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Social Media: Management and Strategy

Module description

This module explores topics of social media management and social media strategy from a critical and practical perspective. Topics covered may include issues of marketing foundations and strategies on social media, brand management and reputation management on social media, and disinformation, propaganda and persuasion in the age of social media. It may also consider practices in different socio-cultural contexts and a range of social media.

Module aims - intentions of the module

The module aims to:

• Provide you with core knowledge and key skills to critically assess developments in the field of social media management and strategy.
• Offer key industry insights and empirical evidence and studies to help you build these skills.
• Provide you with advanced knowledge of management, as well as strategic communication.

Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)

ILO: Module-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 1. Demonstrate a detailed knowledge and critical understanding of the field of social media management and strategy, and relevant scholarly literature in this field
• 2. Display the requisite knowledge and capabilities to develop and manage advanced social media strategies.

ILO: Discipline-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 3. Analyse relevant theoretical ideas and empirical case studies, tracing the development of debates across disciplinary boundaries
• 4. Deploy at an advanced level a range of research and referencing techniques appropriate to the discipline

ILO: Personal and key skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 5. Develop an original argument, backed up by evidence, by engaging with literature and industry insights within and beyond the module
• 6. Apply theories and concepts in the field to assess and analyse “real world” issues relating to social media management and strategy

Syllabus plan

Whilst the content of the module may vary from year to year, it is envisioned that it will cover some or all of the following themes: 

• Social media marketing
• Reputation management on social media
• Crisis management on social media
• Propaganda and persuasion
• Foundations in Management
• Non-Western social media contexts

Learning activities and teaching methods (given in hours of study time)

Details of learning activities and teaching methods

Formative assessment

Summative assessment (% of credit)

Details of summative assessment

Details of re-assessment (where required by referral or deferral)

Re-assessment notes

RE-ASSESSMENT NOTES

Deferral – if you miss an assessment for certificated reasons judged acceptable by the Mitigation Committee, you will normally be either deferred in the assessment or an extension may be granted. The mark given for a re-assessment taken as a result of deferral will not be capped and will be treated as it would be if it were your first attempt at the assessment. 

Referral – if you have failed the module overall (i.e. a final overall module mark of less than 40%) you will be required to submit a further assessment as necessary. If you are successful on referral, your overall module mark will be capped at 40%. 

Indicative learning resources - Basic reading

Basic reading:

• Albarran, A.B. (Ed.) (2013). The Social Media Industries, Media management and economics, Routledge: New York�; London.
• Andrijasevic, Rutvica, Melissa Gregg, Marc Steinberg and Julie Yujie Chen, eds. (2021). Media and Management. Meson Press.
• Atherton, J. (2019). Social Media Strategy: A Practical Guide to Social Media Marketing and Customer Engagement. Kogan Page Books.
• Chaffey, D. and Ellis-Chadwick, F. (2015). Digital Marketing: Strategy, Implementation and Practice. 6th Edition. Pearson
• Dahl, S. (2018) Social media marketing: theories & applications. 2E [Second edition]. London: SAGE.
• Fuchs, C. (2021). Social Media: A Critical Introduction. Los Angeles and London: SAGE.
• Hanlon, A. and Tuten, T. L. (2022). The SAGE Handbook of Social Media Marketing. SAGE.
• Keyes, D. (2018) The rule-breaker’s guide to social media. Hove: DK Publishing.
• Lipschultz, J. (2017). Social Media Communication: Concepts, Practices, Data, Law and Ethics. Abingdon: Routledge.
• Matejic, N. (2015). Social media rules of engagement: Why your online narrative is the best weapon during a crisis. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons.
• McCosker, A, Reid, D. & Farrell, C. (2016). Social Media Industries: Bridging the Gap between Theory and Practice. Melbourne, VIC, Australia: Australian Policy Online.
• Meikle, G. (2016). Social Media: Communication, Sharing and Visibility. New York: Routledge.
• Sutherland, K. E. (2020). Strategic Social Media Management: Theory and Practice. Palgrave
• Van Driel, L. and Dumitrica, D. (2021). Selling brands while staying “Authentic”: The professionalization of Instagram influencers. Convergence: The International Journal of Research into New Media Technologies, 27(1): 66–84.
• Van Looy, A. (2022). Social Media Management: Using Social Media as a Business Instrument. Springer.

Key words search

Social media, management, strategy, digital marketing, branding, reputation management, crisis communication, promotional culture, promotional media, campaigning