MIT Sloan School of Management
Social Media Strategy: Creating Engagement, Insight, and Action
Develop an understanding of the scientific principles behind social media to optimize your social media strategy.
Start date
17 April 2024
Enroll by 09 April 2024
Course duration
6 weeks
Excluding orientation
Language
English
Access resources from start date
Effort
6–8 hours per week
Self-paced learning online
Course overview
The total number of people using social media globally.
Hootsuite (Apr, 2021).
The number of people who started using social media for the first time between January 2020 and January 2021.
We Are Social (Jan, 2021).
As social media evolves, it provides organizations with new and exciting ways to share their message and engage their audiences. However, to drive real action, they need to understand the science behind social media and the key to harnessing it effectively for business success.
The Social Media Strategy: Creating Engagement, Insight, and Action online short course from the MIT Sloan School of Management offers an in-depth look into the forces driving social media and how you can use them strategically to reach your organization’s goals.
Drawing on Sinan Aral’s book, The Hype Machine, you’ll gain an understanding of the technologies and trends impacting the social media landscape, as well as the neurological and economic factors that shape human behavior. Throughout this course, you’ll also learn about several powerful techniques to improve your social media marketing strategy. With guidance from MIT faculty and industry experts, you’ll walk away with the tools to leverage social media’s potential now and in the future.
Is this course for you?
The social media strategy course from MIT Sloan offers valuable functional and strategic skills that are applicable across different types of organizations, whether they operate in the public or private sectors. The program includes several case studies that benefit business leaders and marketing professionals, and provides practical frameworks for navigating the current social media landscape. The course is also relevant to NGOs, governments, policymakers, and influencers who want to engage their audience effectively and ethically.
Course overview
Introduction
As social media evolves, it provides organizations with new and exciting ways to share their message and engage their audiences. However, to drive real action, they need to understand the science behind social media and the key to harnessing it effectively for business success.
The Social Media Strategy: Creating Engagement, Insight, and Action online short course from the MIT Sloan School of Management offers an in-depth look into the forces driving social media and how you can use them strategically to reach your organization’s goals.
Drawing on Sinan Aral’s book, The Hype Machine, you’ll gain an understanding of the technologies and trends impacting the social media landscape, as well as the neurological and economic factors that shape human behavior. Throughout this course, you’ll also learn about several powerful techniques to improve your social media marketing strategy. With guidance from MIT faculty and industry experts, you’ll walk away with the tools to leverage social media’s potential now and in the future.
Is this course for you?
The social media strategy course from MIT Sloan offers valuable functional and strategic skills that are applicable across different types of organizations, whether they operate in the public or private sectors. The program includes several case studies that benefit business leaders and marketing professionals, and provides practical frameworks for navigating the current social media landscape. The course is also relevant to NGOs, governments, policymakers, and influencers who want to engage their audience effectively and ethically.
What will set you apart
The tools to leverage social media to achieve strategic organizational objectives.
An understanding of the economic and neurological underpinnings of social media.
A playbook of tactics to enhance your marketing efforts in a hypersocialized world.
Valuable insight from renowned social media authority Sinan Aral, as well as a host of influential industry experts. Course curriculum
Orientation module
Welcome to your Online Campus
Module 1
The Hype Machine: Social media and the brain
Module 2
The economics of social media: Leveraging the attention economy
Module 3
Under the hood of the Hype Machine: How social media works
Module 4
Personalized mass persuasion
Module 5
Hypersocialization playbook
Module 6
The future of the social media Hype Machine
Get more information
Faculty Director
Sinan Aral
David Austin Professor of Management, Marketing, IT and Data Science, MIT; Director, MIT Initiative on the Digital Economy; Founding Partner, Manifest Capital
Earn a certificate of completion from MIT Sloan
Acquire the skills to enhance your social media marketing and management endeavors, and earn an official digital certificate of completion from MIT Sloan.
This program also counts toward an MIT Sloan Executive Certificate, which you can earn upon completion of four programs where at least three of the four come from your chosen certificate track and at least one is completed in person. Find full details here.
.png)
Get more information
Want to know more?
Why choose GetSmarter?
GetSmarter operates as edX's partner for premium online short course products from the world's leading universities and institutions. With edX, we leverage our people, technology, and resources to power your education and your potential.
We deliver market-led courses that equip working professionals with the expertise required to upskill, reskill or kickstart a completely new career. Through a data-driven approach, we analyze future skills requirements and ensure all courses address this need. We ensure that leading universities and institutions are your expert guides and our people, technology, and resources are your engine – together we power more than just education, we power your potential.
Read more about GetSmarter here and edX here.
Find out more about GetSmarter’s approach to digital learning, course design, and online delivery here.
Payment options
You can pay your course fees before the course starts, or you may opt for a split payment plan on courses that are nine weeks and shorter. For courses 10 weeks and longer, there is a three-part payment plan available. To find out more about payment options please visit our Payment and Financing page, or contact an Enrollment Adviser, to find out which option you qualify for.
Manage your time
GetSmarter's learning model is designed to help you, as a working professional, improve your skills without compromising on work and family responsibilities. The course work is broken up into weekly, manageable bite-sized modules, with incremental deadlines, designed to help you pace yourself over the duration of the course and allow you the legroom to work when it suits you best.
At the beginning of each module you'll be presented with the course content and assignments necessary for completion. You also have access to your Success Adviser who will help you manage your time, and support you with any administrative or technical queries you might have.
Seek employer assistance
By improving your skills and industry knowledge, you'll have an influence on the success of your organization. Why wouldn't you ask your boss to help you fund your studies if it's going to have an impact on the way you do business?
Of our past students, 37 percent have received financial assistance from their employers. You can ask for help, too. Here is a guide to show you how to request financial assistance from your employer.
If you are a Learning & Development (L&D) manager, or involved in training and upskilling for an organization, you can request information regarding our corporate offering on our GetSmarter for business page.
How to change your start date
As part of our commitment to your professional development, GetSmarter offers you a two-week period to change your course start date or request your money back if you’re not fully satisfied.
To qualify for a deferral of your course start date, or to cancel your enrollment and receive a refund of your course fee, your request would need to reach our Success Advisers before the release of Module 2. For more information, please read our Terms and Conditions.
Discover the Online Campus
The Online Campus will be your virtual classroom for the duration of your course. Through its easy-to-use interface you'll have access to a diverse variety of course content formats including: interactive videos, module notes, practice quizzes, presentations, assignment briefs, and additional web resources.
On the Online Campus, you'll also be able to ask questions and interact with your fellow students and teaching team through the discussion forums. If you are looking for your Online Campus login, please see the list of university partner login pages here.
