Social Media for Strategic 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.
Karen Freberg offers an update to much quoted definition of a social media influencer in the second edition of SMSC: "An influencer is someone who has built an audience, naturally and over time, and who is viewed as an authority on a certain subject, practice, or perspective in online spaces. In addition, because an influencer has the trust of a community, that person can share content that persuades their audience to take a specific action."
A great overall resource for an aspiring professional, the book is a pleasant read with many practical examples.
As a gen-X-er, I was amused by the author's clever movie examples ("strategic plan can be used as a guiding compass similar to the one that Jack Sparrow uses in Pirates of The Caribbean"), ostensibly familiar to millennials, who are the book's target readers.
Great textbook! It has a lot of practical resources and suggests appropriate tools for various strategic approaches to social media.
One star off because the glossary is organized by chapter instead of alphabetically; I also think this book will need to be updated with a new edition every few years as platforms change (making it way too expensive for such a short lifespan!).