Handout – Evaluating Social Media Strategies

Scenario 1: Boring & Boring, Ltd.

The executives of Boring and Boring, Ltd, while playing Canasta one afternoon, got to talking about social media or, as they called it, that Facester and Twitbook thing. As the CEO drew the fourth red three, he laughed, pointed at the CFO, and said, “The day social media becomes important is the day I discard Hoffington-Billingsly here a natural.” The organization has taken no actions related to social media since that time.

Scenario 2: Wait and See Industries

The members of the Office of the President for Wait and See Industries met six months ago to discuss social media. There was much debate as to its value and how it might help the organization. Extensive research had been conducted and the results were included in the discussions. Eventually, a vote was taken and, by a 7 to 3 vote (with the president in majority), it was decided that the organization would not be involved in social media. Word was sent out to all executives regarding the decision. No other action was taken.

Scenario 3: Pieces of 8, Inc.

The Marketing and HR Departments for Pieces of 8, Inc. have, individually, begun using social media. Marketing has outlined a plan to use Twitter and Facebook to generate sales activity. The idea is to engage users in discussions about their product, then use incentives to drive the users to purchase product. They have established a goal of increasing sales by 5% based on social media generated sales. HR is working through LinkedIn to identify potential candidates. Employees within HR have established personal accounts and, from these, reach out to their contacts to find additional contacts who might be suited for employment with Pieces of 8. The goal is to have at least one candidate hired quarterly from these contacts. These plans were brought before executive council who commended the teams on their innovation.

For each organization, answer the following questions:

·  What is the social media strategy that has been articulated for the organization?

·  What has been done correctly in identifying this social media strategy?

·  What has been done wrong in indentifying this social media strategy?

·  What are the next steps the organization’s executives should take?