• Explain what a social media marketing strategy is from a branding perspective
• What can be pros and cons of a social media strategy for companies
• Discuss the different social media business models
• Create social media-focused marketing solutions to various brand issues as part of a social media strategy
• Analyze and evaluate various social media marketing efforts and omni-channels
• Evaluate various social audiences and engagement opportunities in a digital environment
• Indicate the audience behavior by platform and the connection to brand audience goals
• Develop the expertise to establish a voice, tone, and social presence for a brand (Content management)
• Indicate the tools available for use in social media and social media sites and how they can be used for both communication, marketing and branding purposes
• Indicate the KPI's in social media: Web Analytics: Google Analytics; Scorecards for social media campaigns, etc
• Discuss the profitability consequences of social media

Aim of the course
The purpose of this course is to give the students the skills and abilities needed to develop an effective and innovative social media marketing strategy, to improve the user experience and the image and reputation of the brand and the company. Grounded in social media marketing from a digital branding perspective, the students will learn how to build a social media marketing strategy, and understand what elements are necessary for a strong social media engagement strategy for a brand or organization.

The course touches upon the establishment of social media communities, the theories behind digital engagement and actions. Moreover, the students will learn how to produce a social media audit and use it to understand the social media skills of evaluation, social listening, and audience-specific engagement drivers.

Content

As companies and customers increasingly interact on social media, the social media channel becomes highly important seen from a branding perspective. The social media presence of a brand both reflects the brand image and influences the brand associations made by consumers. Deciding on the appropriate social media platforms to use for brand communications and how, becomes critical for companies when struggling to appeal to the online audience with the purpose to increase their brand awareness and brand attitude, but also improve the brand’s image. The course will include a range of social media platforms, including Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Google +, Pinterest etc.

The relationship between social media and branding is also prominent for customers. With the emerging customer-centric mindset, it becomes important to familiarize with the customers’ online behavior, and understand how they regard social media and what appeals to them in terms of content created for branding purposes. Creating appealing content on the social media channel to attract the customers’ attention represents the future of a company’s brand innovation with almost limitless opportunities for higher brand performance. Thus, understanding how customers perceive the role and value of social media is vital for companies and their brands striving for success in the online environment.

Text collection and research papers (Indicative literature - more literature will be announced upon enrollment):

Holt, D. (2016). Branding in the age of social media. Harvard business review, 94(3), 40-50.

Tuten, T. L., & Solomon, M. R. (2017). Social media marketing. Sage.

James H. McAlexander, John W. Schouten, Harold F. Koenig (2002) Building Brand Community. Journal of Marketing: January 2002, Vol. 66, No. 1, pp. 38-54.

Abhishek Borah and Gerard J. Tellis (2016) Halo (Spillover) Effects in Social Media: Do Product Recalls of One Brand Hurt or Help Rival Brands?. Journal of Marketing Research: April 2016, Vol. 53, No. 2, pp. 143-160.

Michael Trusov, Randolph E. Bucklin, Koen Pauwels (2009) Effects of Word-of-Mouth Versus Traditional Marketing: Findings from an Internet Social Networking Site. Journal of Marketing: September 2009, Vol. 73, No. 5, pp. 90-102.

Ashish Kumar, Ram Bezawada, Rishika Rishika, Ramkumar Janakiraman, and P.K. Kannan (2016) From Social to Sale: The Effects of Firm-Generated Content in Social Media on Customer Behavior. Journal of Marketing: January 2016, Vol. 80, No. 1, pp. 7-25.

Ashley, C., & Tuten, T. (2015). Creative strategies in social media marketing: An exploratory study of branded social content and consumer engagement. Psychology & Marketing, 32(1), 15-27.

Michaelidou, N., Siamagka, N. T., & Christodoulides, G. (2011). Usage, barriers and measurement of social media marketing: An exploratory investigation of small and medium B2B brands. Industrial marketing management, 40(7), 1153-1159.

Borah, A., & Tellis, G. J. (2016). Halo (spillover) effects in social media: do product recalls of one brand hurt or help rival brands?. Journal of Marketing Research, 53(2), 143-160.

Kohli, C., Suri, R., & Kapoor, A. (2015). Will social media kill branding?. Business Horizons, 58(1), 35-44.