Introductory description

Social media is an ever-evolving and innovative space that, despite its increasing ubiquity, is not always well understood from a strategic marketing perspective. In an era of digital disruption, marketers must navigate shifting consumer behaviors, emerging platforms, and evolving communication strategies. This module examines how marketing strategy and marketing communications have adapted (or failed to adapt) to the rise of social media and explores its role within a company's broader Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC) Strategy.

Students will analyze the current consumer landscape and the strategic opportunities and challenges it presents for brand communication. The module takes a strategic marketing approach to social media, emphasizing the importance of engaging, visually compelling, and platform-optimized content in today’s digital environment. Through applied learning, students will develop the skills needed to design and execute social media campaigns that effectively integrate within broader marketing strategies.

Module web page

Module aims

Outline syllabus

This is an indicative module outline only to give an indication of the sort of topics that may be covered. Actual sessions held may differ.

Overview of how marketing has changed in the Internet era, understanding the differences between the traditional and the Internet era marketing;
Introduction to Social Media Marketing and defining social media marketing;
How people communicate, the spread of social media; understanding the power of word of mouth and how social media can be used for word of mouth communication and branding;
How business will adapt to social media marketing: changes required in the organization to embrace social media marketing;
Social media strategy and understanding the tools: Blogs, Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin, etc;
Social media in new product development and innovation
Selecting and combining appropriate social media tools for stages of the customer journey
Understanding how to use social media as a tool for insight into changing customer needs

Learning outcomes

By the end of the module, students should be able to:

• Correctly explain and apply key theoretical perspectives and analytical frameworks to practical marketing contexts, including real-world decision-making scenarios.
• Critically evaluate and apply relevant social media concepts and theories to analyse and generate insights from firm-specific case studies.
• Assess and compare the effectiveness of different social media platforms and strategies in contributing to specific marketing objectives.
• Critically evaluate concepts, frameworks, models and theories pertinent to the use of social media by marketing firms.
• Evaluate cases to identify managerial and strategic insights into the social media practices of firms.
• Persuasively present findings from analyses and clearly present and defend well-reasoned recommendations.

Indicative reading list

Li, F., Larimo, J., & Leonidou, L. C. (2021). Social media marketing strategy: definition, conceptualization, taxonomy, validation, and future agenda. Journal of the Academy of Marketing science, 49(1), 51-70.
Li, J., Abbasi, A., Cheema, A., & Abraham, L. B. (2020). Path to Purpose? How Online Customer Journeys Differ for Hedonic Versus Utilitarian Purchases. Journal of Marketing, 84(4), 127-146.
Dost, F., Phieler, U., Haenlein, M. and Libai, B., (2019). Seeding as Part of the Marketing Mix: Word-of-Mouth Program Interactions for Fast-Moving Consumer Goods. Journal of Marketing, 83(2), pp.62-81.
Lanz, A., Goldenberg, J., Shapira, D. and Stahl, F., (2019). Climb or Jump: Status-Based Seeding in User-Generated Content Networks. Journal of Marketing Research, 56(3), pp.361-378.
Melancon, JP, Dalakas V. (2018). Consumer social voice in the age of social media: segmentation profiles and relationship marketing strategies. Business Horizons. 61, 157-167.
Shore J, Baek J & Dellarocas C (2018). Twitter is not the echo chamber we think it is. MIT Sloan Management Review, Fall issue, Frontiers. Research insights.
Voorveld, H.A., (2019). Brand Communication in Social Media: A Research Agenda. Journal of Advertising, 48(1), pp.14-26.
A number of online resources/blogs would be recommended in order to keep up with the latest news in the social media world, such as (but not limited to):
TechCrunch: http://www.techcrunch.com
Mashable: http://www.mashable.com

Research element

Conduct research on a firm’s social media practices and appropriately interpret findings from such research to arrive at well-supported recommendations.

International

The module will incorporate a wide range of international cases and contextual examples, drawn from both emerging and developed markets, to critically examine how social media strategies and marketing practices vary across cultural, economic, and regulatory environments. This global perspective will enable students to apply theoretical concepts in diverse real-world settings and develop culturally responsive marketing strategies.

Subject specific skills

Develop practical frameworks and topical concepts which will provide an awareness of analytical frameworks and their application to strategic branding issues
Conduct research on a firm’s social media practices and appropriately interpret findings from such research to arrive at well-supported recommendations.

Transferable skills

Demonstrate clearly developed written and oral arguments drawing upon primary and secondary data analyses and the academic literature.
Demonstrate effective problem solving skills.
Demonstrated developed teamwork skills