Social Media for Strategic Communication: Creative Strategies and Research-Based Applications, by Karen Freberg teaches you the skills and principles needed to use social media in persuasive communication campaigns. The book combines cutting-edge research with practical, on-the-ground instruction to prepare you for the real-world challenges you will face in the workplace. The text addresses the influence of social media technologies, strategies, actions, and the strategic mindset needed by social media professionals today. By focusing on strategic thinking and awareness, it gives you the tools they need to adapt what you learn to new platforms and technologies that may emerge in the future. A broad focus on strategic communication—from PR, advertising, and marketing, to non-profit advocacy—gives you a broad base of knowledge that will serve you wherever your career may lead.

Social Media and Strategic Communications provides truly comprehensive and original scholarly research that exhibits the strategic implementation of social media in both advertising and public relations.

This book seeks to draw a comprehensive picture of influencer collaborations from a strategic communication perspective. The contributors tackle strategic influencer communication from multidisciplinary perspectives, from varying actor foci, and from different methodological frameworks and methods. Influencers cross traditional boundaries in many ways and oscillate between intimacy and publicity, authenticity and commercialization, ingratiation and critical distance. From a strategic communication perspective, this variability makes influencers hard to capture: organizations can cooperate with influencers to achieve both marketing and PR objectives. Influencers can act as cooperation partners, integrating commercial content into organic narratives, or as independent critics. Influencers also combine different roles that have traditionally been occupied by separate actors such as intermediary, content distributor, creative content producer, community manager, testimonial, strategic counsellor, and event host. The combination of these roles in just one actor opens new opportunities for strategic communication and can produce appreciated synergy effects. It is therefore hardly surprising that influencer collaborations have become a firmly established instrument in the toolbox of strategic communicators. The chapters in this book were originally published in the International Journal of Advertising and the International Journal of Strategic Communication.

Today almost everyone in the developed world spends time online and anyone involved in strategic communication must think digitally. The magnitude of change may be up for debate but the trend is unstoppable, dramatically reconfiguring business models, organisational structures and even the practice of democracy. Strategic Communication, Social Media and Democracy provides a wholly new framework for understanding this reality, a reality that is transforming the way both practitioners and theoreticians navigate this fast-moving environment. Firmly rooted in empirical research, and resisting the lure of over-optimistic communication dreams, it explores both the potential that social media offers for changing the relationships between organisations and stakeholders, and critically analyses what has been achieved so far. This innovative text will be of great interest to researchers, educators and advanced students in strategic communications, public relations, corporate communication, new media, social media and communication management.

Featuring 125 real-world activities across various social media platforms! Portfolio Building Activities in Social Media shows students how to communicate on social media professionally and strategically by giving them hands-on experiences with real-world challenges. From brand analyses to budget assignments to pitch activities, this practical exercise guide offers students multiple opportunities to create and build their portfolio of work. Designed to be used with Freberg’s Social Media for Strategic Communication, but flexible enough to bundle with any PR textbook, these exercises are useful to any professor looking to incorporate more activities around social media and digital brand development.

In an era of social media, influencers wield unprecedented power over global consumer decisions. As digital natives increasingly turn to influencers for guidance, the need for comprehensive research on their impact becomes paramount. Brands, aiming to connect with a precisely targeted audience, must grapple with ethical considerations in this rapidly evolving sphere. Global Perspectives on Social Media Influencers and Strategic Business Communication delves into influencer research and practices, exploring their impact on various industries and sectors. This book dissects the motives and characteristics of social media influencers and navigates the terrain of ethical considerations surrounding their collaboration with businesses and organizations. This book covers influencers' effect on brand loyalty, cultural norms, community building, and their role in business management, advertising, and strategic communication. The book dissects the impacts of social media influencers on audience behavior, exploring areas such as brand attitudes, purchase intentions, and the dynamics of parasocial relationships. It examines the nuances of engagement, differentiating between paid endorsements, sponsored content, and pure electronic word-of-mouth while also spotlighting the influence of live streaming on consumer behaviors. This book is a valuable resource for businesses, strategic communicators, marketers, scholars, and anyone seeking a profound understanding of the dynamic world of social media influencers.

Learn to utilize social media strategies that inspire behavior change in any landscape Strategic Social Media: From Marketing to Social Change, Second Edition combines best social media marketing practices with the application of traditional communication, behavior change, and marketing theories. More than a basic "how-to" guide, this innovative resource balances social media theory and real-world practice in a variety of areas, including advocacy, public health, entertainment, and education. With a clear and readable style, the authors explain the power and possibilities of social media to influence personal relationships and social change. The media environment of today is more mobile, visual, and personalized than ever before. In the second edition of Strategic Social Media, the authors incorporate advances in the field such as enhanced visual communication, digital experience sharing, omnichannel marketing, IoT, artificial intelligence, mass personalization, and social e-commerce. An entirely new chapter on utilizing social media for personal branding efforts is accompanied by new and updated examples, action plans, business models, and international case studies throughout. Covers all key aspects of strategic social media: landscape, messages, marketing and business models, social change, and the future Highlights opportunities to break down barriers with institutions of power, achieve greater transparency, and mobilize users through social media Contains social media strategies readers can apply to any past, present, or future social media platform Helps practitioners make better decisions about brand objectives and evaluate and monitor social media marketing efforts Provides clear guidance on crafting social media messages that reach intended audiences and ignite dialogue and behavior change Offering comprehensive coverage of both the theory and practice of facilitating behavior change in social media audiences, Strategic Social Media: From Marketing to Social Change, Second Edition, is essential reading for undergraduate and graduate students in digital and social media marketing courses, social media practitioners, entrepreneurs, digital content creators, journalists, activists, and marketing and public relations professionals.