User:Scottstephensmith/Social Media Management

Social Media Management is the business related function of managing multiple social media channels for the purposes of marketing communication, reputation protection, and customer acquisition. The practice utilizes the internet technology of social media to talk directly to individual customers and create a level of brand involvement and loyalty not possible with traditional media strategies. It reaches beyond marketing and into functions such as sales, human resources, and project management.

Beginning
Social Media Management was not formerly introduced in the workplace until late 2007, as social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter grew to extremely large user counts. It's importance became more universally recognized for its effectiveness during the 2008 presidential election in which Barack Obama was able to mobilize a massive proportion of young population using a far reaching social media campaign. Twitter and Facebook were used to mobilize young voters and several debates were held using questions posed in the form of YouTube videos.

Rise in Marketing
A number of companies began utilizing social media networks as a way to inexpensively communicate directly with their customers. Facebook, in particular, allowed for businesses to target ads according to a number of very specific demographic characteristics. As businesses became more active a number of free and subscription based web applications were developed to help teams plan marketing efforts, track their campaigns, measure effectiveness, and engage customers across multiple networks. Marketing agencies began to develop departments dedicated to social media in order to serve the growing demand for a social presence in marketing. As the field grew, it became important for businesses to be more active and dedicate entire teams to social media marketing, establishing the role of a Social Media Manager. This was initially restricted to marketing.

Commerce
In 2009 a handful of commerce platforms were introduced on Facebook including Payvment and Vendio, while other platforms, such as Shop Igniter, developed deep social integration with their commerce platforms. These platforms would allow the user to share purchases, manage everything using one account, and talk to a customer representative if necessary. They also allowed the merchant to gather more detailed information about the customer demographics.

In early 2010 Facebook announced that they would begin expanding the use Facebook Credits. Initially they were limited to virtual gifts that Facebook created themselves. However, they released a closed beta version that allowed developers to utilize the credits for other virtual goods, virtual currencies, and physical items. The initial redemption fee was set at 30%, meaning that Facebook will take 30% share of all revenue generated from Facebook credits. The first companies to take advantage of this on a large scale were those developing social games for the Facebook platform. Zynga, the makers of Farmville and Mafia Wars, was the largest user of Facebook credits as of December, 2010. The use of Facebook credits is expected to grow tremendously, and will be available in the form of gift cards at Wal-Mart, Target, Game Stop, and Best Buy during the 2010 holiday shopping season.

Human Resources
In October of 2010 LinkedIn, a social network dedicated to business professionals, launched a platform for Job listings and recruiting. Online recruiting had been prevalent since the early 2000's when Monster.com became a leader in the field. However, LinkedIn is expected to have a strategic advantage over their traditional competitors because of the amount of detailed information they have for every user. Other providers, such as SmashFly, link the traditional job boards and social media channels together to allow for a similar access to potential candidates. They also allow employers to remain connected to the most talented workers throughout the recruiting process through Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter.

Project Management 2.0
Typically handled within private networks, Social Media pushed the boundaries of connectivity and became useful for managing teams of people with different expertise and geographic locations. Using real time collaboration tools, teams are able to coordinate both internal functions and customer focused functions from multiple locations. Managing these private networks has become a primary objective of many project managers, including social media managers.

Social Media Manager
A Social Media Manager is responsible for directing a company's social media strategy. The position is typically responsible for:


 * Coordinating social media campaigns
 * Managing existing customer relationships
 * Acting as an advocate of social media integration within the company's strategy
 * Providing benchmarks and analyzing user data, including demographics and brand involvement
 * Promoting sales and commerce through social media channels
 * Monitoring the competition and industry trends, specifically their online marketing efforts
 * Posting job openings and actively recruiting potential candidates
 * Recording and reporting feedback to internal teams to help mold overall strategy and exploit opportunities

Community Manager
The community manager has a similar role to the Social Media Manager, but with a more narrow focus. They are responsible for managing communications between the company and its customers, specifically through social media avenues such as Facebook and Twitter. They would likely handle the following:
 * Responding to customer feedback, reviews, and questions
 * Proactively contacting prospective customers
 * Building relationships with vendors and suppliers
 * Generating content and consumer targeted promotions
 * Engaging in dialogues and answering questions where appropriate
 * Building an active brand ambassador network to spread the word about the company’s websites, services and products

VP of Social Media
A Vice President of Social Media is generally responsible for a company’s external online business presence in relation to a variety of functions including marketing, sales, human resources, and project management. Their team reaches beyond the scope of a single department and aims to add value to multiple channels why increasing efficiencies.

Tools and Applications
Professionals dealing with multiple social media accounts will often use tools to manage social media accounts, measure their effectiveness, and assign tasks to their team members. These tools help managers identify opportunities and complete tasks with high volume.

Marketing Tools and Services

 * Ping.fm
 * FriendFeed
 * TwitterFeed
 * TweetDeck
 * Hootsuite
 * Seesmic
 * Posterous
 * Klout
 * Social Mention
 * TubeMogul
 * Disqus
 * Involver
 * Radian6
 * Beevolve
 * SocialBlaze
 * TubeMogul
 * Overture
 * BuzzBundle.co.uk

Social E-commerce Tools

 * Payvment
 * Vendio
 * ShopIgniter
 * Taurad

Project Management Tools

 * Stream
 * Basecamp
 * Huddle
 * 5pm
 * CoMindWork