Module: Digital Media Campaigns

Module Specifications.

Current Academic Year 2024 - 2025

All Module information is indicative, and this portal is an interim interface pending the full upgrade of Coursebuilder and subsequent integration to the new DCU Student Information System (DCU Key).

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Date posted: September 2024

Module Title	Digital Media Campaigns
Module Code	CM5993 (ITS) / MCO1059 (Banner)
Faculty	Humanities & Social Sciences	School	Communications
Module Co-ordinator	Tetyana Lokot
Module Teachers	Alessio Cornia
NFQ level	9	Credit Rating	5
Pre-requisite	Not Available
Co-requisite	Not Available
Compatibles	Not Available
Incompatibles	Not Available

Coursework Only
Students must submit new coursework.

Description

This module introduces students to the strategic use of digital and social media for effective campaign management. The module will create awareness among the students of the range of issues to be considered when developing, implementing and evaluating digital media campaigns.

Learning Outcomes

1. Understand the evolution and impact of digital and social media on the creation and management of commercial, social and political campaigns
2. Critically evaluate strategic, editorial and technical choices made by digital campaigners
3. Understand and critically evaluate the strategies, tactics, and tools used to reach, engage and influence target audiences on digital and social media channels
4. Understand how to develop a digital content strategy, how to implement it and how to evaluate its impact

*Type*	*Hours*	*Description*
Workload	Full-time hours per semester
Lecture	22	No Description
Assignment Completion	20	No Description
Group work	23	No Description
Independent Study	60	No Description
Total Workload: 125

All module information is indicative and subject to change. For further information,students are advised to refer to the University's Marks and Standards and Programme Specific Regulations at: http://www.dcu.ie/registry/examinations/index.shtml

Indicative Content and Learning Activities

The Evolving Digital Landscape
An introduction to the digital landscape, how this has evolved and how it has impacted on current social media campaign practice.

The Social Media Players
An examination of the main players in social media; Successful strategies for reaching and engaging target audiences on different platforms; Principles for selecting channels; Key metrics for each.

The Social Media Plan
Developing a plan for social media presence; Tools to monitor and manage across multiple platforms; Dealing with incidents and comments.

Digital Content Strategies
The integration of owned, earned, and paid content; native advertising; mobile, local, and social advertising; Strategic channel selection; Creating digital and social media content; Who generates the content; Crafting network strategies; Presentation of digital content; Sources of errors.

Establishing Communities and Mobilising the Audience
Community development theory; Behaviour Change and social media; Brand authenticity; Social media mobilization; User-generated content; Offline and online advocacy; Transforming audiences into users; best practices for social media engagement.

Social Media Campaigns – Case Studies
We’ll examine examples of recent social media campaigns (commercial, political and social change).

Emerging Trends in Digital Media Campaigns
How to evolve and adapt your digital and social media campaigns, as the landscape continues to evolve, to ensure you can continue to reach, engage and influence target audiences.

Social Listening, Assessing Results, Digital Metrics & ROI
How to effectively monitor social media and online forums to gather data, insight and intelligence on exiting and potential stakeholders; How to identify opportunities to join relevant conversations online; How data and analytics can be used for strategic digital communications; How digital communications activities can be assessed in providing an appropriate return on investment (ROI); Evaluation, tools and best practices in integrating social media metrics into a strategic plan; Developing the assessment protocol and the evaluation tool; Dive deeper into analytics; Preparing an assessment report.

Assessment Breakdown
Continuous Assessment	100%	Examination Weight	0%

Type	Description	% of total	Assessment Date
Course Work Breakdown
Report(s)	Individual assessment of existing digital campaigns Students will choose an existing digital campaign developed by a commercial organization, public institution, NGO, or campaigning group. Then, they will critically assess the strategies, choices, and tools used by the campaigners and evaluate the impact on the target audience. The individual work will be evaluated by the lecturer through two assignment points: - An individual presentation to the class (20%) - A report (30%)	50%	n/a
Group project	Group Project: creating a digital campaign. Each group will be assigned a client and brief and asked to design a digital campaign - to include: aims and objectives, target audiences, digital communications channels to be employed, digital content strategy and digital metrics targets. Students must submit a written proposal to accompany the pitch to the client and will present in class their project and the material produced for the campaign.	50%	n/a

Reassessment Requirement Type
Resit arrangements are explained by the following categories: Resit category 1: A resit is available for both* components of the module. Resit category 2: No resit is available for a 100% continuous assessment module. Resit category 3: No resit is available for the continuous assessment component where there is a continuous assessment and examination element.
* ‘Both’ is used in the context of the module having a Continuous Assessment/Examination split; where the module is 100% continuous assessment, there will also be a resit of the assessment
This module is category 1

Indicative Reading List

Mahoney, L. M., Tang, T.: 2016, Strategic social media: From marketing to social change, Wiley-Blackwell,
Clampitt, P.G.: 2017, Social media strategy: Tools for professionals and organizations, Sage,
Kim, C. M.: 2016, Social media campaigns: Strategies for public relations and marketing, Routledge,
Burgess, J., Marwick, A., & Poell, T.: 2017, The SAGE handbook of social media, (Parts III, IV and V), Sage,

Other Resources

53594, Industry report., Hootsuite, 2022, Social Trends 2022, Accessed from: https://www.hootsuite.com/research/social-trends, 53595, Industry report., Mention, 2022, State of Social: What does the future hold for social media marketing in 2022?, Accessed from: https://mention.com/pardot-2/files/state-of-social-ebook-updated.pdf, 53596, Industry report., TalkWalker, 2022, 2022 Social Media Trends, Accessed from: https://www.talkwalker.com/resource/white-papers/en-final-smt-report.pdf,