An Executive’s Guide to Social Media: 7 Strategic Purposes of Social

Since the dawn of social media, corporate brands have rushed to tap in to its clear and vast potential. There has been a lot of bandwagon jumping, a lot of noise, and some high-profile missteps and mistakes. While there are success stories too, typically organizations have fallen prey to thinking too small, too short-term, and too tactically when it comes to social media. This tends to be driven by a ‘fear of the vacuum’ and not wanting to appear silent or absent from any particular social space—many of which carry unique risks.

For Annmarie Hanlon, social media use should be approached strategically, and with purpose in mind—guiding not only which channels your organization should be communicating through, but what are the reasons for using them.

Watch Annmarie's video above for a tour of many examples, from the good, the bad, and the ugly too, and learn how to apply the 7 key strategic purposes of social media to your own context and position.

About the speaker

Dr. Annmarie Hanlon is a consultant, author, and Senior Lecturer in digital marketing at the Cranfield School of Management. As an early adopter, working in ‘online marketing’ since 1990, she has led digital marketing strategy and planning projects in sectors including legal and financial services, software and IT, communications, health, and manufacturing. Annmarie is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Marketing, a Member of the Marketing Institute Ireland, and a Liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Marketors. A past winner of the Mais Scholarship, her textbooks include Digital Marketing, Strategic Planning and Integration and The Digital Marketing Planner, as well as the SAGE Handbooks of Digital Marketing and Social Media Marketing.