Assignment:
Social media often reaches multiple departments within an organization such as human resources, legal, marketing, operations, sales, and more. Planning strategically offers an organization a blueprint of sorts that can be communicated to these various stakeholders. These plans help set direction and also help prioritize initiatives while keeping everyone on the same page. Equally important is planning for social media mishaps. It is never more apparent that strategic planning was not done or did not include a contingency plan than when social media engagement snowballs into a public relations disaster.
In this assessment, you will explore strategic social media use for an existing organization of your choice. This paper will cover two platforms you feel are relevant to the organization's goals and detail how these platforms can be used in tandem to reach organizational goals. You will be both creative and strategic and align goals to specific tactics on each platform of your choice. You will also include a plan of action to guide decision making when negative comments make a community toxic or when opportunities present themselves to engage the audience in positive communication.
This paper will be informational and is not specifically a social media strategy. Instead, it is meant to inform decision makers and provide them the information they would need to begin creating a strategic social media strategy.
For Milestone One, you will provide an overview of social media and how it might be used by businesses. In addition, you will work to uncover specific business goals related to social media use. Research the history of social media and identify best practices regarding the use of social media. This will allow you to set the stage for your clients and help them understand what the use of social media can and cannot do for their business. Using this information, help your clients specify goals related to social media use. These goals will dictate what platforms you choose, what content you share, and what best practices the organization would follow. Identifying the target audience will also ensure the organization uses appropriate platforms and shares appropriate content.
Introduce social media to your client and determine business goals in relation to social media use. Specifically, the following critical elements must be addressed:
1. Social Media Overview: This section will give you the opportunity to research the history of social media and identify best practices regarding the use of social media. This will allow you to set the stage for your clients and help them understand what the use of social media can and cannot do for their business.
A. Overview how social media has been used by businesses over the past decade. Support overview with research.
B. Summarize established best practices regarding the use of social media by businesses.
C. Explain the opportunities and limits of social media as a communications tool.
2. Business Goals: The purpose of this section is to help the organization uncover specific goals related to social media use. These goals will dictate what platforms you choose, what content you share, and what best practices the organization would follow. Identifying the target audience will also ensure the organization uses appropriate platforms and shares appropriate content.
A. Analyze the business's current state and identify gaps that you will use social media to address. Consider how the organization communicates with its target audience, how well it retains customers, or how frequently it updates its website.
1. Select two of the following four goals for the business, based on the identified gaps. Justify your selections.
- Drive traffic to website
- Increase brand awareness
- Connect with customers and clients
- Demonstrate expertise
2. Explain how audience engagement through social media can help the business achieve its goals. Support explanation with examples.
Guidelines for Submission: Your paper must be submitted as a 3 to 4 page Microsoft Word document with double spacing, 12-point Times New Roman font, one-inch margins, and at least three sources cited in APA format.