Chapter 5: Social Media: Living in the Connected World
CHAPTER SUMMARY AND LEARNING OBJECTIVES
LO 5.1 Describe the growth and use of social media.
The proliferation of social media—now used by over 70% of adults—has made it an important
relationship-building tool. Marketers use it to create buzz, facilitate customer engagement, and
enable fans to promote their goods and services.
LO 5.2 Contrast the three major types of social media platforms.
LO 5.3 Explain three ways consumers rely on social media to make buying decisions.
LO 5.4 Identify the types of goals marketers use for social media campaigns.
Marketers set goals at the outset of a SMM campaign to make sure it pays off in terms of what
the organization needs to achieve: sales, brand awareness, crisis resolution, or other metrics.
LO 5.5 Describe the various methods for measuring the effectiveness of social media
LO 5.6 Outline the seven guidelines for creating effective social media content.
The purpose of SMM content is to engage the target audience in a two-way conversation. The
LO 5.7 Summarize three ethical principles for social media marketers.
LO 5.8 Given a goal for social media marketing, determine the most effective method of
measurement.
A SMM campaign is effective only if it achieves progress toward specific goals. Marketers must
be able to match a given goal to the most relevant measurement tool or metric.
Chapter 5: Social Media: Living in the Connected World
ACTIVATOR EXERCISE: Social media campaigns
Purpose: To help students understand that campaigns needs goals and measurement
techniques to be effective.
Time: 20–40 minutes, depending on format.
Activity: Divide students into small groups, then assign them one of the following industries (let
them choose which company to choose from that industry):
• Luxury cars
• Vacation destination
Ask them to create a social media marketing campaign that they believe would benefit the
company. In creating the campaign, they should specify:
• What platforms will be used
• What the posts will say
After discussion, have groups present to class.
Possible discussion questions for class: How did you choose which platforms to use? How
did you choose what the campaign should say? How will you know if the campaign is effective?
In a cluttered social media environment, how will you stand out and be sure to get a good return
on your marketing investment?
Result: Students will learn they can do a fairly good job of creating a basic campaign. However,
Key takeaway: Social media has grown to be an important tool for consumers and marketers.
Creating effective campaigns requires knowing some core principles of social media marketing.
Chapter 5: Social Media: Living in the Connected World
LECTURE OUTLINE
5-1 What Is Social Media?
Social media is defined collectively as the different forms of online communication through
which users can create communities to exchange information, ideas, messages, and other
content.
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There are a variety of social media platforms to enable these communities, such as the
Discussion question: Ask for show of hands:
Who has used Facebook in the last week?
Who has used Instagram in the last week?
Note: This may uncover some of the larger usage and demographic trends in social media.
Snapchat skews toward younger users and Facebook now skews older. Pinterest skews
female, while LinkedIn is often not used by students who aren’t in the full-time workforce yet.
By 2020, spending on social media advertising is expected to reach $50 billion; surpassing the
amount of advertising dollars businesses spend on newspapers.
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Estimated time: 5–10 minutes
5-2 Social Media Platforms
Social media platforms act as a home base for an online community. To access the
Chapter 5: Social Media: Living in the Connected World
Social networking sites are websites or apps (such as Facebook, Pinterest, Snapchat, and
LinkedIn) that provide virtual communities for people to share daily activities, send messages,
post opinions, increase their circle of online friends, and more.
Classroom activity: Have students select a hashtag, then search that hashtag in their favorite
social media platform. Allow them to share their findings with another classmate or in small
groups.
Note: Many students do not realize hashtags were created for search, instead believing it’s just
Social Bookmarking Sites
Bookmarking sites give you a place to save, organize, and manage links to websites and other
resources on the Internet. Usually these lists are then shared with other users. StumbleUpon is
a form of search engine that directs users to web pages based on their interests, such as ways
to enjoy Pumpkin Spice Latte. Other examples of bookmarking sites are Digg and Reddit.
Blogging Sites
Blogs are sites that regularly post articles and other content for readers, who can then
comment on those articles and share them on other social media sites. Some blogs are created
and written by single authors about single subjects, such as fitness, politics, or financial
management. Other blogs function as full-fledged news or entertainment sites.
Chapter 5: Social Media: Living in the Connected World
Twitter user. Celebrities such as Katy Perry, Taylor Swift, and Justin Bieber have over 80 million
Twitter followers each.
PRESENTATION VISUAL: MindTap Exhibit 5.1 showing the advantages for marketers of
different social media platforms
Type
Purpose
Advantages for Marketers
Social Networking Sites
Users create communities using
profile pages or groups,
enabling them to share content
and exchange messages.
•Facilitates relationship-building with
stakeholders
•Enables rapid dissemination of
information
•By using keywords, can bring users
directly to a company website or
Classroom activity: In small groups, ask students to research a recent public relations crisis,
where a celebrity or brand was under fire for something.
Once they are done researching, have each group present to the class. Describe the situation
and how the company utilized social media platforms to respond. Was their response effective?
Why or why not? How would you have handled the situation?
5-3 How Consumers Use Social Media
Studies show an overall link between social media and trends in consumer behavior. For
example, 91% of consumers have visited a brick-and-mortar store because of an online
Chapter 5: Social Media: Living in the Connected World
Consumers rely on the communities created by social media for their buying decisions in the
following ways:
1. Discover new goods and services. According to one recent report conducted by comScore
and Group M Search, 28% of respondents said that sites such as YouTube, Facebook, and
Twitter helped steer them toward new brands and products.
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Discussion question: What is a product you have purchased—or are thinking of purchasing—
that you discovered entirely on social media?
2. To conduct research and share information. Consumers visit blogs and social networking
sites to delve further into a topic—whether it’s an industry, a brand, or a specific product.
Reviews or rankings by fellow consumers, along with other shared information, can carry a
Discussion question: What is a product you have purchased—or are thinking of purchasing—
where you researched using social networks or blogs? What kind of research did you do and
why did it feel credible?
3. To make final purchase decisions. Another study found that 72% of consumers regard
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Estimated time: 15 minutes
5-4 Goals of a Social Media Marketing Campaign
Marketers generally view the overall goal of social media marketing (SMM) as developing a
conversation with current and potential customers. However, this doesn’t always mean that
Chapter 5: Social Media: Living in the Connected World
social media posts will be used to promote a product or publicize a sale. Any SMM plan must be
built around specific goals.
Marketers should ask themselves: “What do we want to accomplish through this campaign?”
Increase Brand Awareness and Generate Leads
The purpose of this goal is to increase the number of people who are aware of the company and
its products.
Example: Organizations fighting amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) created the Ice
Bucket Challenge, where people agreed to have a bucket of ice dumped on their heads
Discussion questions: What brands or businesses have you liked or tagged in the last month?
Why did you like or tag them?
In contrast, what brands or businesses have you physically told someone about (in-person) in
the last month?
Do you seem to spread the word about companies more online or offline? Why?
Increase Revenue
Typically, the end goal of any promotional campaign is to increase sales. Social media
marketing is no different, which is why you’ll often see “Sponsored Ads” on Facebook,
Classroom activity: Have students log in to one of their social media accounts. If they don’t
have one, they can work with a partner. Have them find 2–3 sponsored posts and identify what
is being advertised.
Discussion questions: What types of companies advertise to you? Why do you think that is?
What information do they have about you that might indicate your preference for their type of
product?
Chapter 5: Social Media: Living in the Connected World
Note: Social media platforms mine the information we freely provide, including our profile
information, sites we’ve visited, sites we’ve liked, and content we’ve clicked on.
Improve Customer Service
Social media provides the ability to communicate directly and easily with customers, and it
allows companies the ability to detect and address problems customers might be experiencing.
Discussion question: Has anyone been contacted by a major brand via social media—either
in response to an inquiry or in response to a mention (i.e., they found your name mentioned and
proactively contacted you to follow-up)?
Manage a Crisis
The real-time nature of social media also provides companies the ability to better manage a
public relations crisis. In previous eras, providing crisis response typically had to be funneled
Market Research and Customer Feedback
Companies now have instant access to large audiences who have shown interest in the brand
by liking or following it on social media.
Example: Brands such as Nike and Samsung have over 25 million people who have
liked their Facebook pages.
Discussion questions: Who has provided product ideas or customer feedback to a major
brand in response to a request on social media? What was the company and what were they
requesting?
How might this type of market research be better or worse than format research studies?
Chapter 5: Social Media: Living in the Connected World
Key Takeaway: Every strategy in an effective social media marketing campaign traces
back to the campaign’s goals and ultimately links to a firm’s overall strategic goals.
Estimated time: 25–35 minutes
5-5 Monitoring and Measuring Social Media Marketing
It’s one thing to launch a social media marketing campaign, but without tracking its effectiveness
you won’t know whether the time and money invested is worth it. That’s why it’s important to
know various methods for measuring the effectiveness of social media marketing.
The first step is to revisit the goals set at the beginning of the effort. Then, based on those
Measures of Activity
Understanding the overall reach of a social media campaign can help companies understand
whether they are reaching the right volume and type of customers. Measurements of activity
include:
• Total likes/followers/subscribers to company social media profiles
Classroom activity: In small groups, students can choose a few brands and visit their
Facebook business pages.
Measures of Engagement
Having lots of likes or impressions doesn’t mean that your social media activities are effective.
That’s why digital marketers often focus more on measures of engagement for your social
audience. A more engaged audience is more likely to purchase from your company and create
good word-of-mouth among their friends. This type of engagement is often what fuels growth in
overall activity. Measurements of engagement include the following:
• Likes/comments on social media content
Chapter 5: Social Media: Living in the Connected World
Classroom activity: In small groups, have students visit the same brand pages they used for
the above activity.
Now have them scroll through the posts and notice how much engagement each post has in
terms of likes, shares, and comments. Do some have more than others? Can you identify any
trends as to why some posts get more engagement than others?
Measures of Conversion
While activity and engagement are relevant to a number of social media marketing goals,
ultimately the goal of many social media campaigns is to convert followers to customers (or
repeat customers). Some social sites, such as Facebook, allow companies to conduct e-
Key Takeaway: It’s important to know various methods for measuring the effectiveness
of social media marketing so that marketers can know whether the time and money
invested in these activities is worth it.
Estimated time: 20–30 minutes
5-6 Creating Effective Social Media Content
Content marketing involves creating and distributing relevant and targeted material to attract
and engage an audience, with the goal of driving them to a desired action.
Guidelines for creating effective social media content include:
Chapter 5: Social Media: Living in the Connected World
were to also provide pet tips and travel recommendation on social media, that
would be irrelevant and off-brand.
• A focus on the audience rather than the organization. While it’s important to maintain a
Example: Weight Watchers’ content is about the challenges faced by dieters—
like Oprah—not about the company itself.
Classroom activity: In small groups, have students choose a company and use adparlor.com
to create an example of an Instagram post that is focused on the company—then an alternate
version that is focused on the audience.
Note: To streamline these presentations, have student groups e-mail their ads to you, then you
can download the ads to the instructor computer and project them for the class.
• Targeted keywords. Good keywords are those the targeted audience will most likely search
when looking for information about goods and services. For example, an oceanfront resort
might use keywords like “beach vacation” or “hotel with watersports.” They might also
establish some hashtag phrases related to their campaign to make it more discoverable by
other users.
• Shareworthy text and images. Marketers can turn customers into storytellers by encouraging
them to post images related to the brand. Weight Watchers’ Connect app community
enables and encourages customers to share stories of their dieting progress, photos, and
motivational quotes.
Chapter 5: Social Media: Living in the Connected World
Classroom activity: In small groups, have students pick a company and use adparlor.com to
create a Facebook or Instagram post that now encompasses several of the above keys for
generating effective content.
Key Takeaway: In order for SMM to succeed, the content of its messages must engage
the target audience in the conversation.
Estimated time: 15–45 minutes (depending on whether you facilitate the classroom activities)
5-7 Ethics in Social Media
Social media marketers face ethical and legal issues as part of their job. As rapidly as the
Respect Privacy
Although marketers try to gather as much information as possible about a target audience, they
must not distribute any personal information without consent. Because social media is
interactive by its nature, marketers must be vigilant about confidentiality and not letting personal
information or other data accidentally slip into unauthorized hands.
Discussion questions: In what ways do you think online companies (not just social media
companies) potentially disrespect privacy—or downright violate it? Give specific examples that
you have experienced or heard about.
platforms are free?
Be Honest
Social media messages travel at lightning speed around the world; potentially millions of people
Discussion question: What is an example of a company posting something on social media
that led to an immediate backlash? This might have even resulted in a public apology by the
company and deletion of the post.
Chapter 5: Social Media: Living in the Connected World
Note: Researching such instances could be used for a classroom activity, where student groups
present what they found.
Be accountable
Mistakes happen. When they do, smart social media marketers take three actions to solve the
problem or resolve the issue. They:
1. Acknowledge the problem and take responsibility for it.
Key Takeaway: Social media marketers face three key ethical considerations: privacy,
honesty, and accountability.
Estimated time: 10–20 minutes
5-8 Launching and Measuring a Social Media Campaign
As discussed earlier, the first step in building a social media marketing campaign is to ask what
PRESENTATION VISUAL: MindTap Exhibit 5.2 showing different measurements for SMM
Type of measurement
Examples
Why?
Measures of Activity
• Total likes/followers/subscribers to
company social media profiles
• New likes/followers/subscribers to
company social media profiles
• Impressions for social media content
Measures how many users are
seeing your content and indicating
interest in your brand.
Chapter 5: Social Media: Living in the Connected World
Classroom activity: This activity is a quiz game where small groups compete by writing
questions for each other.
Divide students into small groups and ask them to write three quiz questions. Quiz questions will
be based on a scenario where a chosen brand had a particular goal for a SMM campaign. Other
groups need to identify the most appropriate type of measurement.
Key Takeaway: It’s important to link your SMM goals to the most appropriate form of
measurement in order to track success.
Estimated time: 15–30 minutes
Chapter 5: Social Media: Living in the Connected World
LEARN IT TODAY . . . USE IT TOMORROW
VIGNETTE AND ACTIVITY
The opening vignette for Chapter 5 introduces students to LinkedIn by describing the functions
and benefits of this career-oriented social media site. This serves as a foundation for discussing
various aspects of social media marketing.
The final learning objective of the chapter (LO 5.8) introduces LinkedIn’s subsidiary Lynda.com,
which is an online education portal. Lynda serves as the basis for learning about the various
Note: Answers to the chapter-ending activity can be discussed in class after the activity
due date.
Effective Social Media Campaigns
As the Director of Social Media Management for Lynda, you’ve been tasked with building a
successful social media campaign and measuring its results. But you know that the definition of
success first begins with your goals for the campaign, so you schedule a meeting with your
executive team to clarify.
Decision #1
At the meeting of your social media team, all agree that the highest-priority goal is to raise
Answer to Decision #1
Option #1—CORRECT: Good call! Facebook likes and impressions indicate how many users
are seeing your content and showing interest in the brand. These measures of social media
activity are appropriate to the goal of building awareness of Lynda.
Decision #2
Happy New Year! Knowing that many people will resolve to learn new skills in the year ahead,
you’re ready to launch a social media promotion to increase the number of first-time Lynda
Chapter 5: Social Media: Living in the Connected World
Answer to Decision #2
Option #1: Your social media manager advises against measuring click-through rates to gauge
the success of the promotion. She explains, “Click-through rates assess engagement.
generates the most revenue during this promotion.”
Decision #3
A disgruntled former Lynda employee wrote a blog post bashing the company for paying
“starvation level” wages. Now that the attack’s gone viral, you’re in crisis mode, using every
social media channel to respond to the allegation. To assess whether your response is
influencing the situation, should you measure activity or engagement?
Answer to Decision #3
Option #1: Levels of activity will tell you whether people are seeing your content, but not
whether they’re reacting to and/or sharing it. In this situation, it’s important to know if your
Decision #4
Now that you’ve captured a large social media audience for Lynda, the market research
department is eager to seek their feedback about a potential new course. Once she’s posted a
detailed description, the research director leaves it to you to decide which measurement will
best assess user response: conversion rate or engagement?
Answer to Decision #4
Option #1: Measurements of conversion rate are best suited to judging which social media
Chapter 5: Social Media: Living in the Connected World
ADDITIONAL HOMEWORK/CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES
Think before Posting—or Deleting
Purpose: To help students understand why they should think before carrying out an online
activity.
Background: Social networking sites give their members the opportunity to post and delete
Relationship to Text: Influence of social media today
Estimated Class Time: About 20 minutes
Exercise: Ask the students if they have faced criticism because of something they posted on or
deleted from their online account. How did they deal with the situation?
Questions for Reflection:
• Why is it necessary for individuals or corporations to think before writing or deleting
Ethics
Purpose: To highlight the ethical dilemma that many websites face in various countries.
Background: Many counties have blocked some of the well-known sites in their countries. This
exercise is designed to involve the students in a discussion on the implications of such moves.
Relationship to Text: Discuss ethical and legal issues encountered by marketers in social
media marketing
Questions for Reflection:
Chapter 5: Social Media: Living in the Connected World
Internet Research Activities
Visit the app store
Using your computer or smartphone, visit an app store (Apple, Google, Amazon, Samsung, or
Emphasize the local
Some large companies are refocusing part of their social media marketing goals and strategies
to target local communities and customers. Visit the website of one of the following firms (or
choose your own) to learn more about how the company is using social media marketing to
connect with local consumers:
a. Walmart
Familiarize yourself with a new social media platform or tool
You are probably already a social media user—now it’s time to learn about a social media
platform or tool with which you are not yet familiar. Choose a social media platform in which you
Chapter 5: Social Media: Living in the Connected World
KEY TERMS
Social media: The different forms of online communication through which users can create
communities to exchange information, ideas, messages, and other content.
Social media platform: The home base for an online community.
Social media marketing (SMM): Developing a conversation with current and potential
customers on social media platforms.
Influencers: Individuals with the capability of affecting the opinions and actions of others.
Content marketing: Creating and distributing relevant and targeted material to attract and
engage an audience, with the goal of driving them to a desired action.