demographic assumptions
  • Buying committees mapped for complex B2B and public procurement decisions
  • Audience prioritisation matrix balancing value, accessibility, fit and competitive intensity

Participants can translate customer insight into differentiated propositions and channel-ready messages.

  • Value proposition canvas connecting customer pains, gains and offer benefits
  • Category entry points used to connect brands with buying situations
  • Message architecture defining promise, proof, differentiators and calls to action
  • Objection handling content matched to awareness and consideration stages
  • Brand consistency rules across paid, owned, partner and sales communications
  • Proof points selected from outcomes, evidence, credentials and customer stories

Participants can map customer journeys and define channel roles at each decision stage.

  • RACE framework applied from reach through engagement, conversion and loyalty
  • Customer journey maps showing tasks, questions, friction and decision moments
  • Awareness, consideration, conversion and retention content mapped to intent
  • Micro-conversions defined for research, lead qualification and purchase progression
  • Channel roles assigned by audience intent, message fit and response speed
  • Sales handover points specified for leads, appointments and qualified opportunities

Participants can set commercial objectives and build a usable marketing measurement model.

  • SMART objectives linked to revenue, pipeline, acquisition and retention targets
  • KPI trees connecting business outcomes with channel and campaign measures
  • Leading and lagging indicators selected for each funnel stage
  • Google Analytics 4 events, conversions and key events configured conceptually
  • UTM naming conventions protecting campaign, source and content reporting
  • Dashboard requirements defined for executives, channel managers and agencies

Participants can identify website conversion barriers and specify prioritised improvements.

  • Landing-page hierarchy matching visitor intent, proposition and conversion action
  • Conversion friction audits covering forms, navigation, speed, trust and mobile use
  • Heuristic evaluation using Nielsen usability principles and customer evidence
  • Call-to-action design using clarity, relevance, urgency and value exchange
  • Heatmaps, session recordings and funnel reports interpreted with caution
  • Conversion hypotheses prioritised through impact, confidence and effort scoring

Participants can create a content strategy that supports demand generation and retention.

  • Content pillars derived from audience needs, proposition and category entry points
  • Topic clusters structured around pillar pages, supporting articles and internal links
  • Editorial calendars balancing campaign dates, search demand and sales priorities
  • Content formats selected by intent, complexity, production cost and distribution
  • Subject-matter expert workflows for briefing, review, approval and reuse
  • Content performance measured through reach, engagement, leads and assisted conversions

Participants can plan SEO activity around technical quality, search intent and content priorities.

  • Keyword research separating informational, commercial, transactional and navigational intent
  • Search demand estimates qualified using seasonality, competition and business relevance
  • On-page optimisation covering titles, headings, copy, schema and internal links
  • Technical SEO checks for crawling, indexing, page experience and canonicalisation
  • E-E-A-T signals strengthened through authorship, evidence, expertise and reputation
  • SEO roadmaps prioritised by opportunity, implementation effort and technical dependency

Participants can structure paid search activity around intent, economics and conversion quality.

  • Search account structures aligned with products, services, geography and intent
  • Keyword match types and negative keywords controlling query relevance
  • Ad copy testing against proposition, intent, proof and action
  • Quality Score factors interpreted for relevance, experience and expected performance
  • Bidding strategies selected from conversion volume, value and data reliability
  • Search term reports used to refine targeting, copy and landing pages

Participants can select and manage paid social and display activity for defined campaign roles.

  • Platform selection based on audience behaviour, creative format and campaign objective
  • Prospecting, retargeting and customer audiences separated by message and frequency
  • Creative testing matrices varying audience, offer, format and call-to-action
  • Frequency, reach and incremental reach interpreted for awareness campaigns
  • Lookalike audiences assessed against source quality, scale and privacy constraints
  • Brand safety, placement exclusions and suitability controls documented before launch

Participants can design lifecycle communications that increase conversion, retention and customer value.

  • Lifecycle stages defined from prospect capture through renewal and advocacy
  • Email segmentation using engagement, lifecycle status, preference and purchase history
  • Welcome, nurture, reactivation and post-purchase sequences mapped to customer needs
  • Lead scoring models combining fit, intent, engagement and sales feedback
  • Deliverability controls covering consent, authentication, sender reputation and suppression
  • Customer lifetime value used to guide retention investment and offer design

Participants can specify automation workflows and service levels between marketing and sales.

  • Automation workflows triggered by form submissions, behaviour and lifecycle milestones
  • Progressive profiling reducing form friction while improving lead intelligence
  • Marketing-qualified lead criteria agreed with sales and commercial teams
  • Service-level agreements defining ownership, response times and feedback loops
  • CRM field governance preventing duplicate records, missing values and reporting errors
  • Nurture logic adjusted using engagement thresholds, intent signals and inactivity

Participants can build channel budgets and performance forecasts using commercial assumptions.

  • Media objectives translated into reach, traffic, lead and revenue requirements
  • Bottom-up forecasts built from impressions, clicks, conversion rates and values
  • Customer acquisition cost compared with gross margin and lifetime value
  • Budget allocation models balancing proven channels, testing and strategic investment
  • Marginal return analysis identifying diminishing performance from additional spend
  • Scenario planning for best-case, expected and constrained budget outcomes

Participants can run structured optimisation programmes using testable hypotheses and evidence.

  • Experiment backlogs organised by customer problem, hypothesis and expected impact
  • A/B test design controlling audience, timing, variables and success metrics
  • Statistical significance, practical significance and sample size interpreted appropriately
  • Multivariate testing limits understood for traffic volume and implementation complexity
  • Test readouts documenting results, learning, decisions and follow-up actions
  • Optimisation cadence combining daily monitoring, weekly reviews and quarterly planning

Participants can interpret channel performance without overstating attribution claims.

  • Last-click attribution limitations identified across long and multi-channel buying journeys
  • Rule-based attribution models compared using position, time-decay and linear logic
  • Incrementality tests separating channel contribution from existing customer demand
  • Cohort analysis tracking retention, repeat purchase and long-term campaign value
  • Marketing mix considerations applied when channels operate alongside offline activity
  • Performance narratives distinguish correlation, contribution, causation and uncertainty

Participants can manage digital marketing activity with appropriate controls, responsibilities and records.

  • Consent management requirements linked to email, cookies, pixels and retargeting
  • First-party data collection planned around value exchange and stated purpose
  • Data governance roles covering ownership, access, retention and quality checks
  • Agency briefs specifying objectives, audiences, deliverables, KPIs and decision rights
  • Performance review meetings structured around evidence, actions, owners and deadlines
  • Risk registers covering reputational, legal, operational and platform risks

Participants can convert strategy into a sequenced delivery roadmap with clear accountabilities.

  • Ninety-day action plans sequencing research, setup, launch and optimisation work
  • RACI matrices assigning responsibility, accountability, consultation and information flow
  • Capability gap analysis covering people, process, data, content and technology
  • Vendor selection criteria comparing specialist skills, cost structures and governance
  • Change plans addressing stakeholder resistance, adoption barriers and communication needs
  • Quarterly business reviews connecting results, learning, investment and priorities

Participants can build, review and present a complete digital marketing strategy and optimisation plan.

  • Commercial diagnosis summarising market evidence, customer priorities and strategic choices
  • Audience segments, personas and journey maps consolidated into one planning narrative
  • Channel plan linking content, SEO, paid media, CRM and conversion activity
  • KPI framework specifying targets, data sources, owners and reporting cadence
  • Budget forecast, experimentation backlog and implementation roadmap integrated coherently
  • Stakeholder presentation defended through assumptions, evidence, risks and recommendations

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

What you take back to work

  1. Digital marketing strategy template
  2. Audience segmentation and persona pack
  3. Customer journey and channel-role map
  4. KPI tree and dashboard specification
  5. Media budget and forecast model
  6. Ninety-day optimisation roadmap

Who should attend

  • Digital Marketing Managers — need to connect channel activity with commercial targets
  • Marketing Managers — need an integrated plan across digital and offline activity
  • Performance Marketing Specialists — need stronger strategic and measurement skills
  • Brand Managers — need to translate positioning into digital customer experiences
  • CRM and Lifecycle Managers — need to improve acquisition, retention and customer value
  • Sales and Commercial Managers — need clearer visibility of digital demand generation

Skills and tools covered

Digital strategy planningAudience segmentationMarketing performance analysisChannel budget allocationConversion rate optimisationCampaign measurement

Tools and standards

RACE Framework, STP Marketing Model, Google Analytics 4, Value Proposition Canvas

How the course runs

Training methodology

The course uses short briefings to introduce methods, followed by case analysis, group planning, channel simulations and structured performance reviews. Participants interpret campaign data, compare channel choices, diagnose conversion barriers and make budget decisions using realistic commercial constraints. Instructor feedback focuses on assumptions, evidence quality, measurement logic and implementation priorities. Application planning runs throughout the programme so participants can adapt the methods to their own market, customer segments, products, services and internal reporting requirements.

Requirements and prerequisites

Participants should have practical familiarity with common digital channels such as websites, email, social media, search advertising or web analytics. They should understand basic marketing terms, including target audience, campaign, conversion and customer journey, and be comfortable discussing commercial objectives and performance data. Experience managing campaigns, agencies, content or marketing budgets is useful but not essential. The course does not require coding, advanced statistics, graphic design, prior Google Analytics certification or access to live advertising accounts. Participants may bring existing plans, reports or campaign data where organisational policy permits.

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 digital marketing channels and common campaign measures such as traffic, leads and conversions. You do not need coding skills, advanced analytics knowledge or prior platform certification.

Bring a current marketing plan, campaign report, website data or business objective if you can share it under your organisation's policy. A laptop is useful for planning work, although live access to advertising or analytics accounts is not required.

It is designed for professionals who already work with marketing activity and need to plan, measure or improve it at a strategic level. It suits managers, specialists, CRM professionals, brand teams and commercial stakeholders.

Channel-specific courses focus on operating one platform or discipline in depth. This course shows how channels work together within a commercial strategy, with shared customer journeys, budgets, KPIs and optimisation decisions.

Participants develop a strategy structure, KPI framework, channel plan and optimisation backlog that can be adapted to current priorities. The methods can be used for new launches, underperforming campaigns, website improvements or annual planning.

Training days run from 08:30 to 16:30 and provide about 6.5 contact hours each. The first part develops diagnosis, audience, strategy and channel planning; the later part focuses on measurement, optimisation, governance and the final capstone presentation.

Questions about this course?

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

Ask on WhatsApp info@skillsetdevelopment.com

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