A. The Social Media Strategy Wheel

I developed and introduced the Social Media Strategy Wheel in 2009. It’s been updated in this book to help PR and communications professionals visualize the core components of social media strategy and planning. To effectively use the wheel, you must work from the inside circle out. With any communications program, you begin with the audit/discovery and research phase to evaluate resources and techniques that work in earlier initiatives. The information you uncover during the discovery phase can help you to create a stronger program, with goals and objectives, appropriate target audiences, and the budgetary requirements necessary to launch your effort.

The main sections of the wheel (Tracking & Monitoring, Channel/Distribution, Communications/Content, Engagement, and Measurement) are the areas to help you formalize your strategies and tactics to successfully reach your goals. It’s critical to realize that all strategies and tactics must map back to your overall objectives. Social media requires you to think differently about your planning and strategy because you are joining communications with technology and always keeping in mind the behavioral preferences of your target audiences.