MARK2012 · Marketing Fundamentals
Digital, Social Media and AI in Marketing
This chapter explores digital and social-media marketing — owned, earned and paid channels, content and community, and the 4E framework (excite, educate, experience, engage) — and how AI is reshaping marketing practice. It is directly useful for the A3 TikTok-styled SDG video and connects to the AI Service Marketing Simulation. Confirm the exact teaching week on Moodle.
What this chapter covers
- 01Digital channels and the owned / earned / paid media split
- 02The 4E framework: Excite, Educate, Experience, Engage
- 03Content marketing, community and social platforms; influencer/creator marketing
- 04Digital metrics: impressions, click-through rate, engagement, conversion
- 05AI in marketing: personalisation, recommendation, service automation, generative content
- 06Short-form video and how to communicate a marketing idea to a lay audience (A3 TikTok)
- 07Ethical use of data and avoiding greenwashing in digital messaging
Applied: a 4E and owned/earned/paid plan for a sustainable snack brand
- +1Excite: a short, entertaining brand video with a strong hook that makes the sustainability story fun, not preachy.
- +1Educate: explainer content on the brand's packaging/sourcing so followers learn something useful (owned content).
- +1Experience and Engage: an interactive challenge or user-generated-content campaign that invites participation and replies, building community.
- +1Media split: owned = the brand's own channel/content; earned = shares, UGC and influencer coverage the brand doesn't pay for directly; paid = boosted posts and paid influencer partnerships. Balance the three.
Key terms
- 4E framework
- The social/digital reframing of promotion around the customer: Excite, Educate, Experience and Engage.
- Owned / earned / paid media
- Owned = channels the brand controls; earned = coverage/shares others give unpaid; paid = advertising and paid placements.
- Content marketing
- Creating valuable, relevant content to attract and retain a defined audience rather than directly pitching a product.
- Influencer / creator marketing
- Partnering with creators who have engaged audiences to carry a brand message credibly.
- Conversion / CTR
- Conversion is the share of an audience taking the desired action; click-through rate is the share who click a link or ad.
- AI in marketing
- Using AI for personalisation, recommendation, service automation and generative content — reshaping how value is created and delivered.
Digital, Social Media and AI in Marketing FAQ
What is the difference between owned, earned and paid media?
Owned media are channels the brand controls (its website, app, social account and content). Earned media are the unpaid coverage, shares and user content others create about the brand. Paid media are the placements you buy (ads, boosted posts, paid partnerships). A healthy digital plan uses all three, with earned media the hardest to buy and often the most trusted.
How do I make the A3 TikTok video effective?
Translate the report's dense analysis into one clear, relatable message for first-year students: pick a single SDG, lead with a hook, use one concrete example, and show why the audience should care — using storytelling and visuals rather than restating findings. It is graded on communication and creativity/engagement, so clarity and appeal beat completeness.
How is AI changing marketing in this course?
AI features as a technological macro force and a practical tool — personalisation, recommendation and service automation — and you experience it directly in the Week 7 AI Service Marketing Simulation. Remember that for graded work the UNSW academic-integrity policy governs AI use: it is only permitted where the coordinator allows it, and must be acknowledged.
Can Sia help me with the 4E framework and owned/earned/paid media in MARK2012?
Yes, as a study aid. Sia can explain the 4E framework and owned/earned/paid media step by step, walk through a worked application to a real brand, and check whether your reasoning uses the framework correctly for your reflection, presentation or report. It teaches the method and checks your thinking; it does not complete graded assessment for you, and the UNSW academic-integrity policy applies — confirm assessment rules on Moodle.
Assessment move
Learn the 4E framework and the owned/earned/paid split, then practise building a short social plan for a brand and classifying each tactic. Use this directly to plan the A3 TikTok video: one SDG, one hook, one example, one reason to care. Keep any sustainability claims honest to avoid greenwashing, cite digital data (Harvard), and confirm the teaching week and A3 video brief on Moodle.
Working through Digital, Social Media and AI in Marketing in MARK2012? Sia is AskSia’s AI Business and Economics tutor — ask any MARK2012 Digital, Social Media and AI in Marketing question and get a clear, step-by-step explanation grounded in how MARK2012 is taught and assessed. Read this chapter free, then take your hardest questions to Sia.
