This course is held in English.

A social media marketing strategy is a summary of everything a business plans to do and hopes to achieve on social media. It guides actions and shows whether the campaigns are successful or not. In this course, students will learn the fundamentals of creating and managing an effective social media strategy.

We will do that by following the 5 main points of a marketing strategy:  

After completing this course, students will be able to:

1. Create specific, measurable, attainable, and time-specific goals for a social media campaign, and recognize appropriate KPIs for these goals.

2. Define customer personas, and be able to research which customer groups to pinpoint with specific targeting options.

3. Apply the fundamentals of competitive analysis and benchmarking of planned campaigns based on competitors. 

4. Understand the basics of creating engaging paid and organic content on social media, notice trend cycles, and apply social listening to marketing campaigns.

5. Recognize the importance of tracking campaign metrics, and optimizing a campaign on a data-driven basis.

6. Analyze basic social media KPIs.

7. Understand and discuss the societal effects social media has on different groups of people.

8. Effectively communicate a social media strategy in a presentation.

Attendance of at least 80% of all classes is mandatory. In special instances, there will be a possibility to miss one additional class on individual basis.

This course uses a mix of learning formats to keep things dynamic and applied. Expect a blend of:

• Short lectures to introduce key concepts

• Group discussions to challenge ideas and deepen understanding

• Collaborative presentations to build real-world communication skills

• Worksheets and structured exercises to reinforce learning

Each unit combines theoretical frameworks—grounded in the recommended readings—with hands-on, practice-oriented tasks designed to simulate real social media strategy work.

As part of the course, students will also complete the HubSpot Social Media Marketing Certification, providing an industry-recognized credential that provides practical knowledge and adds professional value beyond the classroom.

Your final grade will be based on a mix of individual work, participation, group work, and certification. Here’s how it breaks down:

Individual Assignments (35%)
You’ll complete three main tasks on your own:

• Customer Personas & Target Groups – 10%

• Content Plan – 10%

• Campaign Analysis – 15%

Class Participation & Engagement (20%)
This includes both your involvement during sessions and in-class assignments:

• Self-Assessment – 10%

• Lecturer’s Assessment – 10%

Final Group Presentation (25%)
In Session 8, you’ll present your group’s social media strategy. This grade also includes a peer assessment component—your teammates’ feedback matters.

HubSpot Certification (20%)
Completing the HubSpot Social Media Marketing Certification is a solid chunk of your grade, and it gives you a professional credential in the process.

Bonus Points (Up to +5%)
You can earn up to 5% extra credit by creating at least four pieces of original digital content—this could be a meme, a short video, an infographic, or anything relevant to the course or current events. Think creative, think shareable.

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