Mobile, Media and Marketing
Undergraduate
HND
Social Media Content Creation
Salford School of Arts, Media and Creative Technology
Attendance
Full-time
Part-time
Course
Two year
Four year
Next enrolment
September 2023
In a nutshell
This two-year course trains you to become a social media content creator who will be skilled in producing, delivering and distributing content across the range of technology platforms across all areas of business and culture.
Social media content is a fast-growing field, which we all see in our daily lives, from shoppable content on Instagram to posts and adverts on YouTube. The course teaches you to create content for social media channels and platforms (e.g., Facebook, Instagram, Tiktok, Snapchat, Twitter, Linkedin, YouTube), and to understand distribution technologies for tracking and measuring the success of your content.
This programme is subject to approval.
You will:
- Learn to become a social media producer of content, skilled in producing, delivering and distributing content across the range of technological platforms across all areas of business and culture.
- Gain a detailed knowledge of the practices and regulation of the social media industry.
- Learn how to run a small business as a freelancer – including basic budgeting and project accounting, VAT, use of accounts apps, record keeping and other useful tools.
- Learn how to confidently shoot content using the latest market-relevant camera and sound recording equipment.
All about the course
This programme is designed to prepare you for self-employment, employment or top-up study.
The structure below is the two year route. Modules may include:
Year one
This module covers:
- Contemporary marketing in a mobile-first world:
- Anticipating, understanding and fulfilling customer needs and desires
- Creating and curating social media content to engage audiences
Video Shoot and Sound
In this module you will learn how to create a video including how to use a camera, how to light a scene, how to focus and how to record sound to a professional standard.
Video Editing
In this module you will learn how to edit the video you have shot so that it becomes a finished, polished and professional product that you could distribute on social media. You will develop digital edit skills with a focus on short form editing via traditional and contemporary editing and post-production processes.
Video Creation and Edit for Social and Digital Media
This module brings the creating and editing skills you have been learning together, and gives you the opportunity to practise a complete shoot and edit to a professional standard.
Social Media Channels, Platforms and Analytics
This module gives you an end-to-end guide to how to create and deliver an effective podcast.
Client Communications
This module will show you how to communicate with and nurture relationships with clients. This will include how to understand, articulate and interpret live briefs and projects and progress to delivering appropriately constructed and designed content to a deadline.
Year two
Podcast Creation and Edit
Podcasting is increasingly a major force in the media and this module gives you the skills to record and edit them, and teaches you how to distribute podcasts.
Planning and Pre-production
This module covers the basics of what you will need to do, as industry professionals, before a shoot in order to make sure it is properly put together. This covers topics from insurance, cast management and risk assessment to health, safety and budgeting.
End-to-End Content Creation
On this module you will have the chance to take the creation of an advertising video through its entire journey. This brings together for you all the skills you have so far acquired in video conception and creation, from analysing the market and the audience, to creating and delivering the right video to the client, to distributing it
Professional Development
This module will develop your organisational, entrepreneurial, networking and presentation skills. You will develop team working and leadership knowledge and understanding to allow you to position yourself positively in the external global marketplace.
Final Major Project
This module takes you right out into the real world of production. It provides you with the opportunity to showcase your creative and digital media skills through engagement with, and delivery of, a live industry brief.
Please note that it may not be possible to deliver the full list of options every year as this will depend on factors such as how many students choose a particular option. Exact modules may also vary in order to keep content current. When accepting your offer of a place to study on this programme, you should be aware that not all optional modules will be running each year. Your tutor will be able to advise you as to the available options on or before the start of the programme. Whilst the University tries to ensure that you are able to undertake your preferred options, it cannot guarantee this.
Be part of a creative, supportive community
This Social Media HND course is delivered by the Salford School of Arts, Media, and Creative Technology. Our focus is to ensure that you have the skills you need to pursue your dreams, and we encourage our students, past and present, to collaborate with each other and achieve great things.
Whatever you choose to study with us, you’ll be mentored and supported by experts. And once you graduate, it won’t end there, you’ll join a thriving alumni network across Greater Manchester and beyond.
FACILITIES
Our MediaCity facilities are industry-standard, so much so that they are used by our industry partners themselves.
These are some of the facilities used to support teaching and learning in our Creative Technology and Broadcast Media programme areas:
TV studios - our TV studios have been used by the BBC for a variety of broadcasts, such as the Olympics and Christmas music concerts, and they’re equipped with the same audio-visual systems used by ITV and Sky too.
The studios have green screen facilities as well as basic props so you can design and build sets for a range of projects.
Green screen facilities - these allow you to create effects such as those you see on weather reports and incorporate a camera system and 3D graphics software.
Audio production - we’ve got all the hardware and software you need to make sure you’ll know just how to create, edit, mix and master audio for film and television. Our main studios feature Avid S6 consoles – a similar set-up to those at our MediaCity neighbours, such as Dock10 and ITV.
Fabrication lab - in this space you can produce physical prototypes using a variety of cutting-edge technology (3D printers, laser cutting, etc)
Digital Lab - this lab is equipped with the latest technology for motion capture and the development of immersive digital experiences.
Stop-frame studio – we have animation booths equipped with industry-standard lighting, grip, software and cameras and learn just what it takes to make your ideas and storyboards a reality.
Computer Suites and Editing Studios – our computer suites are equipped with the latest industry-standard software. You’ll learn from our experienced demonstrators, who’ll teach you the skills needed to turn your concepts into a reality.
Equipment stores - cameras, lighting kits and mics – they’re all essential to media production. But don’t worry, you won’t need to spend thousands of pounds to get the set-up you need – we have a fully equipped equipment store available for you to use and take out industry-standard kit.
What about after uni?
Graduates can go straight into industry in a wide range of jobs and employers.
A typical employer might be the marketing department of an ecommerce company, sports team or public sector body, or one of the hundreds of agencies aiming to serve them.
In the North there is a market for social media content, including major online companies like Rental Cars, The Hut Group, AO.com, Money Supermarket, Beauty Bay, AutoTrader, and Missguided. Social media is vital also to sporting organisations including BBC Sport, Manchester United, Liverpool FC and Manchester City. Alternatively, you might work for a major broadcaster like BBC, Channel 4 or ITV, or the production companies that supply them. Looking beyond the private sector, you could work for the government, police or major charities.
Career Links
We have industry links with a range of media organisations, including Channel 4, ITV, BBC Sport and The Hut Group.
What you need to know
As an applicant, you will:
- be an enthusiast for all aspects of social media and curious about how it is created, measured and used to bring about success for companies, sports teams, government and charities
- have a good working knowledge of YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok and any other social platforms people are using. You might also know something about big ecommerce sites like Amazon, MyProtein and PrettyLittleThing
- be aware of podcasts and already have a set of favourites you could discuss and analyse, gaining new insights through the course
- be curious to know about how to shoot and edit video, how to look at social media analytics, how to work out which channel to use, and how to create content that resonates with very different target audiences.
Standard entry requirements
GCSE
English Language at grade C/level 4 or above (or equivalent) is required. Maths at grade C/4 or above (or equivalent) is preferred but not essential.
You must fulfil our GCSE entry requirements as well as one of the requirements listed below.
UCAS tariff points
72 points
A Level
72 points
BTEC Extended Diploma
MMP
Scottish Highers
72 points
Irish Leaving Certificate
72 points
For international students
English lanaguage requirements
If you are an international student and not from a majority English speaking country, you will need IELTS 6.0 with no element below 5.5. We accept qualifications from all around the world. Find your country to see a full list of entry requirements.
We also accept a range of other English language qualifications
Alternative entry requirements
Salford Alternative Entry Scheme (SAES)
We welcome applications from students who may not meet the stated entry criteria but who can demonstrate their ability to pursue the course successfully. Once we have received your application we will assess it and recommend it for SAES if you are an eligible candidate.
There are two different routes through the Salford Alternative Entry Scheme and applicants will be directed to the one appropriate for their course. Assessment will either be through a review of prior learning or through a formal test.
How much?
| Type of study | Year | Fees |
|---|---|---|
| Full-time home | 2023/24 | £8,250per year |
| Full-time international | 2023/24 | £15,120per year |
| Part-time | 2023/24 | The part time fee is calculated on a pro rata basis |
Additional costs
You should also consider further costs which may include books, stationery, printing, binding and general subsistence on trips and visits.
Scholarships for international students
For more information go to International Scholarships.