| Course | SOM-7020 Social Media Marketing |
|---|---|
| Module | Module 2 |
| Paper type | Case analysis paper: social media content and strategy |
| Length | About 939 words, 6 pages |
| Format | APA 7 student paper |
| School | Thomas Edison State University |
| Program | Master of Business Administration |
| Updated | October 2026 |
Free sample paper for SOM 7020 Module 2
An Owl, a Streak and 12 Cents of Marketing per Revenue Dollar: A Case Analysis of Duolingo's Social Media Strategy
Student Name
Master of Business Administration, Thomas Edison State University
SOM-7020: Social Media Marketing
Mentor Name
Month Day, Year
An Owl, a Streak and 12 Cents of Marketing per Revenue Dollar: A Case Analysis of Duolingo's Social Media Strategy
Introduction
Duolingo, the language-learning app based in Pittsburgh, is one of the most discussed brands on social media, known especially for short videos in which its green owl mascot, Duo, behaves in deliberately strange and self-mocking ways. This paper analyzes the company's social media marketing as a case: what the strategy is, why it appears to work, what risks it carries and what the company should do next. The analysis draws on Duolingo's annual report for 2025 (Duolingo, Inc., 2026), the course text's framework for social media marketing (Tuten, 2020) and research on how brand content performs.
Situation Analysis
Duolingo's results in 2025 show a business growing quickly with relatively little paid marketing. Total revenues rose 39 percent, from $748.0 million to $1,037.6 million. Daily active users in the fourth quarter reached 52.7 million, up 30 percent from 40.5 million a year earlier, while monthly active users rose 14 percent to 133.1 million and paid subscribers grew from 9.5 million to 12.2 million. Sales and marketing expenses were $125.7 million, about 12 percent of revenue (Duolingo, Inc., 2026).
The company describes its growth as organic, driven primarily by word of mouth and brand buzz and supplemented by selective paid user acquisition. It notes that its brand appears in internet memes and late-night comedy sketches, and it lists social media presence, influencers and performance marketing as the main ways it attracts and keeps users. In short, social content is not a side activity; it is central to how Duolingo acquires customers cheaply.
| Measure (Duolingo, Inc., 2026) | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|
| Total revenues ($ millions) | 748.0 | 1,037.6 |
| Daily active users, fourth quarter (millions) | 40.5 | 52.7 |
| Monthly active users, fourth quarter (millions) | 116.7 | 133.1 |
| Paid subscribers at year end (millions) | 9.5 | 12.2 |
| Sales and marketing expenses ($ millions) | 90.5 | 125.7 |
Why the Content Works
Tuten (2020) describes social media marketing across four zones: community, publishing, entertainment and commerce. Duolingo's strength is in the entertainment zone. Its videos rarely explain the product; instead they give the mascot a personality, play on jokes users already make about the app's insistent reminders, and join trending formats quickly. Because the content is entertaining in its own right, people share it, which carries the brand into feeds of people who have never used the app. That is earned media at scale.
Research on brand posts supports this approach. De Vries et al. (2012) found that characteristics of brand posts, such as how vivid and interactive they are, affected the number of likes and comments they received, which in turn determines their reach. Hennig-Thurau et al. (2010) argued that new media turn customers from passive recipients into active participants who shape brand meaning, a description that fits Duolingo, whose users create much of the joke culture the brand draws on.
The content also fits the product. Duolingo's app is built around daily habits: the company reports about 43 million daily users with streaks of at least seven days at the end of 2025. The mascot's comic persistence on social media mirrors the app's reminders, so the content reinforces the behavior that drives the business rather than simply attracting attention.
Risks the Company Names
Duolingo's own filing identifies the weaknesses of a strategy built on social platforms. Its marketing depends on channels whose policies and algorithms change rapidly and can be disrupted for reasons beyond its control, and it specifically mentions possible U.S. government restrictions on TikTok. A brand voice built on irreverent humor is also exposed to backlash: in 2025, statements by company leaders about relying more on artificial intelligence drew sharp criticism on social platforms, showing that the same audiences who amplify the brand can turn on it quickly. Finally, entertainment content builds awareness and affection but does not by itself convert free users to paid subscribers; only about 9 percent of monthly active users paid at the end of 2025.
What Duolingo Should Be Doing
The analysis suggests four recommendations. First, diversify platform exposure without diluting the voice: maintain the mascot's personality across short-video platforms, Instagram and YouTube so that a restriction on any single platform does not cut off reach. Second, build owned community spaces, such as learner challenges and in-app sharing, so that the most engaged users can be reached directly rather than only through algorithms. Third, connect entertainment to conversion more deliberately, for example with content that shows paid features in use, tracked through promotion codes and attribution to measure which content drives subscriptions. Fourth, prepare for reputational risk: set clear guidelines for how the brand responds when its decisions are criticized, and ensure that corporate announcements are planned with their social reception in mind.
Measuring Success
Each recommendation should have measures. Platform diversification can be tracked by the share of social reach coming from the largest single platform; community building by the number of users participating in owned challenges; conversion by subscriptions attributed to social campaigns and the cost per paid subscriber; and reputation by sentiment trends and the speed of response to criticism. Reviewing these quarterly would let the company judge whether social content is supporting not just awareness but durable growth.
Conclusion
Duolingo shows how entertainment-zone content, aligned with a habit-forming product, can drive growth with modest marketing spending: revenue rose 39 percent in 2025 while sales and marketing stayed near 12 percent of revenue. The same strategy concentrates risk in a few platforms and in a brand voice that can provoke backlash. Diversifying platforms, building owned community, linking content to conversion and planning for reputational risk would protect what has worked.
References
de Vries, L., Gensler, S., & Leeflang, P. S. H. (2012). Popularity of brand posts on brand fan pages: An investigation of the effects of social media marketing. Journal of Interactive Marketing, 26(2), 83-91. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.intmar.2012.01.003
Duolingo, Inc. (2026). Form 10-K: Annual report for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2025. U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1562088/000162828026012494/duol-20251231.htm
Hennig-Thurau, T., Malthouse, E. C., Friege, C., Gensler, S., Lobschat, L., Rangaswamy, A., & Skiera, B. (2010). The impact of new media on customer relationships. Journal of Service Research, 13(3), 311-330. https://doi.org/10.1177/1094670510375460
Tuten, T. L. (2020). Social media marketing (4th ed.). SAGE Publications.
What the SOM 7020 Module 2 instructions ask for
SOM-7020 requires one case analysis paper in APA format, which the syllabus describes as summarizing what you learned from the case, identifying what the organization should or could be doing and giving strategic recommendations. Module 2 covers social media content, so the case is a natural place to analyze what makes a brand's content work and what it achieves. Use the case materials your mentor assigns, add the company's own public data where available, such as an annual report, and connect every judgment to the course text's concepts and to research on social media marketing. For a listed company, the annual report and investor letters supply audited numbers that make the analysis far stronger than impressions of its feed.
Inside the SOM 7020 Module 2 example
The paper opens with the company and the paper's purpose, then builds a situation analysis from the company's own filing, with the key numbers gathered in one table. The explanation of why the content works combines the textbook's zones with two research studies and links the content to the product's habit mechanic. Risks come from the company's own disclosures and a recent backlash. Four recommendations follow from the analysis, each with measures, and the conclusion restates the case's lesson in three sentences. Figures are drawn only from the company's own audited filing, and the paper marks the limits of that evidence, such as the exact return on each video.
SOM 7020 Module 2 rubric: what earns full marks
The case analysis paper is graded from 0 to 100. Mentors look for an accurate summary of the case supported by evidence, analysis that explains why the strategy works or fails using course concepts and research, and specific, feasible recommendations with ways to measure success. Using a company's own disclosures shows analytical rigor. Correct APA formatting, a clear structure with headings and polished writing complete a strong paper, and recommendations that address risks as well as opportunities earn higher marks. Mentors also reward balanced judgment: a strategy can be working and still carry risks that a strategist should name and plan for. Specific figures from the filing count for more than general claims.
SOM 7020 Module 2 help: mistakes that cost marks
Case analyses in this course often describe a brand's posts with admiration and stop there. Explain the mechanism behind the results, connect content to business outcomes such as users, subscribers or revenue, and recognize what the strategy risks. Give each recommendation an owner, a first step and a way to tell later whether it worked. Use the case's own numbers wherever possible, and add the company's public filings if it is publicly traded. Our writers can prepare a SOM 7020 case analysis on the company your module assigns. Keep the summary of the case short; most of the paper's value lies in analysis and recommendations, not in retelling what the company posted.
Write yours, or have the desk draft it
This paper is an original model document written by our desk, not a submitted student paper and not an official Thomas Edison State University document. Read it for the moves, then write your own to the instructions in your classroom. If you want one built to your exact prompt and rubric, the first custom sample is free and arrives in 24 to 48 hours.
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SOM 7020 Module 2 questions, answered
Where can I find a free SOM 7020 Module 2 sample paper?
The Social Media Marketing case analysis is reproduced above: Duolingo's content-led social strategy analyzed with its 2025 annual report, course concepts and research, with four recommendations.
What does the SOM-7020 case analysis paper require?
An APA paper summarizing what you learned from the case, identifying what the organization should or could be doing and providing strategic recommendations.
Why is entertainment content effective in social media marketing?
Content people enjoy for its own sake gets shared, which extends a brand's reach as earned media at little cost.
What risks come with relying on social platforms for growth?
Platform policies and algorithms can change suddenly, governments can restrict platforms, and a bold brand voice can provoke backlash.
How can a company link social content to revenue?
By tracking conversions with promotion codes and attribution, and measuring the cost of each paying customer acquired through social campaigns.