HRD Corp Claimable Digital Marketing Courses in 2026: What’s Worth Your Training Budget

March 23, 2026

If your company contributes to the HRD Corp levy, you’re sitting on a dedicated training budget – one that stays in your account indefinitely but represents idle capital if left unused. That makes choosing the right digital marketing course a genuinely strategic decision, not just a box-ticking exercise.

But the digital marketing training landscape in Malaysia has changed dramatically. AI tools have reshaped how campaigns are planned, executed, and measured. Social media platforms have introduced new advertising formats, algorithm changes, and commerce features. The skills that made a marketing team effective in 2023 may not be the skills they need in 2026.

This guide helps HR managers, L&D leads, and business owners evaluate what’s actually worth investing in – and what to watch out for when choosing a provider.

1. How HRD Corp Training Claims Actually Work

Before evaluating any course, it’s worth understanding the mechanics of the system you’re working with. HRD Corp (formerly HRDF) allows levy-contributing employers to claim back training costs through the SBL-Khas scheme, where HRD Corp pays the training provider directly from your company’s levy balance.

The process is straightforward but has firm requirements:

  • Grant application before training – You must submit through the e-TRiS portal at least one day before the course begins. Retroactive claims are not accepted.
  • Registered providers only – The training provider must be HRD Corp-registered, and the specific course must have a valid HRD Corp Claimable Course Code (previously called Siri Kursus). You can verify this code directly in the HRD Corp grant search portal before engaging any provider.
  • Supporting documents required – Course fee quotation, trainer profile (must be TTT-certified or HRD Corp-accredited), course content outline, and training schedule.
  • Optional upfront deposit – Training providers may request up to 30% of the course fee as an upfront deposit with the employer’s consent. This is optional, not mandatory.
  • Post-training compliance – Attendance records, completion documentation, and JD14 forms must be finalised after training. The JD14 must be signed by a Manager or higher-level authority. While the system allows up to six months for claim submission, official guidelines strongly recommend completing all documentation within 30 days of training to avoid processing delays.
Key point: Under SBL-Khas, your company does not pay upfront. HRD Corp deducts the course fee directly from your levy balance and pays the provider. This removes cash flow concerns – but a growing unused balance represents idle capital that isn’t contributing to staff productivity. Monitor your levy utilisation regularly to ensure you’re investing in capability, not accumulating dormant funds.

Grant approvals under SBL-Khas are typically fast – 3–5 working days when documentation is complete, significantly quicker than the conventional SBL scheme which can take 7–14 days. A 4% service fee is deducted by HRD Corp from the training provider’s claim, not from the employer’s levy balance – meaning the employer gets the full value of the training without absorbing any administrative cost.

2. The 7 Categories of Digital Marketing Training Available

Not all digital marketing courses teach the same thing, and the labels used by training providers can be misleading. Here are the seven distinct categories you’ll encounter in the Malaysian market:

Social Media Marketing

Covers platform-specific strategy, content planning, community management, and organic growth across Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn, and other platforms. The best courses in this category now include AI-powered content creation tools and social search optimisation.

Paid Advertising (Social & Search)

Focuses on Facebook Ads, Instagram Ads, Google Ads, TikTok Ads, and campaign management. Includes audience targeting, bidding strategies, creative testing, and performance analysis. More advanced courses cover AI-driven ad optimisation and automated bidding.

Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)

Covers on-page and off-page SEO, technical SEO, keyword research, and content optimisation for Google. In 2026, this category increasingly overlaps with Answer Engine Optimisation (AEO) – optimising content so it appears in AI-generated search results from tools like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google AI Overviews.

Content Marketing & Strategy

Teaches content planning, editorial calendars, blog strategy, video content frameworks, and content distribution. The distinction between this and social media marketing is strategic depth – content marketing focuses on the broader system, not just individual posts.

Email Marketing & Automation

Covers email list building, campaign design, segmentation, A/B testing, and marketing automation workflows. Increasingly includes AI-powered personalisation and predictive send-time optimisation.

E-Commerce & Social Commerce

Focuses on selling through digital platforms – Shopee, Lazada, TikTok Shop, Instagram Checkout, and direct-to-consumer websites. Covers product listing optimisation, fulfilment workflows, and platform-specific advertising.

AI-Powered Digital Marketing

A newer category that specifically addresses using AI tools in marketing workflows – generative AI for content creation, AI analytics for campaign optimisation, chatbots for customer engagement, and AI-driven personalisation. This is the fastest-growing training category in Malaysia’s market.

3. Why AI Has Changed What “Digital Marketing Training” Means

This is the most important consideration for anyone evaluating digital marketing training in 2026, and it’s where most buyer’s guides fail – they treat digital marketing as a stable category. It isn’t.

AI has fundamentally changed the daily workflow of marketing teams. Content that used to take a copywriter a full day can now be drafted in minutes. Campaign performance analysis that required a dedicated analyst can now be surfaced by AI tools in real time. Social media scheduling, A/B testing, audience segmentation, and even creative production have all been accelerated or partially automated.

Key point: Any digital marketing course in 2026 that doesn’t integrate AI tools into its curriculum is teaching skills that are already partially obsolete. This is the single most important filter when evaluating providers.

This doesn’t mean every course needs to be about AI. A social media marketing course should still teach platform strategy, audience psychology, and content planning. But if the course teaches Facebook content creation without showing how AI tools like ChatGPT, Canva AI, or Meta’s own AI features fit into the workflow, it’s leaving a critical gap.

The practical question for L&D managers is this: will your team return from the training able to work with the tools they’ll actually use on Monday morning?

The most valuable digital marketing training in 2026 doesn’t just teach platforms and tactics. It teaches your team how to use AI to execute faster, analyse deeper, and adapt in real time – skills that compound across every channel.

4. Course Category Comparison: What Each Covers and Who It’s For

This comparison helps you match the right category to your team’s actual needs, rather than defaulting to a generic “digital marketing” course that tries to cover everything.

Category Best For Duration AI Integration? Typical Fee Range
Social Media Marketing Marketing execs, brand managers, social media teams 1–2 days Should include AI content tools RM 1,800 – RM 3,000
Paid Advertising Performance marketers, ad buyers, campaign managers 2–3 days Should include AI bidding & targeting RM 1,800 – RM 3,000
SEO Content teams, webmasters, digital strategists 1–2 days Must include AEO & AI search RM 1,800 – RM 3,000
Content Marketing Marketing managers, copywriters, brand strategists 1–2 days Should include generative AI workflows RM 1,800 – RM 3,000
Email & Automation CRM teams, email marketers, sales ops 1–2 days Should include AI personalisation RM 1,800 – RM 3,000
E-Commerce E-commerce managers, retail teams, D2C brands 1–3 days Should include AI product listing tools RM 1,800 – RM 3,000
AI-Powered Marketing All marketing roles, L&D managers, business owners 1–2 days 100% AI-focused RM 1,800 – RM 3,000

Note: Fee ranges are indicative based on publicly listed prices from Malaysian training providers in early 2026. Actual fees vary by provider, format (in-house vs public), and course depth.

5. How to Evaluate a Digital Marketing Training Provider

Malaysia has hundreds of HRD Corp-registered training providers offering digital marketing courses. The quality varies enormously. Here’s a practical framework for evaluation:

Check HRD Corp Registration Status

This is non-negotiable. The provider must be registered with HRD Corp, and the specific course you’re considering must have a valid HRD Corp Claimable Course Code (previously referred to as Siri Kursus). You can verify this code directly in the HRD Corp grant search portal before speaking to any sales representative – this prevents providers from claiming a course is claimable when the registration has actually expired.

Review Trainer Credentials

The trainer matters more than the brand. First, confirm they hold a TTT (Train The Trainer) certification or HRD Corp accreditation – without this, the grant application will be rejected regardless of the trainer’s expertise. Beyond that baseline, ask who will be delivering the session, what their professional background is, and whether they are currently practising digital marketing – not just teaching it. A trainer who last ran a real campaign in 2021 is teaching outdated tactics. In 2026, top trainers also hold platform-specific certifications such as Meta Certified Lead Trainer, Google Ads Partner status, or specialised AI credentials.

Examine Curriculum Recency

Request the full course outline. Look for specific tool names and platform features from 2025–2026. Red flags include references to “Facebook Business Suite” (now Meta Business Suite), no mention of Google Ads Performance Max (PMax), or the absence of TikTok Shop Creator Center. On the AI side, a curriculum that doesn’t reference current generative AI models, AI-powered analytics, or prompt engineering techniques is likely running an outdated syllabus.

Ask About Hands-On Components

The most effective training includes practical exercises using live platforms, not just slides and theory. Ask what percentage of the training is hands-on, whether participants work on their own business accounts, and what they’ll leave with (templates, frameworks, campaign drafts). Importantly, ask whether the provider offers sandbox environments or temporary ad account access for practice – many companies are understandably hesitant to let staff experiment on live accounts with real ad spend.

Verify Post-Training Support

Good providers offer some form of follow-up – a Q&A session 30 days after training, a resource library, or a community group. The gold standard in 2026 is providers who offer a custom AI chatbot trained on their specific course materials, giving participants 30–90 days of on-demand guidance as they apply what they’ve learned. This signals confidence in their content and a genuine investment in your team’s outcomes.

6. 5 Red Flags When Choosing a Training Provider

Knowing what to avoid is just as valuable as knowing what to look for. These are the warning signs that suggest a provider won’t deliver real value:

1. “Comprehensive digital marketing” in one day. Any provider claiming to cover SEO, social media, paid ads, content marketing, email marketing, and analytics meaningfully in a single day is skimming surfaces. You’ll get awareness-level exposure at best, with no depth to apply anything.

2. No AI integration in the 2026 curriculum. As discussed above, this is now a fundamental gap. If a course outline for 2026 reads identically to one from 2023, the content hasn’t evolved with the market.

3. Trainer profiles without current practice. Academic certifications and “10 years of training experience” sound impressive, but the question is whether the trainer is currently running campaigns, managing accounts, or using the tools they teach. The digital marketing landscape changes too fast for theory-only trainers.

4. No course outline provided before commitment. If a provider won’t share a detailed session-by-session outline before you apply for the HRD Corp grant, treat this as a transparency issue. You need the outline for your grant application anyway.

5. Over-reliance on platform certifications as differentiators. Google Ads certification or Meta Blueprint badges demonstrate baseline knowledge, but they’re freely available online. A provider’s value should be in practical application, local market context, and AI integration – not in certifications anyone can earn independently.

Key point: The most common mistake L&D managers make is choosing a provider based on price or convenience alone. A low-cost course that doesn’t change how your team works is more expensive than a premium course that does – because you’ve spent the levy, used the time, and gotten nothing actionable in return.

7. How to Maximise ROI From Your Training Budget

Claiming back the course fee is only the first layer of ROI. The real return comes from how well the training translates into improved performance. Here’s how to structure the investment for maximum impact:

Pre-training alignment. Before sending your team, define what success looks like. Is it faster content production? Better ad performance? Higher engagement rates? Share these goals with the training provider so they can tailor emphasis where it matters for your business.

Send the right people. A common pitfall is sending junior staff to senior-level courses or vice versa. Match course depth to participant capability. A beginner course won’t challenge your experienced marketer, and an advanced course will overwhelm someone without fundamentals.

Require post-training implementation. Within two weeks of completing the course, participants should apply at least one new technique or tool to a live project. This cements learning and gives you an early indicator of whether the training delivered practical value.

Combine categories strategically. Rather than sending your whole team to the same generic course, split them across specialised categories based on their roles. Your content creator attends the AI-powered content workshop. Your ads specialist attends the paid advertising course. Your strategist attends the analytics training. This builds complementary strengths across the team.

Monitor your levy utilisation. Inactivity has real consequences. HRD Corp levy contributions accumulate monthly, but leaving your balance idle carries risks. If your company makes no claims for 24 continuous months, your balance is forfeited – with only RM10,000 maintained in your account. Employers with less than RM10,000 are not affected by this forfeiture. Separately, a one-off 15% deduction under the Program Latihan Madani (PLM) was applied to unused 2023 balances as announced in Budget 2024 – any further PLM deductions are subject to future government announcements. Beyond these penalties, a large unused balance simply represents idle training capital. Map your training calendar to your levy balance so you’re investing consistently rather than letting funds sit dormant while your competitors upskill.

8. What Malaysian Businesses Should Prioritise in 2026

If you had to allocate your HRD Corp digital marketing training budget right now, here’s the priority order based on where the biggest skills gaps and market opportunities exist:

First priority: AI-Powered Digital Marketing. This is the foundational layer that amplifies everything else. A team that understands how to use AI tools for content, analytics, and campaign optimisation will get more value from every other course they take afterwards.

Second priority: Social Media Marketing (with AI integration). Social platforms remain the primary digital touchpoint for Malaysian consumers. Short-form video, social commerce, and community-driven marketing are all growing fast – and AI tools are reshaping how all of them are executed.

Third priority: SEO & Answer Engine Optimisation. Traditional SEO still matters, but the shift toward AI-powered search means your team needs to understand both. Businesses that optimise only for Google but ignore ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google AI Overviews are leaving visibility on the table.

Fourth priority: Paid Advertising. Platform ad costs continue to rise, making efficient campaign management more important than ever. AI-driven bidding and creative testing are now standard features on major platforms – your team needs to know how to use them. With Malaysia’s stricter PDPA (Act 709) amendments now in force, paid advertising training should also cover first-party data handling and privacy-compliant targeting to avoid regulatory penalties.

Fifth priority: E-Commerce & Social Commerce. If your business sells products online, this is essential. TikTok Shop, Shopee, and Instagram commerce are growing rapidly in Southeast Asia, and each platform has its own optimisation requirements.

The smartest L&D investment in 2026 isn’t picking one course. It’s building a training roadmap that layers AI literacy first, then channels expertise on top – so every ringgit of levy budget compounds into lasting capability.

Build Your Team’s Digital Marketing & AI Capabilities

Ommtech Digital Marketing Academy offers HRD Corp claimable training programmes covering AI-powered digital marketing, social media strategy, and practical business automation – tailored for Malaysian businesses.

View HRD Corp Claimable Courses

Frequently Asked Questions

What types of digital marketing courses are HRD Corp claimable in Malaysia?

Most digital marketing training categories are claimable under HRD Corp’s SBL-Khas scheme, including social media marketing, SEO, paid advertising (Google Ads, Facebook Ads), content marketing, email marketing, e-commerce, and AI-powered digital marketing. The key requirement is that the course must be delivered by an HRD Corp-registered training provider with a valid HRD Corp Claimable Course Code.

How do I claim HRD Corp for a digital marketing training course?

Submit a grant application through the e-TRiS portal at least one day before the training begins. You’ll need the course fee quotation, trainer profile (must be TTT-certified), course outline, and training schedule. Under the SBL-Khas scheme, HRD Corp pays the training provider directly from your company’s levy balance, so there’s no upfront payment required. After training, ensure attendance records and JD14 forms are completed – the JD14 must be signed by a Manager or higher. While the system allows up to six months, it’s strongly recommended to finalise all documentation within 30 days to avoid processing delays.

How much does a HRD Corp claimable digital marketing course cost in Malaysia?

Prices vary by category and provider. Social media and content marketing courses typically range from RM 1,800 – RM 3,000 for 1–2 day programmes. Paid advertising and e-commerce courses tend to be RM 1,800 – RM 3,000 for 2–3 day programmes. AI-powered marketing courses are typically RM 1,800 – RM 3,000. Under SBL-Khas, the full course fee is deducted from your levy balance, effectively making the cost zero out-of-pocket for the employer.

Should I choose a specialised or general digital marketing course?

Specialised courses deliver better ROI for most teams. A 1-day “comprehensive digital marketing” course can only skim surfaces across all channels. Instead, identify your team’s specific skill gaps – social media strategy, paid advertising, SEO, or AI tools – and invest in targeted training that builds depth in those areas. The comparison table in this guide can help you match categories to team roles.

Do digital marketing courses in 2026 need to include AI?

Yes. AI tools have become integral to virtually every digital marketing workflow – from content creation and campaign optimisation to analytics and customer targeting. A course that doesn’t integrate AI tools into its curriculum is teaching workflows that are already partially outdated. When evaluating providers, ask specifically which AI tools are covered and how they’re used in hands-on exercises.

What happens if my company's HRD Corp levy balance is insufficient?

If your levy balance doesn’t fully cover the course fee, you can ask the training provider to invoice HRD Corp for the available levy amount and pay the remaining balance directly to the provider. It’s important to check your levy balance on the e-TRiS portal before applying for any grant. Be aware that if no claims are made for 24 continuous months, your balance is forfeited down to RM10,000.

Covid-19 and Digitalization of Businesses

October 15, 2021

The ongoing pandemic has brought a huge catastrophe to the world in every aspect including society and economy. It affected businesses no matter big or small, public or private sectors. With the huge tragedy comes changes that cannot be avoided but embraced.

Movement restriction, physical distancing, and supply disruption have opened a new path for humans to be able to resume living their lives. The crisis brings evolution to the way of living and whether we like it or not, we have to embrace it. Most businesses, particularly small and medium enterprises (SMEs) were not prepared to deal with such a huge scale epidemic. Many of them had to shut down their businesses due to high rentals and other overhead costs that they could not afford to pay.

Nonetheless, the new normal policies are still restricting physical businesses from fully functioning as they did before. As a result, many have started to pivot into other approaches for them to maintain their businesses since the start of the pandemic and this is where Digital Transformation comes through. The need for digitalization that comes with the pandemic has changed plenty of aspects of businesses such as marketing as well as the interaction between customers and sellers. With Digital Transformation, many individuals have found themselves in need of upskilling and reskilling.

As said before, other than digitalization, unemployment also comes with the pandemic. With many businesses that were shut down and downsized, many Malaysians found themselves out of jobs. As reported by Kam (2020) “An average of 10,000 Malaysians per month lost their jobs in 2020”. According to the Department of Statistics, Malaysia, the amount of unemployment in August was 4.7% and in January 2021, the unemployment rate increased to 4.9%. Losing jobs in what can be said, the remarkably difficult time of our lives can be very damaging to individuals. As many have known and experienced, losing a job could lead to many risks such as losing a home, losing the sole income of the family as well as declining physical and mental health. However, with the high vaccination rate, it seems that the world is getting a little bit brighter.

Looking on the bright side of things, retrenched workers who are back to looking for jobs can take the opportunity during their retrenchment time to increase their chances at employment by upskilling and reskilling themselves. They could use the time to figure out what they want to do, either going back to the same job scopes that they have or maybe, explore jobs that are in demand in the market right now.

Retrenched workers can acquire the in-demand talents within the market and hone those skills to improve their chances of being employed. With the new skills that they acquire, they are not restricted to work under a company, but can also start their own businesses by establishing their own e-commerce sites.

To help with economic growth and increasing the hiring of employees, the Malaysian Government has provided training for new hires and retrenched workers. Especially for new hires, the PENJANA KERJAYA initiative will help employers to upskill their employees with new training while also receiving monthly hiring incentives from the government. Meanwhile, EIS PERKESO also gives a new breath to employees who were under the category of loss of employment (LOE) such as retrenchment. People under this category can apply for Job Search Allowance while waiting to secure a new job, and also various training to upskill and reskill themselves. By upskilling themselves with the latest skills, they position themselves in a better place in the competitive job market. At present, digital skills are highly important for all workforce as businesses moved online. Specifically, digital marketing training will help the participants to have a better understanding of Digital Marketing and all the processes. For example, participants will learn how to create brand awareness, use social media to grow their business, and execute digital marketing campaigns. In summary, it is no doubt that upskilling and reskilling yourself will benefit you greatly in your chances of getting hired.

Note: Ommtech Digital Marketing Academy is also one of the training providers under the Training Programme organized by PERKESO under the PENJANA KERJAYA scheme. We are currently organizing Intermediate Digital Marketing Training specifically for retrenched workers. For more enquiry, reach us out at 016-2024852 or visit our page:

19 Ways to Grow your Personal Brand with LinkedIn

July 9, 2019

When It comes to choosing a platform that’s best geared to help you build your personal branding, LinkedIn is definitely the go-to social media channel, with over 500 million members and consistent rapid growth.

LinkedIn gives you many ways in which to grow your personal branding. Below are the Top 19 Ways of Building Your Personal Branding through LinkedIn:

1. Create your value proposition

It’s all about being different and creating your unique selling point. Clearly tell your LinkedIn contacts what your unique proposition is and how you differentiate yourself from others. Share with your connections what drives your passion.

2. Write an attention-grabbing headline

The headline appears under your name on your LinkedIn profile. Focus on what keywords your prospects will be using in searches to find people in a similar industry like yours. Incorporate these keywords into your headline, by sharing on how you help people get their jobs done. Customized headlines will make it easier for your prospects to find you and helps your LinkedIn profile stand out from the crowd.

3. Build an all-star profile. Focus on optimizing your profile.

  • Use a good headshot picture:

Nobody would like to connect to a faceless profile. Build trust by uploading your proper headshot picture. Don’t forget to smile.

  • Make use of background image:

Instead of posting some random mountain picture, post a customized background image which is more related to your professional life.

  • Capitalize the multimedia attachment as social proof:

Update your profile with some of your past project’s images. This will increase your credentials on LinkedIn.

  • Identify the key industry terms and used it effectively in your profile summary:

Search for your industry related keywords and use it effectively in your profile summary. This will help your prospect identify easily with your profile. While crafting your summary, share who you are, how you help people to solve their problems and state your industry experience.

  • Add links to your other social media accounts such as Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

4. Use a customized URL

LinkedIn has a high Google Page Rank. By customizing your LinkedIn URL with your full name, your name can rank high in Google.

5. Update your skills and get endorsed by your connections

You can update up to 50 skills in your LinkedIn profile. The top 3 skills are visible without a click. Choose skills you want to feature prominently on your profile. Endorsements increase your credibility among your prospects. Ask for recommendations from your LinkedIn contacts.

6. Connect with the right people.

Connect to like-minded people and keep growing meaningful LinkedIn networks. Focus on building an interactive and engaged community with your LinkedIn network.

7. Build professional reputation through your post

Post content relevant to your current profession or business, keep it subject orientated and not generalised. Narrow down your key topics and create content revolving around these topics.

8. Post valuable content

Add value to your LinkedIn circle. Share some industry-related topics which can add real value to your LinkedIn contacts.

9. Be authentic & consistent with your voice

  • Be YOU. Be authentic and real.
  • Learn from other successful LinkedIn influencers and be inspired by them. Don’t compare your LinkedIn personal branding journey with theirs, just be honest & authentic about your journey.

10. Post video content

LinkedIn, in 2019, now places more emphasis on video content, so start sharing video content consistently as part of your content marketing strategy.

11. Share your story about your professional journey.

Stories empower and touch humans like no other medium. Connect directly to your audience’s emotions. Share with your audience how your professional journey started, the trials and tribulations you faced along the way, what you learned and how it has shaped your character and helped you enhance your professional life. Inspire others through your story.

12. Engage with other peoples content

Show your appreciation, by interacting with the content of your followers and connections. Like and comment on their post if it resonates with you and supports your LinkedIn connections by genuinely engaging with their post.

13. Learn from LinkedIn influencers

Excellence remodelling. Find LinkedIn influencers from your industry and see what kind of content they are sharing. You can learn how they connect to their audience and add value to their followers.

14. Join industry-related groups

A LinkedIn group is a great platform for you to share your expertise and insight and ask for guidance from fellow group members. You can join up to 100 groups on LinkedIn. It’s a great platform to build connections with people of similar interests.

15. Write an article on LinkedIn

Writing an article is a great way for you to contribute your professional insight on LinkedIn. Your article will be displayed on your profile. A well-written article will help you to generate more visibility on LinkedIn.

16. Add value

Always focus on adding value through your LinkedIn engagement (comment, message, and post). Do not spam your contact’s inbox with 100s of hard-selling messages. Give before you ask. Ask your contacts on how you can help them. Add value to them in the best possible way.

17. Create a SlideShare account

Share your presentation on SlideShare. Slides uploaded on SlideShare get indexed by Google. Add your SlideShare presentation on your LinkedIn profile to boost your visibility on LinkedIn.

18. Share your LinkedIn profile on other social media channels

Tap on your connections from other social media networks. Ask them to follow you on LinkedIn.

19. Bring your connection from online to offline

Participate in #LinkedIn local in your area, as it is another gateway that may open doors to new business opportunities, allowing you to catch up with your LinkedIn connections in person.

In Conclusion

Building a personal brand on LinkedIn needs consistency and persistence. It requires a lot of effort to build a good, strong personal branding but it is well worth the effort and time, to build solid and fruitful connections.

Crafting a strong personal branding on LinkedIn will create a lot of new opportunities and possibilities for you.

If you haven’t begun to build your personal brand on LinkedIn, you are definitely missing out on many great opportunities. Wait no more; use the top tips above and start building today.

So, what are your thoughts about creating your personal branding on LinkedIn?

Social Media Marketing Guide to Small Business

March 1, 2018

The marketing mantra for the past few years has been “social media”. Every business owner climbing onto the social media bandwagon. MNC’s and simple home-based business now have a Facebook page. If you haven’t used social media to market your product and services, you’re going to love how easy it is to get started.

Why social media, and how can it help boost your business?
The most important issues every small business owner needs to address at the beginning of their start-up is limited resources. As a startup, the challenge is to accomplish a lot with these limited resources. Traditional marketing methods will cost you more money and drain your money sooner than expected. On the other hand, Social Media marketing is pretty low-cost and gives you an opportunity to meet new business leads and customers. It is absolutely free to start marketing your product and services in Social Media. But you have to compensate for the money you save with your time. To see the result in Social Media, you need to invest your time. A proper planning and efficient use of resources are required to achieve the result you need. This guide is for business owners who are new to Social Media but want to learn how to establish and build their brand using Social Media.

Plan your Social Media Strategy
Until the destination is clear, many are hesitant to begin. Sit with your team and plan what is the main objective of your social media campaign and how you want to execute the social media campaign.

Choosing Right Social Media Platform & Setting up Accounts
There are many social media channels. For a beginner, it will be a tough job to participate
effectively in all this social media channel. Focus on the selected number of social media channel and build your presence. Then diversify slowly to other social media channels. Facebook is well known and the most popular social media channel. Other frequently used social media channels are Twitter, Youtube, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Instagram, and blogs. Once you decide which channel you want to start with, be sure to secure your brand username on each social media channel.

Setting Targets
Most of the businesses tap into social media to achieve a specific target. When you plan your social media campaign for your brand, you need to set a specific target. Some of the common social media targets are:

 

Generating new sales lead
Generating sales
Increasing brand awareness
Increasing customer loyalty
Social media marketing also helps companies to increase productivity. Big brands are using social media channels to provide effective customer service. Social media also help businesses to increase awareness of product issues or improvements. Big corporations use social media to identify customer issues with products and services.

Another important area you need to address while setting the social media target is advertisement cost. If you want to accelerate your social media performance, it’s crucial you explore paid advertising options. Some of the question you should ask yourself while planning your social media budget is:

How much should you pay for a Facebook like?
How much should you spend on Facebook sponsor stories?
How much should you spend on Twitter promoted content and promoted accounts(promoted accounts help increase the size of your Twitter following)?
How much should you spend on LinkedIn advertising?
How much should you spend on LinkedIn sponsored updates?
If used strategically, social media advertising can produce great results. Do not dismiss social media advertising.

Social Media Policy
Once you decide to put your brand in social media, you need to enact a social media policy for your company that explains how the social media channel can be used and the guideline of communicating in the online world. A proper social media policy educate the employee on what is the right method of using social media and provide ground for a company to take corrective action against those who fail to obey.

Content Strategies
Content is the key to social media success. You need to share great contents on your social media channel to attract the crowd. You need to learn a creative way of producing and publishing contents. As a content creator, you need to be able to generate an unending stream of unique contents. Once you decide what kind of contents you want to share with your audience, you need to develop a working editorial planner in which you can plan and track your content, and after it’s published, record results.

Connect with your customers
Speak to the person, not the machine. Connecting to your customer is the key to social media success. The sales are closed by a real person who is behind all those social media profiles and screen name. While sharing your social media contents, emphasize how you can add value to them. You need to show them that they can trust you. Interactivity is the USP of social media marketing. Unlike any other marketing method, in social media, you can interact with your customers immediately. Always respond to your customer inquiries and find a way to interact with them on a regular basis.

Monitoring & Analytic
Social media marketing can help to increase brand awareness and allow you to engage with your customers. However to achieve great success in your social media marketing you need to measure and analyze your results.

Building a team
There are multiple social media channels that you need to build your social media presence, but things can go terribly wrong if the campaign is poorly executed. You need to have the right people on your social media teams. You need to select people who are passionate about social media and creative. Social media success is teamwork and you need to choose a team player to be part of your social media team. The team members should clearly understand your company social media objective and goals. Once the team has been selected, they need to be briefed about your company social media policy. This is very important to avoid any kind of social media related disasters.

Processes
Step-by-step processes on how to execute the social media campaign should be identified. Everyone in the social media team should follow this process accordingly to achieve targeted results.

Social Media Mishaps
You need to be prepared to handle any kind of social media crisis or mishaps. You need to plan for the worst, hope for the best. Learn how big brands are handling their social media crisis and be prepared to tackle any problems that come in your way. Incorporate online reputation monitoring solutions in your social media campaign. You need to have a way to gather news about your business, product, and services. If any issues arise, be ready to tackle them in the beginning stage.

Perfecting Social Media Campaign
You need to be very consistent in your social media efforts. Execute the social media campaign as per your plan. To stay on top of your social media plan, review your metrics report regularly. If can review your metrics every week. Based on your social media result, make an adjustment for anything that’s not working. Improvise your strategy and move forward.

Finally, when you use social media to build your brand’s online presence, the most important thing to remember is that social media marketing is a marathon, not a sprint. Consistently follow the given social media guides and you’ll be seeing successful results.

5 Ways of Using Video for Your Social Media Marketing

March 1, 2018

Have you used video as one of your social media marketing tools? If you have not used it as one of your social marketing strategies; the time is now. Videos are fun and informative. They keep your audience interested.

The number of videos being shared on Facebook is increasing rapidly. Ever growing the popularity of YouTube, Instagram and Vine encourage more business to explore video marketing.

In this article, you will discover 5 ways of using video for your social media marketing.

1: Create a Video Tutorial

You can start creating a tutorial video to teach people “How to do something”.

Example:
-How to exercise?
-How to cook pasta?
-How to do video editing?
-How to do a photoshoot?

2. Interview

You can interview experts from your industry and share the video with your audience. The interaction between two people during an interview can be more engaging for the audience. You also can prepare some questions which the audience is likely to ask and get the expert to touch on these topics during the interview. This method can help the audience to find solutions for their problems. If the content of the video is good and helpful, the audience will share it with their friends and professional circle. This will increase your visibility and help make your video viral.

3. Behind the Scenes Video

You can create a behind the scenes video involving your employee and your business process. This is an interesting way to show your fans/followers, the people behind your business. These videos will create a closer relationship between your business and fans/followers. Behind the scenes videos are also a great way to showcase your company culture to your fans/followers.

4. Showcase Customer Testimonials

Nothing can beat a testimonial from a happy customer. Interesting video testimonials from your customers can add more value to your business. Try to come out with unique ways of putting your customers’ testimonials into a video. These testimonial videos can definitely be good marketing tools for your business.

5. Reveal a New Product

You can create a fun and unique video to reveal new products from your company. You can create a short video series to reveal your new product. This is a fun way to increase your audience’s natural curiosity. The audience will anticipate what is coming next.

The next time you come across an interesting video on a social network, take note of the idea they try to spark. Do you use different techniques in your video creation? Please share your ideas in the comments sections.

6 Social Media Marketing Strategies

March 1, 2018

Social media marketing is an essential part of business marketing. With new social media platforms and tools constantly emerging, it will be all too easy to get lost in the crowd. You need to have a strong social media marketing strategy if you want your voice to be heard amidst the crowd. Here are 6 social media marketing strategies you can start with.

1. Use Short Videos for Your Marketing and Share them on Twitter, Facebook, and other Social Media Platforms.

With the ever-growing popularity of YouTube, Instagram, and Vine, short videos are a great way to introduce your products and services. You can use creative storytelling to bring your message to your audience via short videos. Next, you can share the videos on different social media channels like Twitter and Facebook.

2. Understand You Audience Persona

Not all your audiences from different social media channels have the same persona. An Instagram audience is different from a LinkedIn audience. When you plan your contents for your social media marketing, your audience persona in particular social media channel needs to be taken into consideration.

3. Create Content that Users Like to Share and Re-tweet

Spend some time to determine what exactly your audience is looking for. Share contents that can add value to your audience. Share something that can help them solve their problems. Share something which your audience finds is worth sharing with their contacts.

4. Encourage Your Audience to Share Their Story

Always find a way to connect your product/services to your audience. Get your customer to snap a picture with your product and share it on your social media channels. Encourage your customers to share their experience with your products. A good testimonial from your customer will add more value to your social media presence.

5. Learn More about Your Customer

Try to learn more about your customers. Use a poll, quiz and open-ended questions to learn more about what your customers think about your products or services.  Input from your customers can help you to improvise your services and bring your business to the next level.

6. Use Captivating Visual Contents

Visual contents are the driving force in rapidly evolving social media marketing. More and more businesses use visual contents to reach out to their targeted audiences. It is a great way to communicate with your audience,  finding out the message quicker. You can use infographics, memes, presentations, and videos as part of your visual content marketing.

Over to You

Above are some of the proven successful social media marketing strategies. How about you? Are you using any social media marketing strategy to bring more followers your way? What social media marketing strategy has worked best for you? Do share your comments with us!