Social Media Rules of Engagement Why Your Online Narrative is the Best Weapon During a Crisis

Social Media Rules of Engagement guides you in the development of a bullet-proof social media strategy. You can manage any crisis effectively by having a plan before you actually need one—and by understanding and influencing your audience with military precision. This original, engaging, and informative text with case studies from the coalface offers you the tools you need to avoid scandal and media crises, and to learn how to leverage social media, big data, and influence in your communications strategies.

Social media has established itself as a critical part of any external communications strategy—but the very nature of social media leads to crises that organisations are not always prepared to face. To execute an effective social media strategy, you need to build influence, while leveraging the data that supports a targeted approach. This innovative guide focuses on how to create a holistic social media strategy, and how to defend your organization from social media crisis.

• Develop a risk management strategy that protects your social media interactions around the clock
• Avoid common mistakes by reading case studies of business faux pas—and learning exactly what not to do in a crisis
• Cultivate influence both in the boardroom and on the information battlefield by defining your story and knowing your audience segments
• Leverage digital interactivity features to enrich the content in the book

Social Media Rules of Engagement is an integral resource to guide your social strategy toward success.

NICOLE MATEJIC is an internationally recognised military information operations adviser and social media crisis communicator. She is the co-founder and CEO of global military think tank Info Ops HQ, a regular lecturer and trainer to NATO, and the CEO of Social Media Monster aka The #SocialFirefighter^®, offering crisis communications services and training to both the public and private sectors.

Author note xi

Preface xv

Part I: Rules of engagement 1

1 Social media crisis communications: a seismic shift in the risk profile 3

2 Ready, aim … misfire: why you must be social media data savvy 13

3 The hurt locker: getting inside is easy; escaping an art 27

4 Mission recon: why knowing your audience is critical to success 45

5 Classified: is your enemy an adversary or an opportunity? 55

6 Socially transmitted disasters (STDs): The Clap (#PRFail) is now more contagious than ever 71

7 Target acquired: social engineering and what it means for you and your organisation 89

8 Social media information operations: much more than military propaganda 97

9 Lie to me: why you can’t fool your social media audience 113

10 Lessons from an inferno: how to be a #SocialFirefighter® 123

11 The social grapevine: why seeing shouldn’t always be believing on social media 139

12 From battlefield to boardroom: the art of social media influence 149

Part II: The plan is to have a plan before you need a plan 159

#PayItForward 203

Index 207

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