MKTG2001 · Digital and Social Media Marketing
Introduction to Digital & Social Media Marketing
Week 1 sets the vocabulary the whole unit is written in: what social-media marketing is, how it differs from one-way traditional marketing, and the POEM (paid / owned / earned) media model you will use to audit a brand's channel mix. It also introduces the T-shaped marketer, the seven myths of social media, and the 2026 shift toward AI Overviews and zero-click search. These framings recur directly in the Voice-of-Customer task and the group plan, where you must classify a brand's media and justify a channel strategy.
What this chapter covers
- 01Social-media marketing definition — creating, distributing and exchanging content to engage audiences and deliver measurable value
- 02Digital & social vs traditional marketing: control vs contributions; trust is slow to earn, easy to lose
- 03POEM model — Paid (advertising, paid search), Owned (website, brand page, app), Earned (word of mouth, reviews, mentions)
- 04The seven myths of social-media marketing (a fad, only for the young, no ROI, not for this business, new, time-consuming, free)
- 05'Marketing the Pinball Way' (Hennig-Thurau et al.) — from one-way 'bowling' to networked 'pinball' where consumers hold power
- 06The T-shaped marketer: broad generalist skills plus one or two deep specialisms (SEO, content, social, PPC)
- 07AI Overviews & zero-click search — success shifts from clicks toward mentions, citations and share of voice
- 08Best-practice foundations: start with a strategy, be transparent, know the audience first, welcome participation
Classify a brand's touchpoints into the POEM model
- +1Recall the definitions. Paid = media you buy; Owned = channels you control; Earned = exposure others give you voluntarily.
- +1Paid: (1) the boosted Instagram ad and (5) the Google Ads search campaign — both are bought placements. Measure with cost metrics (CPM, CPC, CTR) and return on ad spend.
- +1Owned: (2) the website blog and (6) the Facebook brand page — channels the brand controls. Measure with on-site engagement (time on page, engaged sessions) and page-level engagement rate.
- +1Earned: (3) Google reviews and (4) the fan-reshared hashtag — given by others. Measure with share of voice, sentiment and mentions, not spend.
- +1Implication. The three media types need different KPIs: paid answers 'was the spend efficient?', owned answers 'is our content engaging?', earned answers 'what are people saying about us?'. Using a paid metric to judge earned media is a classic error.
Key terms
- Social-media marketing (SMM)
- The systematic process of creating, distributing and exchanging content through social platforms to engage audiences, build relationships and deliver measurable value to stakeholders.
- Paid media
- Media placements a brand buys — advertising, paid search, boosted posts, retail media. Judged on cost efficiency and return on spend.
- Owned media
- Channels a brand controls — its website, blog, brand community, app and brand social pages. Judged on engagement and conversion.
- Earned media
- Exposure others give the brand voluntarily — word of mouth, reviews, comments, mentions and shares. Judged on share of voice and sentiment.
- T-shaped marketer
- A marketer with broad generalist skills (the horizontal bar) plus one or two deep specialisms such as SEO, content or paid social (the vertical).
- Zero-click search
- A search that resolves inside the results page (often via an AI Overview) without the user clicking through, shifting success metrics from clicks toward citations and mentions.
Introduction to Digital & Social Media Marketing FAQ
How is digital and social-media marketing different from traditional marketing?
Traditional marketing is largely one-way and about control — the brand broadcasts a fixed message. Social-media marketing is two-way and about contributions: consumers participate, share and talk back, so brands earn attention rather than simply buy it. Hennig-Thurau's 'pinball' metaphor captures the shift — the message ricochets through a networked audience the brand cannot fully steer.
What is the POEM model and why does it matter for the assessments?
POEM sorts a brand's media into Paid, Owned and Earned. It matters because the Voice-of-Customer task and the group plan both ask you to audit a brand's channel mix and recommend where to invest, and each media type is measured differently. Getting the classification right stops you from, say, judging earned reviews with a paid-advertising metric.
Are the 'seven myths of social media' examinable?
There is no exam, but the myths (that social media is a fad, only for young people, has no ROI, is free, and so on) are useful rhetorical set-ups in the plan's introduction, where you justify why the brand should invest. Naming and rebutting a relevant myth shows you understand the strategic case for social.
Can AI help me with the Week 1 concepts?
Yes — Sia can quiz you on POEM classifications, explain why social marketing is 'contributions not control', or unpack how AI Overviews change the success metric. It teaches the method and checks your understanding; it will not write your assessment, and University of Newcastle academic-integrity rules apply.
Exam move
Lock in the POEM model first — it is the lens for the media audits in both the Voice-of-Customer task and the group plan. Pick the two brands you will follow all term and sort their real channels into Paid, Owned and Earned in week one, noting which metric fits each. Learn the digital-vs-traditional contrast as a one-line argument ('control vs contributions') you can drop into the plan's introduction, and keep a short note on how AI Overviews shift success toward citations and share of voice. Confirm the current reading list and tool set-up on Canvas. If a distinction is fuzzy, ask Sia to test you on borderline channel classifications.
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