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Social Media Strategy

A Practical Guide to Social Media Marketing and Customer Engagement

Julie Atherton

Unlock the winning formula for implementing effective social media campaign strategies and enhancing ROI across digital channels with this bestselling book, complete with comprehensive updates and latest developments.

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EAN: 9781398629455

Edition: 3

Published: 03 Oct 2026

Format: 234 x 156

320 pages

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About the book

Learn how to optimize your social media strategy for sustainable, scalable and performance-led business growth.

Social Media Strategy by Julie Atherton is a best-selling guide for senior marketing professionals who need to align social media investment with commercial outcomes and long-term brand value. As digital channels fragment and search behaviour increasingly shifts toward AI-powered tools and social platforms, many organizations struggle to translate activity into consistent results.

This book provides a clear, structured framework for planning, executing and measuring social media strategy in complex, multi-channel environments. It includes new insight into the role of social platforms such as Reddit as discovery engines, the strategic value of brand communities and the evolving skillsets required across modern marketing teams.

You'll learn how to:
- Select and optimize channels across organic, paid and emerging platforms
- Measure and interpret social media activity into actionable data insights
- Build and manage diversified influencer and community ecosystems
- Generate brand visibility across social and search platforms, including AI and Reddit
- Acquire and develop skillsets needed across marketing teams

With practical frameworks, downloadable resources and real-world examples, Social Media Strategy gives senior leaders the clarity, confidence and structure needed to maximize social media's contribution to sustainable business growth.

Themes include: social media strategy, digital marketing leadership, AI and social search, influencer management, brand communities, performance measurement

About the authors

Julie Atherton, MBA is the founder of the social media advisory and marketing consultancy Small Wonder. As a public speaker, consultant and strategist, she has 30 years' experience working with global brands including Nissan, ITV, Deloitte Digital, Asos and St John Ambulance. She lectures in social media on university MBA programmes at the University of Exeter and the University of Bath, and trains marketing professionals in digital, brand, social media and content marketing. Her book B2B Social Selling Strategy, is also published by Kogan Page.

Julie Atherton

- Chapter - 00: Introduction – How to use this book;
- Chapter - 01: Understand how social media is utilized in business, marketing and interpreting customer expectations;
- Chapter - 02: Social as a search function – optimizing channels for the new digital landscape;
- Chapter - 03: Getting started – Aligning social media goals and KPIs with your wider business objectives;
- Chapter - 04: Audience – Using social listening to profile your networked audience and generate customer insights for a global social media strategy;
- Chapter - 05: Brand presence – How to drive action and engagement through integrated content marketing on social media;
- Chapter - 06: Campaigns – A quick step guide to organic and paid social media channel selection for your objectives and audiences;
- Chapter - 07: Measuring and benchmarking success – How and when do you know your social media strategy is working?;
- Chapter - 08: From customers to celebrities – Identifying and attracting a range of influencers to advocate for your brand;
- Chapter - 09: Crisis and reputation management for social media and PR – A clear guide for the unpredictable;
- Chapter - 10: What skillsets are needed across the team?