SMM1 - Introduction to social media marketing

What are the two core functions of social media according to the definition given?

1. Enable firms to communicate with customers 2. Allow customers to communicate with each other (UGC)

What is the difference between mass media, personal media, and social media?

Mass media reaches many people one-way (TV, radio); personal media is small-scale interactive (email, phone); social media can do both

List the five characteristics of social media marketing (Van Noort & Antheunis, 2011)

1. All marketing communications 2. Initiated by a marketer/organization 3. To influence a target audience 4. By creating a process of sharing the message 5. By users of a social medium

What are WOM and eWOM examples of?

Forms of user-generated content (UGC)

What are the three/four groups of UGC participants?

1. Creators (active producers) 2. Critics (dissatisfied users) 3. Collectors/consumers, including lurkers (influenced by what they see without contributing)

Explain why Ryanair's chaotic, self-deprecating social media style works as a marketing strategy

It uses "flaws" as content (self-deprecation) and trendjacking, which feels authentic and lo-fi, allowing Ryanair to shift the narrative when faced with negative comments rather than triggering persuasion knowledge

What is "trendjacking" and why is it cost-effective?

Piggybacking on the success of other people's viral content/videos; it is inexpensive and highly scalable since you leverage existing momentum

What is Search Everywhere Optimization (GEO) and why has it emerged as a 2026 trend?

Generative Engine Optimization; emerged because AI has shifted user search behavior from keywords to full-sentence conversational queries

According to Li, Larimo & Leonidou (2021), what are the four components of the social media marketing strategy development process?

Drivers, inputs, throughputs, outputs (customer engagement)

Name and rank the four social media marketing strategy types from Li, Larimo & Leonidou (2021) by level of engagement

1. Social commerce (lowest, one-way, promote & sell) 2. Social content (firm-initiated two-way, connect & collaborate) 3. Social monitoring (customer-initiated two-way, listen & learn) 4. Social CRM (highest, collaborative, empower & engage, value co-creation)

What distinguishes a social commerce strategy from a social CRM strategy?

Social commerce is one-way, transactional, low engagement, focused on short-term sales; social CRM is collaborative, integrates social data with CRM systems, and enables value co-creation with high customer engagement

What percentage of social media marketing studies were found to be atheoretic, and what does atheoretic mean?

52.6%; atheoretic means the research is data-driven and not based on or connected to a specific theory or theoretical framework

Name the five research streams in social media marketing identified by Li, Larimo & Leonidou (2023), and the type of value each centers on

1. Promotion & selling outlet (transactional value) 2. Communication & branding channel (media value) 3. Monitoring & intelligence source (informational value) 4. CRM & value cocreation platform (relational value) 5. General strategic marketing tool (strategic value)

Which research stream is the most studied in the SMM literature, and why is that relevant?

Communication and branding channel (35.6%); it covers content marketing, influencer marketing and eWOM, showing the field's strong focus on branding over other value types

What risk is associated with brands using social media purely as a promotion/selling outlet?

Overly intrusive commercial advertising leads to advertising avoidance and increased privacy concerns

According to Borges-Tiago, Tiago & Cosme (2019), what drives a positive attitude toward viral content?

The meaningfulness of the content, which positively affects emotional tone and arousal, which together shape a more positive attitude toward the content

Explain the gap between attitude and sharing behavior found in this study

A positive attitude and willingness to participate do not automatically lead to actually sharing content; people are far less likely to share content directly than to consume or interact with it passively

Describe the three user typologies identified by Borges-Tiago, Tiago & Cosme (2019)

Heavy users (strongly driven by social pressure), social-driven users (use media for socialization), research-driven users (smaller networks, utilitarian use, but most likely to promote viral content in this study)

Why is the finding about research-driven users counter-intuitive?

Despite having smaller networks and using media mainly as an information tool rather than for social purposes, they were the most likely group to promote viral content in this specific case study