Social media marketing: comparing past and present strategies

Summary

This 90-minute ESL lesson for B2 learners explores Social media marketing: comparing past and present strategies through a real article. Across 12 interactive exercises, you'll develop reading comprehension, vocabulary, grammar, practical communication, speaking skills — all built around authentic English content.

What you'll practise:

• 5 key vocabulary items with definitions and usage notes
• 5 extended vocabulary terms to broaden your range
• Grammar focus: The passive voice for describing processes with examples and practice
• Real-world phrases for brainstorming ideas for a social media campaign
• Gap-fill and cloze exercises to test vocabulary in context
• Matching exercise to connect terms with their meanings
• Error correction to sharpen grammar awareness

Lesson activities (12 exercises)

Each exercise builds on the previous one. Work through them in order for the best learning experience.

1. Warm-up — Discussion questions to activate what you already know about the topic.
2. Comprehension — Answer questions to check your understanding of the main ideas and supporting details.
3. Vocabulary — Learn key words and expressions from the article, with definitions and usage notes.
4. Fill the gaps — Complete sentences with the correct vocabulary. Drag and drop or type your answers.
5. Grammar — Study The passive voice for describing processes — explanation, examples, and key rules.
6. Error correction — Find and fix the mistake in each sentence — a great grammar workout.
7. Practical English — Learn phrases for brainstorming ideas for a social media campaign — ready to use in real conversations.
8. Cloze passage — Fill in blanks within a connected text to practise vocabulary in context.
9. Extended vocabulary — Go beyond the basics with additional expressions related to the topic.
10. Matching — Connect words, phrases, or concepts to their correct counterparts.
11. Discussion — Reflect on the topic and share your opinions using the language you've learned.

Vocabulary

This lesson introduces 5 key terms drawn directly from the article:

• To gain traction — to start becoming popular, accepted, or successful.
• To resonate with an audience — to connect with people in a way that feels personally meaningful or important to them.
• A paradigm shift — a fundamental and important change in the way something is done or thought about.
• To leverage something — to use something you have (like data, content, or influence) in an effective way to achieve a goal.
• To stay ahead of the curve — to be more advanced or innovative than your competitors by anticipating future trends.

The lesson also covers 5 extended vocabulary items beyond the article:

• To go viral — to spread rapidly and widely on the internet, especially through social media.
• Engagement rate — a metric used to measure the level of interaction (likes, comments, shares) that content receives from an audience.
• User-generated content (UGC) — any form of content, such as images or videos, that has been posted by users on online platforms rather than by the brand itself.
• To boost a post — to pay a social media platform to show a specific post to a wider audience than it would reach organically.
• Digital footprint — the trail of data a person or company creates while using the internet.

Grammar

This lesson focuses on The passive voice for describing processes.

We use the passive voice when the action is more important than the person or thing performing it. In the context of social media marketing, this is useful for describing strategies, trends, and how content is created and shared, especially when the 'doer' is unknown, obvious, or unimportant.

Examples from the lesson:

• In the early 2010s, most social media content was created directly by brands. — The focus is on the content, not the brands. This is a common way to describe past trends.
• Now, huge audiences are reached through partnerships with influencers. — This present simple passive describes a current, ongoing process. The focus is on the result (reaching audiences).
• A new analytics tool has been implemented to track engagement more effectively. — The present perfect passive is used here to announce a recent change that has a present result.

Key rules:

• Form the passive with the verb 'to be' (in the correct tense) + the past participle (e.g., is created, was sent, has been seen).
• Use 'by + agent' only when it is important to mention who or what performed the action (e.g., 'The campaign was designed by our in-house team').
• The passive voice often creates a more formal and objective tone, which is common in business and reporting.

Practical English

Brainstorming ideas for a social media campaign

In any creative or marketing role, you'll need to brainstorm ideas with your team. These phrases will help you suggest ideas, build on others' suggestions, and express concerns constructively, making you a more effective collaborator.

Phrases you'll learn:

• "How about we explore the idea of [creating a video series]?" — for suggesting a new idea.
• "That's a great starting point. We could take it a step further by [partnering with an influencer]." — for building on someone else's idea.
• "I see where you're coming from, but my only hesitation is [the potential cost]." — for politely expressing a concern.
• "Could you walk me through how that would look in practice?" — for asking for more detail.
• "I'm completely on board with that idea." — for showing strong agreement.