What is Social? (Coursera)

What is Social? (Coursera)

The “What Is Social?" MOOC is for business owners, executives, and marketing professionals who want to significantly improve their abilities to grow their social strategy using effective, proven methodologies. This hands on, "how to" program won’t just tell you how to grow your professional persona using social – you will actually do it! This course is the first in the six-course specialization, Social Media Marketing: How to Profit in a Digital World.

Class Deals by MOOC List - Click here and see Coursera's Active Discounts, Deals, and Promo Codes.

While the course can be audited for free, paid learners will receive additional content beyond the course basics. For MOOC 1, the toolkit includes a special video from Alessandro Acquisti on Big Data and a set of studies done by IBM on engagement and social marketing strategies with bottom-line profits.
This course has been designed to give you the tools, insights, knowledge, and skills to immediately impact your organization. In addition, we will help you network with thought leaders in social. After completing this course, you and your organization’s staff will be able to position, engage, and grow relationships with the consumers of highest value to you.
Today, we are living in a period of massive disruption. New technologies are changing the way people engage with each other and with the organizations that interest them. This course will start you on the path to growing your own social strategy using effective, proven methodologies.
Additional MOOC 1 faculty include:

  • Judy Ungar Franks (President, The Marketing Democracy, Ltd. & Lecturer, Medill Integrated Marketing Communications, Northwestern)

Course 1 of 6 in the Social Media Marketing Specialization.

Syllabus

WEEK 1
Introduction to Social Marketing
In this first module, you will learn about the goals, structure, and deliverables of the Social Marketing Specialization MOOCs, as well as gain an understanding of how the MOOCs in the Specialization will each build on one another to create a truly unique and immediately applicable experience.

WEEK 2
Social Trends
In this module, you will learn not only how the digital revolution has disrupted the marketplace, but also how you can make sense of this disrupted digital world.

WEEK 3
The Business of Social
In this module, you will learn how to view social as holistic, consumer/stakeholder focused, flexible, global, real-time and integrated. You will then complete a peer review assignment which will ask you to define your target audience on social.

WEEK 4
Social Overview
In this module, you will learn to understand the importance of big data and how to deal with all of the quickly changing social sites used today. You will also learn the difference between social networks and communities as well as the reasons that they form. Then, you will set up the social sites that you will use throughout the Specialization.

Go to Class
MOOC List is learner-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.

Related Courses

¿Cómo financiar mi empresa? (Coursera) Coursera
Universidad de los Andes

¿Cómo financiar mi empresa? (Coursera)

Este curso está estructurado para desarrollar la capacidad de entender el proceso de financiamiento de tu emprendimiento, es decir, la financiación de tu empresa para su creación, puesta en marcha y posterior crecimiento. Durante el curso podrás entender los elementos y la estructura de la financiación de tu proyecto, los recursos requeridos para llevarlo a cabo, y finalmente los métodos de identificación y obtención de dichos recursos.

Jun 22nd 2026
4 Weeks
Investment Management in an Evolving and Volatile World by HEC Paris and AXA Investment Managers (Coursera) Coursera
HEC Paris

Investment Management in an Evolving and Volatile World by HEC Paris and AXA Investment Managers (Coursera)

Have you ever wanted to invest in financial markets, but were always afraid that you didn’t have the proper tools or knowledge to make informed decisions? Have you ever wondered how investment management companies operate and what fund managers do? AXA Investment Managers, in partnership with HEC Paris, will introduce you to the most important ideas and concepts in investment management, to help you better understand your financial future.

Jun 22nd 2026
4 Weeks
Successful Negotiation: Essential Strategies and Skills (Coursera) Coursera
University of Michigan

Successful Negotiation: Essential Strategies and Skills (Coursera)

We all negotiate on a daily basis. On a personal level, we negotiate with friends, family, landlords, car sellers and employers, among others. Negotiation is also the key to business success. No business can survive without profitable contracts. Within a company, negotiation skills can lead to your career advancement.

Jun 22nd 2026
5-12 Weeks
Innovation Management (Coursera) Coursera
Erasmus University Rotterdam

Innovation Management (Coursera)

What is innovation management? How do firms bring in new business models and get new products and services to the market? Go on a nine-week journey through innovation management concepts, theories of idea generation, selection, strategy formulation and implementation in this MOOC in Innovation Management. In it, you will also learn the tools for implementing innovation projects yourself. Guided by world-class academics, you will develop an innovative mindset and expertise in how firms successfully create new ideas for marketing new products. The syllabus also includes sessions about innovation strategy, idea management and social networks.

Jun 25th 2026
5-12 Weeks
The Business of Social (Coursera) Coursera
Northwestern University

The Business of Social (Coursera)

In a 2014 study of CEOs and CMOs, IBM found 63% wanted social strategies which generate business metrics while only 20% of businesses worldwide actually have them. This means strategies which not only grow your company’s social footprint but link to your sales and marketing systems. With this critical linkage, your social and mobile strategies will provide you with the ability to engage consumers at a 1-to-1 level and measure your social investments in terms of costs, revenues, profits and ROI. In this fifth MOOC of the Social Marketing Specialization - "The Business of Social" - you will learn how to transform your organization's social marketing from an untracked investment to an integral part of your company’s marketing strategy.

Jun 22nd 2026
4 Weeks
Writing Professional Email and Memos (Project-Centered Course) (Coursera) Coursera
University System of Georgia

Writing Professional Email and Memos (Project-Centered Course) (Coursera)

Want your workplace writing to make a positive impression? At the end of this course, you will be a more confident writer, able to create higher quality professional documents more quickly. This course is at the introductory or beginner level and focuses on mastering the basics of email etiquette and communication. While this course will help learners become faster and more efficient writers by virtue of practice with common writing purposes, it does not cover marketing emails or job application materials.

Jun 22nd 2026
4 Weeks
Introduction to Spreadsheets and Models (Coursera) Coursera
University of Pennsylvania

Introduction to Spreadsheets and Models (Coursera)

The simple spreadsheet is one of the most powerful data analysis tools that exists, and it’s available to almost anyone. Major corporations and small businesses alike use spreadsheet models to determine where key measures of their success are now, and where they are likely to be in the future. But in order to get the most out of a spreadsheet, you have know how to use it. This course is designed to give you an introduction to basic spreadsheet tools and formulas so that you can begin harness the power of spreadsheets to map the data you have now and to predict the data you may have in the future.

Jun 22nd 2026
4 Weeks
Viral Marketing and How to Craft Contagious Content (Coursera) Coursera
University of Pennsylvania

Viral Marketing and How to Craft Contagious Content (Coursera)

Ever wondered why some things become popular, and other don't? Why some products becomes hits while others flop? Why some ideas take off while others languish? What are the key ideas behind viral marketing? This course explains how things catch on and helps you apply these ideas to be more effective at marketing your ideas, brands, or products. You'll learn how to make ideas stick, how to increase your influence, how to generate more word of mouth, and how to use the power of social networks to spread information and influence.

Jun 22nd 2026
4 Weeks
Decision-Making and Scenarios (Coursera) Coursera
University of Pennsylvania

Decision-Making and Scenarios (Coursera)

This course is designed to show you how use quantitative models to transform data into better business decisions. You’ll learn both how to use models to facilitate decision-making and also how to structure decision-making for optimum results. Two of Wharton’s most acclaimed professors will show you the step-by-step processes of modeling common business and financial scenarios, so you can significantly improve your ability to structure complex problems and derive useful insights about alternatives. Once you’ve created models of existing realities, possible risks, and alternative scenarios, you can determine the best solution for your business or enterprise, using the decision-making tools and techniques you’ve learned in this course.

Jun 22nd 2026
4 Weeks