Lecture 1 - 07/04
Course outline
8 lectures, 1 online company Q&A, 3 interactive seminars
Attendance mandatory only if you’re presenting
In seminar: presentation (pass/fail)
7mins long presentation
RQ, practical AND scientific relevance, brief methodology
Not everyone needs to present, as long as everyone has contributed
Group assignment: SMM strategy (40%)
During seminar 3: pitch
Exam: MC + open ended questions
A short history of SM
MSN: messenger (1999)
The beginning of CMC
Livejournal: journaling online - blogging (1999)
mySpace: more posting, less chatting
LinkedIn
Hyves: Facebook of NL
Facebook: was exclusive for harvard students (2004)
All these gave rise to SMM (Social Media Marketing)
SM for marketing
- Enable firms to communicate with their customers
- Allow customers to communicate with each other (user-generated content)
Goal of SMM:
Build brand loyalty
Increase brand awareness, brand recognition, brand recall
,The code: a Dove film (campaign)
Initially feedback was good, that Dove showed a realistic side
But also criticism:
Dove is part of Unilever → a company that uses AI a lot for promoting
‘Use AI better, but still use AI’
The skin of ‘real’ women of AI is still very much clean and beautiful looking
User-generated content (UGC)
Internet as a source of information about products/services
Consumers share experiences with products/services among each other
Consumers trust other consumers
Word-of mouth (WOM) and electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) are forms of User-
Generated Content (UGC)
Rynair on tiktok
On April 1: we will shift our communication to be more professional etc.
They have a sarcastic tone of voice
Dissect Ryanair's strategy:
- Cheap, tiktok
- Trendjacking: piggyback on the success of other people’s posts
Create memes or other posts
- Self-deprecation: use flaws as content (e.g. strict with luggage)
- Enables Ryanair to shift the narrative when people make negative comments
Shift this around
- Sassy/sarcastic communication style
- Content on tiktok: chaotic, lo-fi, sarcastic
,Real-time marketing
Engagement, attention for the company, brand awareness
When content from something that is going on e.g. a holiday, april fools
Backlash: Shein
‘Shein on the road’
Influencers invited on a brand event tour in the factory
Narrative: wanted to show how good working conditions are in the factory
The response:
Influencers had to post something → ‘workers are happy etc’
A lot of negative responses/comments
Shein got into a crisis management
Influencers got a lot of hate → got a bit far/extreme; some influencers are not even online
anymore.
UGC:
4 groups of UGC participants
1. Creators (active producers; entire blog posts, videos explaining their opinions)
2. Critics (dissatisfied users), set up a brand community to criticize a brand
3. collectors/consumers (gathering & organizing brand-related content)
4. Passive users/lurkers (consume but not create content)
Impact of social media:
‘They paid all that money for PR instead of using it to actually improve working conditions’
The positive impact of SM:
LA fire victims donations
Molly Russel (a girl who committed suicide): Molly Russel Foundation → Meta and
Pinterest donated a lot of money in this foundation
, SM platforms
Tiktok challenges (second order effect → something that was not anticipated it will
happen; tiktok was not made for challenges)
Pickles on face → dermatologist says that it is not that bad actually
Tiktok trend with kids sharing cookies
Trends 2026
Move away from keywords to conversation
When googling: used to be keywords, now it is full sentences (gemini answers)
‘Search Everywhere Optimization’ (GEO) → SEO is now GEO (Generative Engine
Optimization)
you have to be everywhere to be found
The rise of AI video production: more than 80% of advertising is AI
Paradox: we want more authenticity and trust in content → we want real women in
the Dove campaign
New metrics of success: people are not clicking on websites anymore, instead they
ask AI for something → this is changing the game
SM use in NL (Newcom Research & Consultancy, 2026)
- Whatsapp is the largest platform
In this course we don't see it as a SM because there is not marketing and
advertising on this platform
- Followed by youtube and facebook
- Instagram has risen since 2025
Daily use:
The only difference is that pinterest is still the same since 2025, and snapchat has
decreased
Course outline
8 lectures, 1 online company Q&A, 3 interactive seminars
Attendance mandatory only if you’re presenting
In seminar: presentation (pass/fail)
7mins long presentation
RQ, practical AND scientific relevance, brief methodology
Not everyone needs to present, as long as everyone has contributed
Group assignment: SMM strategy (40%)
During seminar 3: pitch
Exam: MC + open ended questions
A short history of SM
MSN: messenger (1999)
The beginning of CMC
Livejournal: journaling online - blogging (1999)
mySpace: more posting, less chatting
Hyves: Facebook of NL
Facebook: was exclusive for harvard students (2004)
All these gave rise to SMM (Social Media Marketing)
SM for marketing
- Enable firms to communicate with their customers
- Allow customers to communicate with each other (user-generated content)
Goal of SMM:
Build brand loyalty
Increase brand awareness, brand recognition, brand recall
,The code: a Dove film (campaign)
Initially feedback was good, that Dove showed a realistic side
But also criticism:
Dove is part of Unilever → a company that uses AI a lot for promoting
‘Use AI better, but still use AI’
The skin of ‘real’ women of AI is still very much clean and beautiful looking
User-generated content (UGC)
Internet as a source of information about products/services
Consumers share experiences with products/services among each other
Consumers trust other consumers
Word-of mouth (WOM) and electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) are forms of User-
Generated Content (UGC)
Rynair on tiktok
On April 1: we will shift our communication to be more professional etc.
They have a sarcastic tone of voice
Dissect Ryanair's strategy:
- Cheap, tiktok
- Trendjacking: piggyback on the success of other people’s posts
Create memes or other posts
- Self-deprecation: use flaws as content (e.g. strict with luggage)
- Enables Ryanair to shift the narrative when people make negative comments
Shift this around
- Sassy/sarcastic communication style
- Content on tiktok: chaotic, lo-fi, sarcastic
,Real-time marketing
Engagement, attention for the company, brand awareness
When content from something that is going on e.g. a holiday, april fools
Backlash: Shein
‘Shein on the road’
Influencers invited on a brand event tour in the factory
Narrative: wanted to show how good working conditions are in the factory
The response:
Influencers had to post something → ‘workers are happy etc’
A lot of negative responses/comments
Shein got into a crisis management
Influencers got a lot of hate → got a bit far/extreme; some influencers are not even online
anymore.
UGC:
4 groups of UGC participants
1. Creators (active producers; entire blog posts, videos explaining their opinions)
2. Critics (dissatisfied users), set up a brand community to criticize a brand
3. collectors/consumers (gathering & organizing brand-related content)
4. Passive users/lurkers (consume but not create content)
Impact of social media:
‘They paid all that money for PR instead of using it to actually improve working conditions’
The positive impact of SM:
LA fire victims donations
Molly Russel (a girl who committed suicide): Molly Russel Foundation → Meta and
Pinterest donated a lot of money in this foundation
, SM platforms
Tiktok challenges (second order effect → something that was not anticipated it will
happen; tiktok was not made for challenges)
Pickles on face → dermatologist says that it is not that bad actually
Tiktok trend with kids sharing cookies
Trends 2026
Move away from keywords to conversation
When googling: used to be keywords, now it is full sentences (gemini answers)
‘Search Everywhere Optimization’ (GEO) → SEO is now GEO (Generative Engine
Optimization)
you have to be everywhere to be found
The rise of AI video production: more than 80% of advertising is AI
Paradox: we want more authenticity and trust in content → we want real women in
the Dove campaign
New metrics of success: people are not clicking on websites anymore, instead they
ask AI for something → this is changing the game
SM use in NL (Newcom Research & Consultancy, 2026)
- Whatsapp is the largest platform
In this course we don't see it as a SM because there is not marketing and
advertising on this platform
- Followed by youtube and facebook
- Instagram has risen since 2025
Daily use:
The only difference is that pinterest is still the same since 2025, and snapchat has
decreased
