Marketing

3rd Edition Of Social Media Strategy Is Out!

~ K. Quesenberry ~ 1 Comment

Just got this in the mail. Very excited for the 3rd edition!

There are lot’s of new updates and material around the reality of social media as a mature practice integral to any business or organization strategy. For those who have used the previous editions it will be easy to adopt as the strategic process, main topics and chapters remain the same.

New Sections:

  • New social media career section with job titles, descriptions, salary, social manager mental health, links to job sites plus descriptions of various departments and agencies social pros work including as solopreneurs.
  • A new section on Tik Tok, the maturing of social media and what that means to social strategy plus updates to all social platforms.
  • A new section that defines and explains social media strategic plans including a complete outline presented early in the text to guide social media plan development.
  • New section on content creation including creative briefs, idea generation, personas and best practices for social media writing and design.

New Content:

  • Expanded details on social media crisis communication with a section on COVID-19, diversity and multicultural marketing, George Floyd protests and expanded definitions and practices for influencer marketing.
  • 38 new applied examples spread throughout every chapter from brands such as GoPro, Pura Vida, Hydroflask, KLM, Mac Trucks, The Economist, Girl Scouts, Liquid-Plumr, Crock-Pot and John Deere.
  • There are new and expanded sections on messenger chatbots, artificial intelligence, mobile first media, and corporate social responsibility.
  • The law chapter has added the new FTC Statement on Deceptive Native Ads, the FTC Consumer Review Fairness Act, examples of the FTC taking action, California Consumer Protection Act, and California Bot Disclosure Law.

New Features:

  • Added links to professional certifications in related chapters from Hootsuite Academy, Cision, Meltwater, HubSpot Academy, Facebook Blueprint, Snapchat Explore, Pinterest Academy, Twitter Flight School, YouTube Creator Academy, Canva Design School and more.
  • Ethical issues are now addressed throughout the book not just in the last chapter. This includes an ethics focused question in every chapter relevant to chapter specific topics.
  • In addition to previous Chapter Checklists that direct readers to seek out the latest stats and developments, new Key Concepts lists serve as easy chapter review.
  • Instructor support materials include test banks, chapter outlines, templates, guides, applied case briefs, example graduate/undergraduate syllabi with class exercises and discussion prompts and assignments. Plus new PowerPoint slides with learning objectives.

Finally, I’ve expanded terms, concepts and theories to further include multiple discipline and organization perspectives from public relations to marketing and advertising for small business, big corporations, B2C, B2B and nonprofits. Social media jobs are in all these discipline departments and agencies and in various types of businesses and organizations.

To succeed social pros need a cross-discipline perspective to integrate strategies, prove ROI, and speak the language of the people they work for and with. Social Media Strategy is designed for this reality to be at home in any social media class whether in a marketing, public relations, advertising, strategic communications, or IMC program.

Free exam copy and instructor support materials available now and share code RLFANDF25 with your students to save 25% off the paperback or eBook at: https://rowman.com/ISBN/9781538138168

Social Media Spending Reaches Record Highs: Ask These Questions To Ensure You Have The Right Strategy.

~ K. Quesenberry ~ 34 Comments

The Covid-19 pandemic has lead to businesses shutting down, declining revenue and economic recession. Many in the social media marketing field have been uncertain about how this would impact budgets. But according to the latest CMO Survey spending on social media marketing has grown to record levels with a 75% spike since February 2020.

How Covid-19 Influenced the Importance of Marketing in Companies
The CMO Survey (https://cmosurvey.org/)

Social media spending reaches highs predicted for years.

The percent of marketing budget spent on social media has hovered around 10%-13% since 2014 while marketers always predicted it would reach 20% or higher. With the pandemic spending has finally reached 23% and marketers expect it to stay that high for the next year. The CMO Survey reports this in the context of declining overall budgets and revenue, but as those declined the average percent of revenue spent on marketing increased as most perceived it to be more important during the pandemic.

Why such a sudden and dramatic jump?

Part of this jump is certainly people using social media more. After years of stalled gains eMarketer updated predictions indicating US adults will spend 7 more minutes per day on social networks in 2020 than in 2019. But according to the CMO Survey marketers have also become more confident in social media’s contribution to company performance. After remaining flat for years marketer confidence in social media performance increased 23% from February 2020.

How was social media used during the pandemic?

The CMO Survey reports marketers used social media the most for:

  • Brand awareness and brand building 84%
  • Retaining current customers 54%
  • Acquiring new customers 51%
  • Brand promotions 48%

What does this mean for your social media strategy?

As marketers reduce spending on traditional advertising, they are shifting resources to digital and social. With this increased spending comes higher expectations. Now is a good time to check your social strategy to ensure you are headed in the right direction. Make sure your social media is focused on the right objectives, on the right people, with the right message, and in the right places.

Do you have the right objectives?

Are your objectives focused on building business like the one’s above? Or are your objectives focused on building social media vanity metrics such as followers, likes, comments and shares which make social media an end unto itself? Ensure that your objectives connect to company performance not social media performance. Ensure that you have a solid Social Media Measurement Plan.

Are you reaching the right people?

Have you identified a target audience based on a well-defined target market for your product or service? Or are you casting a wide net hoping to catching anyone who could use the product or anyone on the social platform? Look at customer data to determine who actually buys your product not just follows your social account. Also consider The Customer Journey and Social Media Marketing Cycle as the old marketing funnels no longer apply in social.

Are you posting the right message?

Are you creating unique messages that speak to a well-defined audience with content customize to the social network? Or are messages more generic and content the same across social channels? Optimize content to increase performance. Consider Best Practices for Social Media Content Writing And Design.

Is your brand in the right places?

Are you on social media channels because you have been on them for years or because they are popular? Or have you evaluated social channels based on user demographics and engagement metrics of where your focused audience is most active? Take time to evaluate brand social platforms for wasted effort and missed opportunities. To get started consider Top Social Media Channels By Category.

Social media marketing has reached record highs and looks like it will remain there for at least the next year. As social media has matured and spending increases make sure your social media strategy will be as effective as possible.