Learning and Leadership › Women’s Academy › Digital Literacy › Social Media for Business › Course Materials
Learn how to use Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp Business and Telegram to present your product or service professionally and safely: from setting up a business page to planning content and measuring results.
Course page in the learning system
Course details
| Level | Beginner to intermediate |
| Estimated duration | 12 hours of study and practice |
| Prerequisite | The ‘Computer and Internet Basics’ course; having a small business or idea is not required but helps |
| Language of instruction | Farsi-e-Dari (with key English terms) |
| Cost | Free |
| Assessment | A test after each section and a final exam; pass mark 70%; certificate after Academy approval |
After this course you will be able to
- Create a professional page for your business on one or two suitable networks
- Define your target audience and core brand message
- Write a four-week content calendar and create effective posts
- Communicate with customers professionally and safely on WhatsApp Business
- Read simple statistics (views, engagement, messages) and make decisions
Course outline
- Which network for which business
- Target audience
- Business privacy versus your personal account
- Facebook Page and Instagram Business
- WhatsApp Business and catalogue
- Short introduction (Bio)
- Types of posts
- Product photos with your phone
- Writing short, persuasive text
- Content calendar
- Best time to post
- Consistency and visual identity
- Professional replies
- Orders and follow-up
- Handling negative comments
- Simple statistics
- Testing and improving
- Small ads and budget
Week-by-week learning path
With about 30 to 45 minutes of study and practice a day, you will finish this course in 7 weeks:
| Week | Topic | Weekly output |
|---|---|---|
| Week 1 | Foundations | Lessons, practical exercise and short section test |
| Week 2 | The business page | Lessons, practical exercise and short section test |
| Week 3 | Content | Lessons, practical exercise and short section test |
| Week 4 | Planning | Lessons, practical exercise and short section test |
| Week 5 | Customer communication | Lessons, practical exercise and short section test |
| Week 6 | Measurement and growth | Lessons, practical exercise and short section test |
| Week 7 | Final project and final exam | Completed project and a score of 70% or more |
Final project
For a real or hypothetical business: a complete business profile on one network, a four-week content calendar (12 posts), three designed posts, a customer reply template, and a one-page report on the statistics and lessons learned after two weeks.
Project assessment criteria:
- How well the message fits the target audience
- Quality and visual consistency of the posts
- Professional customer communication
- Honest analysis of the statistics and suggestions for improvement
Key course terms
Target audience
Engagement
Content calendar
Reach
Bio
Call to action
Catalog
Insights / Analytics
Assessment and certificate
- After each section: a short test (70% recommended before continuing)
- Practical exercises in each lesson are for learning; send your questions via Questions the link provided.
- End of course: final exam (pass mark 70%) and submission of the final project
- Digital certificate after review and approval by the Academy: Request a certificate
Teaching approach
Each lesson includes learning objectives, explanations with real examples and images, key terms in Farsi-e-Dari and English, common mistakes, a practical exercise, a self-test and a summary. In every lesson you can put your questions to the teacher using the Questions button. The courses are impartial, free and open to all young people.
Get ready now
- Choose a small business or idea for the course project
- Follow five successful business pages and note what makes them professional
- Adjust the privacy settings of your personal account (lesson 5.3 of the Basics course)
Free and reliable resources
These resources were selected by the Academy team. Most are in English; Chrome’s Translate feature can help if needed. Large files (books, exercise files, videos) will be placed in the Academy’s official Google Drive folder when the course opens and linked from this page.
- Meta Blueprint, free training in Facebook and Instagram marketing
- Grow with Google, free digital and work skills training from Google
- Canva Design School, free design training with Canva
- Coursera, courses from leading universities worldwide; most can be viewed free of charge (Audit)
Help and questions
Questions about this course: [email protected] · All courses: Online Learning Centre · Active course: Computer and Internet Basics
Women’s Academy, Afghanistan Youth Parliament · Free and open to all young people