Applying Data Analytics to Social Media Advertising: A Twitter Advertising Campaign Case Study

Abstract

This paper presents a class case study of an assignment that asked students to use a Twitter follower report to design a Twitter advertising campaign. The purpose of this case study is to immerse students in a real social media environment and help them become familiar with analyzing social media data to develop advertising campaigns. Students' interview responses suggest that incorporating a project that requires social media analytics techniques in an advertising class can help them better understand the role of secondary research and database analysis in developing consumer profiles and making campaign decisions. The findings also suggest that students have a strong desire to work with secondary data in designing social media advertising campaigns. The advantages of data analytics should be further explored in advertising campaign classes to help students become successful campaign designers. Limitations and future research direction are also discussed.