D379: Social Media Marketing

D379 is in the third term of the Digital Marketing specialization of WGU's Master of Science in Marketing (3 competency units). WGU describes it as social media from a business perspective: increasing brand awareness, generating leads and building relationships.

Learners develop a strategy across platforms, and the course covers influencer marketing, employee advocacy, social selling and analytics. A simulation gives hands-on practice with targeted ads, demographic targeting, content promotion and scheduling. Students may also complete HubSpot's Social Media Marketing certification.

What D379 Covers

Key Concepts Explained

Choose Platforms by Audience, Not Habit

Start with who you want to reach and where they spend time, then match format and tone. B2B decision-makers and teenage gamers behave very differently.

Influencers, Advocacy and Social Selling

Influencer partnerships borrow trust; employee advocacy uses staff networks; social selling builds relationships that support sales. Discuss fit, disclosure rules and measurement for each.

Analytics

Track reach, engagement, click-through and conversions, then link them to goals. Engagement rate alone does not show business value.

Typical Assignments and How to Approach Them

Paid Social, Targeting and Content Promotion

The simulation described by WGU involves demographic targeting and promoting content, so understand the choices that go into a paid social campaign.

In your write-up, explain why you chose each setting rather than just reporting it. Mention how you would adjust targeting if early results show high clicks but low conversions. Also note platform advertising policies and disclosure requirements, particularly with influencers.

Content Themes and Calendars

A strategy needs a plan for what will be posted. Content themes keep output consistent and make it easier to measure what works.

• Educational: tips and how-to posts that build authority.
• Social proof: customer stories and reviews, used with permission.
• Behind the scenes: people and process that build trust.
• Promotional: offers, kept to a minority of posts.

Present a four-week calendar showing platform, theme, format and call to action. Explain your posting frequency and how you will respond to comments, since community management is part of the third competency. Include a review point where you compare results with goals and adjust.

Self-Check Questions

Ask whether each platform choice is explained by audience and goal, whether content themes connect to the objective, and whether your measures go beyond likes. Check that your process for managing the strategy covers scheduling, community response and review. Also confirm you have kept to platform rules and disclosure requirements for sponsored content.

Where Students Get Stuck

• Everywhere at once. Pick a few platforms and justify them.
• Posting without goals. Tie content to an objective.
• Ignoring rules. Mention advertising disclosure and platform policies.
• Weak measurement. Choose metrics beyond likes.

Study Tips for D379

• Study three brands on social media and note goals, tone and results.
• Build a simple content calendar template.
• Record simulation choices as you go for use in write-ups.
• Keep a short list of metrics with definitions.

How We Help with D379

Send the brief, rubric and any notes. A social media strategist can explain the concepts, review your strategy or prepare a custom plan for a comparable organization.

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