Freberg, Social Media for Strategic Communication, 1e
SAGE Publishing, 2019
Chapter 6: Strategic Planning for Social Media
Learning Objectives
• Identify the key components of a strategic plan.
• Explain the importance and significance of conducting a thorough background evaluation,
situational analysis, competitive analysis, and social media communication audit.
• Construct a data- and research-driven SWOT analysis.
• Learn the differences between a goal, an objective, a strategy, and a tactic statement for a social
media plan.
• Understand the framework of each of these elements and how they are interconnected in the
strategic plan.
Ice Breaker Questions and Exercises
• Have the students bring forth an example of a great social media campaign, and one that did not
go over well. Have the students share WHY they feel this way about the campaign, and how
they could make it better.
• Group students together into pairs, and assign them one part of the strategic plan to cover.
Have them present the section to the class.
Areas to Cover
• This is going to be one of the more comprehensive (and must have) components students need
to master.
• Power of research and making sure to integrate data along with insights into the SWOT are key.
• The heart of a social media plan comes from the strategies and tactics that result from insights
gathered from data and analysis.
Multimedia Resources
• REI’s “#OptOutside” 2016 New American Tradition | http://ow.ly/pXaH30htz7B
• What We’ve Learned from the Airbnb “Live There” Campaign | http://ow.ly/5VVO30htzfm
• [READ + WATCH] Deadpool Gets All the Likes—http://ow.ly/EJVW30htzhy
• [READ] Rallying Cry to Join the Fight for Good Issued by The Salvation Army’s National
Commander—The Salvation Army USA http://ow.ly/BeuN30hv84y + 2017 Salvation Army
#FightForGoodTour http://ow.ly/AvkJ30hv85r
Assignments and Exercises from Portfolio-Building Activities in Social Media
• Crisis Communication Plan Assignment
• SWOT Analysis Exercise
Freberg, Social Media for Strategic Communication, 1e
SAGE Publishing, 2019
• Strategic Brief Assignment
• Social Media Event Planning Assignment