Chapter 5: Tactical planning and execution
Chapter overview
Chapter 5 focuses on the ‘how to’ components and tactics that are necessary for implementing a
social media marketing campaign. This chapter will be especially relevant for students who wish
to secure jobs in social media marketing as it will ensure that they have experience with the
process of executing aspects of the social media marketing plan.
The figures in this chapter provide templates that instructors can use for activities and/or as
part of a semester long project.
Teaching tips and resources
This chapter is critical for undergraduate students who wish to enter the social media marketing
industry. It will help them understand the process and steps – many of which entry level
positions will focus on. For graduate students, they may not need to practice these steps but they
must understand the process to adequately understand effectiveness for strategic plans.
Learning objectives
When students finish reading this chapter, they will be able to answer these questions:
1. What is a social media marketing tactical plan and how does it support the execution
of a social media marketing strategy?
2. What is a channel plan and how is it used?
3. How does a content plan relate to experience strategies? What are the elements
included in the content plan?
Chapter outline
I. Tactical Planning for Social Media Marketing
• The social media marketing strategic plan may exist independently or may be a
sub plan of an integrated marketing communications (IMC) plan.
• When part of a marketing communications (marcom) plan, social media
marketing activities will be aligned with other marcom elements such as
advertising and sales promotions to amplify the brand’s message and/or to activate
campaign events.
II. The Why: Value-Driven Social Media Marketing
• Social media tactics are the actions taken to execute the social media strategy. The
tactics will guide the brand’s activities in the zones of social media marketing.
• Table 5.1 illustrates mapping objectives for strategies and tactics.
III. Who: Understanding and Honouring the Target Audience
• Target audience research was a key component of the strategic social media
marketing planning process.
• Engage is a key word because the cultural expectation is that participants will
interact, co-create and share and this expectation exists for consumers as well as for
brand participants.
IV. Where: The Channel Plan
A. The culture, guidelines and rules and functionality (as well as characteristics
of the population membership) of each prospective channel will influence
what can and should be shared, how people engage with each other and
choices about the timing and frequency of participation.
B. Some of the questions that will facilitate channel selection include:
1. Who uses this channel, what are they using it for and how much time do they
spend here?
2. What are conversations like here? What kinds of content work best here?
C. Remember there are several possible social media channels. We mention
those with the largest audiences and adoption rates for marketers. Table 5.2
illustrates the channel characteristics of major SNS.
D. Channel plans will include any owned media options and paid media
purchased on social media sites as well.
• Figure 5.2 illustrates the channel use for B2B and B2C marketers.
• Figure 5.3 illustrates paid media usage in SNS.
V. What: Design the Experience
The ideal experience can be thought of as one that captures the sweet spot at which the
audience’s passions and needs intersect with the brand’s identity.
• It should be authentic and conversational to fit the culture of social media.
• Finally, it should be scalable and sustainable.
The design of the experience therefore encompasses several elements: (1) type of
tactic, (2) content type and (3) content strategy, including themes, topics, appeals,
source and style.
A. Types of Tactics
1. Some tactics are cross-zone while others are not.
2. Several social media marketing tactics are illustrated.
B. Content Types
• The content marketing matrix is illustrated.
C. Content Strategy
1. The specific themes and topics for the content must be identified. Themes
may be based on brand values, industry issues, target audience interests,
IMC campaigns, seasonal events and more.
2. The Content Marketing Institute recommends a series of questions to
answer in the discovery process for a content strategy.
• What do we need to say? What will the target audience be receptive
to?
• What content types will be used? Can the content be developed as a
series to increase impact?
3. Some teams will have access to talent (such as web designers, copywriters,
graphic designers) and brand assets (such as video footage, commercials,
print ads, brochures and annual reports) from other divisions in the
company that can be repurposed as source content. Other teams will be
creating from scratch.
4. Industry best practices suggest that the content mix should follow an 80-20
formula such that 80% of the content is audience-focused and 20% brand-
focused. In other words, for every four social media posts that are
audience-centric, the brand can share one post that is brand-centric or
sales-oriented.
VI. How: Producing and Scheduling Content Posting and Promotion
A. Producing the Content
1. Teams may use variations of creative briefs to document the required
characteristics and elements of each content unit. If the content piece is part of a
larger campaign, there may be a series of briefs.
2. Atomisation when content can be partitioned and/or repackaged in several ways
while still remaining strategically aligned.
3. Not only is atomisation an efficient way to use resources, it also provides message
amplification. Having related, but distinct content on different social channels
increases the likelihood that the target audience will be exposed to the message
multiple times.
B. Scheduling with a Content Calendar
1. The content calendar captures which content is scheduled and prioritised for an
organisation, generally with an annual, quarterly, monthly and sometimes weekly
view.
2. Content calendars help to identify, prioritise and plan for new and future content
creation.
3. Depending on your company’s specific goals, your content team’s workflow, the
C. Roles and Workflow
1. A clearly defined workflow will help your team communicate more
efficiently, and it gives everyone something to be accountable for.
2. A social media workflow is a sequence of connected steps that enables the
organisation to act efficiently with minimal overlapping tasks and resources
in order to implement the social media marketing plan effectively.
3. To implement a workflow that actually works, follow these steps:
• Figure out exactly what tasks need to be completed for every piece
of content you produce and the daily activities required for posting
to each channel in the plan.
Chapter summary
1. What is a social media marketing tactical plan and how does it support the execution of a
social media marketing strategy?
The tactical plan brings the social media marketing strategy to life and addresses the why, who,
2. What is a channel plan and how is it used?
The channel plan determines where the brand will engage with the target audience. In this step,
each channel is evaluated for fit. It is important to ask if brand image, voice and tone fit with the
3. How does a content plan relate to experience strategies? What are the elements included
in the content plan?
Experience strategies are how social media marketers inspire the target audience to engage with
the brand in social media, participate or interact with the brand, and hopefully also share the
4. What is a content calendar and what should be considered in developing the calendar?
Content calendars help to identify, prioritise and plan for new and future content creation.
Calendars will typically include several sheets to accommodate planning for different time
5. How do social media teams manage the roles, tasks and schedules related to executing
social media tactics?
A clearly defined workflow will help your team communicate more efficiently, and it gives
everyone something to be accountable for. A social media workflow is a sequence of connected