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BUSI47S15: SOCIAL MEDIA STRATEGIES (TAUGHT)

It is possible that changes to modules or programmes might need to be made during the academic year, in response to the impact of Covid-19 and/or any further changes in public health advice.

Type Tied
Level 4
Credits 15
Availability Not available in 2024/2025
Module Cap
Location Durham
Department Management and Marketing

Prerequisites

  • None

Corequisites

  • None

Excluded Combinations of Modules

  • Social Media Strategies (Online)

Aims

  • To explore the strategies and goals underpinning use of social media in organisations, together with the drivers for enterprise and value creation
  • To understand the need for integration of social media platforms across business functions (i.e. marketing, human resources, supply chain management, etc.)
  • To develop the knowledge and skills needed to design, implement and evaluate a strategy for the coordination of employee tasks and customer experiences across a variety of social media channels

Content

  • Social media in organisations uses, power and business risks
  • Social media strategies business case, plans and priorities
  • Core competencies for the agile digital enterprise
  • Technologies for social media success infrastructure, governance and support
  • Return on investment, key performance indicators and social media metrics
  • CRM integration and customer analytics
  • B2C and C2B marketing, PR and the voice of the customer
  • The social media back office workforce engagement, areas of application, stakeholder collaboration, power and control issues, etc.
  • Employee empowerment roles, responsibilities, incentives, traits, culture, etc.
  • The dark side of social media managing legal issues, ethics, misbehaviour, etc.

Learning Outcomes

Subject-specific Knowledge:

  • On completion of the module students should have:
  • a critical understanding of the development of social media use in organisations, its associated business models and technologies, and the trends shaping its future
  • advanced knowledge of challenges and critical success factors involved in managing social media initiatives and the organisational back and front offices
  • a critical appreciation of social media strategy development, approaches, and performance optimisation and evaluation methodologies

Subject-specific Skills:

  • By the end of the module, students should:
  • be able to evaluate an organisation's current social media capabilities including demand for, and barriers to, the use of digital channels
  • be able to collect quality data from internal and external sources, assess and extract relevant information, and devise targeted digital and mobile marketing communication strategies
  • be able to scope, plan, implement, manage and evaluate an effective and ethical social media strategy implementation

Key Skills:

  • In addition, students will have had the opportunity to further develop the following key skills:
  • effective written communication skills
  • planning, organising and time management skills
  • problem solving and analytical skills
  • the ability to use initiative
  • advanced skills in the interpretation of data
  • advanced computer literacy skills

Modes of Teaching, Learning and Assessment and how these contribute to the learning outcomes of the module

  • Learning outcomes will be met through a combination of taught input, groupwork, case studies and discussion, supported by guided reading and specially-written self-study material.
  • The summative assessment of the module is designed to test the acquisition and articulation of knowledge and critical understanding, and skills of application and interpretation within the business context.

Teaching Methods and Learning Hours

ActivityNumberFrequencyDurationTotalMonitored
Workshops (a combination of taught input, groupwork, case studies and discussion), timetabled in blocks28 
Preparation and reading122 
Total150 

Summative Assessment

Component: Group AssignmentComponent Weighting: 25%
ElementLength / DurationElement WeightingResit Opportunity
Group project, involving the production of a social media strategy for simulated enterprise, presented in Wiki format Equivalent to the work of a 1000 individual essay100Individual 1000-word essay, based on a case study analysis
Component: Individual AssignmentComponent Weighting: 75%
ElementLength / DurationElement WeightingResit Opportunity
Individual reflective learning journal, based around the strategy development exercise, presented in weblog format3,000 words100Same

Formative Assessment

Continuous assessment and feedback on group performance in a simulated strategy development exercise.

More information

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