20543 - SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING

With over 4.6 billion users worldwide, social media has become one of the most powerful marketing channels and core to marketing strategies. Although social media marketing may seem simple on the surface, it involves multiple facets that impact the performance and outcome of strategies. Social offers powerful tactics to reach consumers along the funnel: from online display ads and search engine listings to segmenting, targeting, and engaging (potential) consumers. In this course, we will a) examine how social media has revolutionized the interactions between firms and consumers, b) conduct an in-depth study of social media marketing at both tactical and strategical level, and c) explore the impact of social media on society and health outcomes. The course will be primarily lecture and discussion based, with cases and real-world situations used to anchor class discussions. Throughout the course, we will invoke academic papers and case studies that develop relevant theories and subject them to rigorous scientific tests.

The course is divided into four streams that cover the following topics:

1.       Theory & Key Constructs

Basic key concepts and key learnings based on academic papers

2.       Experimentation & Evaluation

Experimental design, effectiveness and evaluation

3.       Beyond Business: Impact on Society

Social media and a) political outcomes, b) mental health.

4.       Real-World Applications

Simulation, case studies and guest lectures

1.       Understand and apply social marketing concepts and tactics

2.       Develop comprehensive cross-channel social marketing strategies

3.       Design and evaluate experimentation in social marketing

4.       Examine the impact and opportunities of social media beyond business outcomes

·         Understanding social media marketing theory

·         Understanding the psychology underlying social engagement

·         Design multi-channel social marketing campaigns 

·         Apply user participation strategy and content strategy

·         Qualitatively and quantitatively evaluate social marketing campaigns

• Face-to-face lectures
• Guest speaker's talks (in class or in distance)
• Exercises (exercises, database, software etc.)
• Case studies /Incidents (traditional, online)
• Individual assignments
• Group assignments

·         Guest speakers: Lectures by various experts in social media allow students to understand how social media marketing is applied in real-world and what challenges one faces in designing and evaluating campaigns and in engaging and converting consumers.

·         Case studies: MBA-style discussion classes in which we cover case studies related to social media marketing strategy.

·         Interactive lectures: covering social media (marketing) theory and concepts. Students will also be asked to present.

·         Final group project: design a cross-channel social media strategy for a company.

·         Weekly simulation exercise

• Group Project:            40%  

• Final exam:                 40% 

• Simulation:                 20%

   

The team project assesses students’ ability to apply the methods learned during the course and design an effective and substantial social marketing strategy for a company.

The written exam includes questions referring concepts, models and tools presented and discussed in class.

Attendance will be registered at the beginning of all the sessions. In order to get the attending student status, students should be present in at least 75% of the lessons.

Exam: open-ended + multiple choice questions 

The exam is aimed at verifying the concepts students learned when studying the teaching material. 

• Lecture notes and Slides
• Book: Social media marketing / Tracy L. Tuten & Michael R. Solomon

• Lecture notes and Slides
• Book: Social media marketing / Tracy L. Tuten & Michael R. Solomon
• Academic articles (available in the detailed syllabus)