Social media and Marketing: how to connect to your customers

With the development of new technology, it comes as no surprise that businesses have to keep up and adjust the way they market their products accordingly. In 2022, that means proactively utilising social media channels and the latest trends in the digital space.  

A lot of marketing is now focused on social media platforms. Even the traditional marketing platforms, like radio commercials or newspaper ads, are now linked to social media and, essentially, to people's phones, explains Marketing senior lecturer Nick Pronger.  

Nick has worked as a Marketing lecturer for over 20 years in Britain, Israel, Hungary and Mexico and now heads the MSc Marketing programme at Birkbeck and the University of London.  

The world is better connected than ever, which means that the companies are also more transparent than before, and customers can pick and choose what they spend their money on, he explains. 

People have a lot more access to information now, they can do their own marketing research on products, but they need guidance from the companies. That’s the role of the marketer, to help people locate products and services that are the best suited for them.

“Consumers’ expectations are also much higher thanks to technology and being able to contact organisations 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Sometimes it's not possible to employ people all those times, but if you have the technology set up to respond to people, then they feel better satisfied with the organisation and their products and the brand.” 

The MSc in Marketing offers both theoretical knowledge about various marketing strategies and buyer behaviour, and practical skills relating to analytics tools and data. It also includes highly relevant modules on social media marketing, Internet marketing and E-commerce digital marketing analytics. What’s more, the programme allows students to develop a critical perspective on the work they do. 

A key learning outcome, I think, is the critical reflection. Quite often marketers don't have the time or the need to review what they do and how they do it and do it. Doing a master’s enables students and working marketers to do that.

The programme will benefit people already working in marketing departments, but also in management and entrepreneurs with their own companies.  

“It's often a case where a company starts small and then grows, and then they have to introduce some professional level of management and marketing, so a master's degree helps provide that,” explains Nick. 

The programme is completely online, which allows students to not only gain a University of London degree from anywhere in the world, but also study according to their own schedule. 

The modules, Nick points out, are the same as the in-person ‘tried and tested’ programme that’s been running at Birkbeck for several years now, and has led to many successful careers in marketing.  

“We do have contact with our alumni, many of whom have moved into marketing roles in their own companies, or got jobs in advertising agencies, social media organisations and creative marketing fields.” 

Take your career to the next level with the University of London’s MSc Marketing.