Short Course in YouTube Marketing
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YouTube marketing course overview
The Short Course in YouTube Marketing is an online course that takes you from an empty channel to a channel with a plan. You will learn how YouTube recommends content, what influences clicks and watch time, and how to use those insights to plan and improve your channel.
Across eight modules, you set up and optimise a channel in YouTube Studio, plan content around what people actually search for, use AI tools to speed up scripting and editing, then read YouTube Analytics and put paid budget behind the videos that already work.
It suits business owners, marketers, freelancers and creators. There are no entry requirements. Expect about 10 hours of study in total, and you keep access for 12 months.
What you will learn
This YouTube marketing course will teach you how to:
- Understand how YouTube ranks, recommends and surfaces video to new viewers
- Set up and optimise a channel in YouTube Studio, including thumbnails, playlists and end screens
- Build a content strategy from content pillars, YouTube SEO and keyword research, topic clusters and an upload cadence you can keep
- Use AI tools to speed up ideation, scripting, editing, voiceovers and thumbnail production
- Repurpose long-form video into YouTube Shorts and other short-form formats
- Write titles and descriptions that lift click-through rate (CTR), then grow views and subscribers
- Read YouTube Analytics to follow watch time, audience retention and traffic sources
- Plan, run and optimise YouTube Ads campaigns for awareness, leads or sales, including retargeting
By the end, you will have a channel plan, a repeatable production workflow, and the reporting habits that make each video better than the last.
YouTube tools and features you will use
The course works through the platform itself rather than theory. Features and surfaces you will use include:
- Channel setup: YouTube Studio settings, thumbnails, playlists, end screens and the monetisation features
- Content formats: long-form video and YouTube Shorts, plus repurposing one idea across both
- Discovery: titles and descriptions, tags, keyword research and the signals behind impressions and clickthrough rate
- Measurement: YouTube Analytics reporting on watch time, audience retention, traffic sources and subscribers
- Paid reach: YouTube Ads formats, targeting, bidding and retargeting, which run on the Google Ads platform
- AI production tools: tools you may work with include Pictory, Descript, CapCut, ChatGPT, Canva and VidIQ
Most of the AI tools covered have free or low-cost plans, so you can practise before paying for anything. Tool line-ups change quickly, so the exact selection may vary.
Is this course nationally recognised?
No. The Short Course in YouTube Marketing is a non-accredited, industry-recognised short course delivered in partnership with Social Media College. It is not a nationally recognised qualification and it does not carry units of competency. When you finish, you receive a certificate of completion to show employers and clients.
If you want nationally recognised units in this field, the Short Course in Social Media Marketing with AI includes three units of competency from the 11426NAT Diploma of Social Media Marketing with Artificial Intelligence.
Careers that use YouTube marketing skills
YouTube keeps growing as a platform for creators, brands and businesses, and demand for video marketing skills that combine content, analytics and paid media is rising across industries. Organisations want someone who can run a channel end to end: plan it, publish it, read the numbers and put budget behind what works.
YouTube marketing skills are useful in roles such as:
- YouTube Content Creator
- Video Marketing Assistant
- Digital Marketing Coordinator
- Content Producer (Video)
- Social Media Coordinator
- YouTube Channel Manager (entry level)
These roles sit inside companies, agencies, media studios and creator-run businesses, and the same skills apply if you are growing a channel for your own brand.
Want to go further? Creator and Influencer Marketing Advanced is a bundle that includes this course alongside several other social media short courses. Creator and Influencer Marketing is the standalone course on building a personal brand and working with brands, Creating Content with AI goes deeper on producing content with AI tools, and you can browse all marketing and social media short courses.
Course Modules
To satisfy the requirements of this course, you'll need to complete the following modules
Start with why YouTube behaves like a search engine as much as a social platform. You look at who is watching, how long-form video and short-form content perform differently, and what success looks like for different kinds of channels, so your goals are realistic from the start.
Go under the bonnet of the recommendation system. You learn which signals decide whether a video is shown, how impressions turn into clicks and clicks into watch time, and which engagement signals to track, so you can work with the algorithm instead of guessing why a video stalled.
Build the channel properly once. Work through channel settings, thumbnails, playlists, and end screens, then use YouTube Studio to manage uploads, content settings, performance, and monetisation features. The result is a channel that looks credible to a first-time visitor and stays easy to manage as you publish more.
Turn scattered uploads into a plan. You map video types to your audience, set content pillars, run YouTube SEO keyword research to find what people search for, group ideas into topic clusters, and commit to an upload cadence you can sustain. Storytelling frameworks keep each video worth finishing.
Produce better video with a smaller team. You use AI for ideation, scripting, editing assistance, voiceovers and thumbnails, then repurpose one long-form video into Shorts and other short-form cuts. Tools you may work with include Pictory, Descript and CapCut, and you see where automation saves the most time.
Growth is engineered rather than lucky. You write titles and descriptions and use tags that lift clickthrough rate, improve retention so viewers stay to the end, plan bingeable series, use YouTube Shorts to reach new viewers, and prompt comments, likes and shares that turn viewers into subscribers.
Read the numbers without drowning in them. You use YouTube Analytics to find your best performing videos, compare traffic sources, and follow watch time, audience retention and clickthrough rate over time. You then turn those patterns into decisions about what to make next and what to stop making.
Put budget behind what already works. You set up YouTube Ads campaigns, choose ad formats that suit awareness, leads or sales, and work through targeting, bidding and creative best practices. You also learn to read campaign metrics and use retargeting to bring warm audiences back to your channel.
Course Inclusions
Enrolment in the Short Course in YouTube Marketing includes:
- Video lessons and walkthroughs: Expert-led lessons covering every module, available any time and at your own pace.
- Monthly masterclasses with industry experts: Sessions with video marketers, creators and YouTube strategists.
- Weekly group mentor calls: Feedback on your channel ideas, scripts, thumbnails, analytics and optimisation.
- 12 months unlimited access: Study at your own pace and revisit any lesson for a full year.
- Templates, tools and checklists: Script templates, content calendars, AI prompt sheets, thumbnail checklists and analytics frameworks you can download and keep.
- Practical, real-world activities: Create and optimise videos through hands-on tasks, so you are building real experience rather than only taking notes.
- Online student community: Share content, swap feedback and learn alongside other video creators and marketers.
- Dedicated learner support: Get help with study questions, platform navigation, and technical issues.
What You Need to Know
- Total duration: Approximately 10 hours
- Delivery mode: 100% online and self-paced
- Access: 12 months of unlimited access
- Entry requirements: No prior experience required, suitable for beginners and for marketers adding video
- What you need: You do not need to appear on camera, and most of the AI tools covered have free or low-cost plans.
- Certification: Certificate of completion for a non-accredited, industry-recognised short course
- Support: Trainers, community groups, templates and learner support
Payment Options
FAQs
YouTube marketing is using video on YouTube to reach and convert an audience, through both organic content and paid campaigns. It covers channel setup, content planning, search and recommendation optimisation, community engagement and YouTube Ads. Businesses, marketers and independent creators all use it, and the same skills work for each.
Business owners who want a channel that brings in leads, marketers and freelancers adding video to what they already offer, and creators or educators who want to reach more people. There are no entry requirements and no prior YouTube experience is assumed.
Growth comes from three things, in this order: content people are already searching for, titles and thumbnails that earn the click, and retention that keeps viewers watching to the end. You build a content plan, publish on a cadence you can keep, use YouTube Shorts to reach new viewers, then read YouTube Analytics and make more of whatever is already working.
The AI video module names Pictory, Descript and CapCut, and ChatGPT, Canva and VidIQ are also covered. Most have free or low-cost plans, so you can follow along without buying subscriptions. AI tools change quickly, so the exact line-up may vary.
Yes. The final module is on paid advertising: ad formats, campaign structure for awareness, leads or sales, targeting, bidding, creative best practices, campaign metrics and retargeting. YouTube advertising is bought and managed through Google Ads.
Your enrolment includes weekly group mentor calls for feedback on channel ideas, scripts, thumbnails and analytics, monthly masterclasses with industry experts, an online student community, and dedicated learner support for platform or study questions.
This is the YouTube course on its own. Creator and Influencer Marketing Advanced is a bundle that includes this course alongside several other social media short courses, so choose that one if you want to grow across more platforms than YouTube.