The Social Media Landscape

Overview

By completing The Social Media Landscape course, you will gain a comprehensive understanding of social media's pivotal role in society and its power in persuasive communication within the business context. This course uniquely combines theoretical insights with practical applications, ensuring you can effectively navigate and leverage various social media channels. You will learn to define social media and its strategic use in brand communication, exploring the different types of media—paid, earned, shared, and owned—and their contributions to brand messaging. Through case studies, you will examine how successful brands develop their voice and identity, coordinate messaging strategies, and manage responsibility and liability in social media communication. Additionally, you will delve into word-of-mouth communication, user-generated content, and the importance of persuasion in marketing. You will identify organizational stakeholders and discover opportunities for engagement across different social media platforms. Understanding demographics and audience segmentation will enable you to craft messages that resonate with target audiences and drive desired behaviors. This course stands out by offering a blend of academic knowledge and real-world examples, preparing you to excel in the dynamic field of social media marketing.

Syllabus

Understanding Social Media: The Basics

You will define social media and its use in persuasion and strategic communication practices. The different types of media - paid, earned, shared, and owned - are defined and their contribution to brand communication discussed. You will explore brands, including the mission and core values, developing the brand voice and identity, and coordinating messaging strategies. Different case studies will be examined and how other brands use social media. Lastly, this module touches on responsibility and liability in brand communication on social media.

Word-of-Mouth and Persuasion

You will define word-of-mouth communication on social media. You will be able to define persuasion and understand why it is important to marketing communication. User-generated content will be examined and its role in the decision-making process. You will also define organizational stakeholders and identify opportunities for engagement on social media. Every generation uses social media differently and has unique expectations of the platforms; you will understand how to craft messages that connect with target audiences.

Audience Demographics of Social Media Platforms

You will understand demographics and segmentation in marketing communications. The differences in social media platforms will be discussed, and how different audiences used the platform affordances differently. You will understand how to conduct research and glean insight to better understand consumer behaviors. Knowing the audience will ensure that social media messaging resonates with them, and activates behavior.