Abstract/Summary

Social media is a mix of psychology, sociology and technology offering great opportunities as well as challenges to businesses in today’s fast moving and competitive environment. This report examines the rise of social media and its potential business impact while exploring best practice in developing effective social media strategies. The review begins with a consideration of what constitutes social media and social networking before going on to consider the influences that motivate people to engage in social media. This research includes an extensive literature review of both academic and practitioner sources in order to identify best practice for developing effective social media strategies. A comprehensive six-stage framework depicting how to plan, run and improve the use of social media as part of the marketing strategy is included. This simple, but effective framework covers most situations and can be deployed in most companies whether operating in the business-to-consumer (B2C) or business-to-business (B2B) space. For most companies, embarking on a social media strategy allows them to create a peoplecentred environment using technology to accelerate real-time interactions, rather than hinder them, within a collaborative technology architecture that mitigates the risks inherent with social networking. To be successful, organisations need to understand the relationship between business process, culture and technology in order to encourage collaboration and drive improved performance and business success.