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Social Media Strategy


This social media strategy course covers innovation in strategic online engagement. You will learn to evaluate your social media world and design a strategy to engage there. Topics include case studies, creating an online strategy, practical systems and processes.


This course is available both live online and face-to-face.

  • Face to face (London) | One day | £675 +VAT
  • Face to face (Dubai) | One day | Media One Hotel | $795 +VAT
  • Live online (Zoom) | Two half-days | 10:00-14:00 London time | $795

Also available on request in US / Asia timezones.

This course runs in English. It is also available on request in Arabic or Dutch.


Course outline

Social media landscape

This module covers the state of the art in online communications: understanding the landscape, themes, trends and principles that are essential to success

  • Harnessing and aligning online communication to serve business goals
  • Letting go: why the illusion of control is more dangerous than the reality of exposure
  • Learning to love the messy, distributed, interactive, immersive online environment
  • Participatory PR: communicating “with” not “at” in interactive conversation
  • "Message as medium”: content-driven communication

Case studies

This module examines the strategic implications for organisations engaging online in the context of the latest social media trends and developments, through the prism of a series of case studies of good and bad practice.

  • International best practice
  • Future trends

Social media strategy

This module covers best practice in designing a rigorous and comprehensive online strategy

  • Step-by-step guide to creating an online communication strategy
  • Integrating online communication with business
  • Mapping your online world: identifying the platforms and influencers that matter to you
  • Online monitoring: activating your social media radar
  • Online media ecosystem: owned, paid and earned

Social media governance

This module covers how to design social media guidelines, roles and policies for your organisation based on international best practice.

  • Systems, policies and processes, resources
  • Defining social media roles and responsibilities
  • Creating your own social media policy
  • Reputational risk assessment
  • Rolling out and policing social media policies
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Meet your trainers

Following are some of the ISOC trainers who regularly lead this course, depending whether you join us in London, Dubai or live online. 

Trainer profile: Felice Hawley

Felice is a versatile editor, writer and broadcaster with in-depth experience of economic and business news. During a 16-year career at CNN, she helped create and then produce the award-winning live business programme “World Business Today”. Moving to text, Felice became Managing Editor of Hoover’s Online Europe, responsible for a team of journalists. She later went on to launch several websites, intranets, extranets and microsites. She writes, edits and manages content for organisations including Transport for London and the NHS. Felice consulted on web and print materials ahead of the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games in London.

Trainer profile: Anne Bleeker

Anne Bleeker is a corporate communications professional with 20 years of international experience in multiple industries and highly multicultural environments. Coming from an in-house environment, Anne has been involved in the development, planning and management of communication strategies, internal and external communications campaigns, crisis communications and stakeholder engagement programmes  for major organisations including the Jumeirah Group, Future Pipe Industries and the Rezidor Hotel Group. Anne holds a Bachelor degree in Hotel Administration from the Hotel School The Hague and a Masters of Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs in the USA. She is a former board member of the Middle East Public Relations Association (MEPRA), a member of PRCA MENA and a member of the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC). Anne is Managing Partner of In2 Consulting, a boutique strategic communications agency based in Dubai, which she co-founded with her business partner in 2010.

Trainer profile: Chaker Khazaal

Chaker is an award-winning writer, reporter, public speaker, and social media expert. Born as a Palestinian refugee in Lebanon, Chaker grew up in the Bourj el Barajneh camp in Beirut where at a young age he participated in several local plays and starred in a film. Then as one of four recipients of the Global Leader of Tomorrow Award, he migrated to Canada and studied at York University in Toronto for a BA in International Development Studies. Chaker is now a strong, engaging and savvy communicator and has applied these skills as an advocate for refugees and aspiring young writers. He is invited regularly to speak at organisations, corporations and governments worldwide including the United Nations, Google, Facebook, and national parliaments, as well as being regularly featured addressing and hosting global conferences. He has published five novels of which two were among Amazon’s Best Sellers lists. Chaker was named Esquires Middle East Man of the Year 2015 and in 2016 was ranked first by Arabian Business Magazine in the 100 Most Powerful Arabs Under 40. In the same year, he was presented with the Mentor Arabia Award by Queen Silvia of Sweden and Prince Turki Bin Talal Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud. In December 2017, Khazaal was awarded the Global Trailblazer, together with Arianna Huffington by New York-based NGO Bridges of Understanding.

What you will learn

After this course you will be able to:

  • Adopt best practice based on case studies of highly successful approaches to online communication

  • Create an online communication strategy for your organisation

  • Design systems and processes to guide and enable your organisation to engage in online social media

Who should attend?

This is an intermediate-level course designed for learners with existing knowledge and several years of experience in communications or PR. Learning is pitched at a level to help you develop strategic approaches and apply sophisticated techniques. This course is recommended for communications, PR and marketing professionals at all levels whose role includes strategies and tactics for engagement with online social media on behalf of their organisation. It is also suitable for managers and executives responsible for managing and supervising this activity at a strategic level.