Why "The Social Media Management Handbook"?

No textbooks currently exist for a course in social media.  Textbook publishers (and their authors) are wary of the rapid changes in technology and the challenges of updating.  That leaves professional books which don't have the study aids and course materials.


Here are relevant professional books for social media:

·         The Social Media Management Handbook: Everything You Need To Know To Get Social Media Working In Your Business by Robert Wollan, Nick Smith, Catherine Zhou, Wiley, 2011.

·         The Social Factor by Maria Azua, IBM Press, 2010.

·         Social Media Marketing by Liana Evans, Que, 2010.

·         Manager's Guide to Social Media by Scott Klossosky, McGraw Hill, 2011.

·         The Social Media Business Equation by Eve Mayer Orsburn, Cengage 2012.

The only textbook I know about is:


By Michael Solomon, Pearson, forthcoming 2012 (textbook)

"The Social Media Management Handbook" was selected because of a greater focus on principles rather than current examples which will be outdated very quickly.  The downside is the need to provide current examples although there are many: Missoni for Target is one example.  The management orientation is well-suited for a business school rather than the practitioner who implements a social media campaign.


For an undergraduate course we don't explicitly cover many of the chapters (see strikeouts) as the material is quite dense.  Here is the table of contents:


Introduction: What Is Social Media?
I Social Media Strategy for Organizations.
1 The Power and Business Risks of Social Media (Nick Smith and Robert Wollan).
2 How to Develop a Social Media Strategy (Chris Boudreaux).
3 Social Media ROI: New Metrics for Customer Health (Kevin Quiring).
4 Selling Social Media within the Organization (Robert Wollan). (but be familiar with basics)

II Marketing and Sales in Social Media.
5 Social Media and the Voice of the Customer (Chris Zinner and Catherine Zhou).
6 Integrating Social CRM Insights into the Customer Analytics Function (Rayid Ghani and Sarah Bentley).
7 Using Social Media to Drive Product Development and Find New Services to Sell (Adi Alon and A.J. Gupta).
8 Social Community Marketing and Selling (Robert Wollan and Andre Trochymiuk).
III Customer Service and Support with Social Media.
9 Using Social Media in Customer Service and Support (Stephanie Sadowski).
10 Social Media: Responding to Customer Complaints (Todd R. Wagner).

11 Staying Out of Trouble: Complying with FTC Disclosures (Chris Boudreaux).

IV Beyond the "Pilot" Phase: The Core Components of the Agile Digital Enterprise.
12 Creating and Implementing a Social Media Technology Platform (Anatoly Roytman and Joseph Hughes).

13 Social CRM on the Move: Mobility Implications for Social Media Programs (Greg Jenko, Lars Kamp, and Saj Usman).

14 New Rules for Tools: IT Infrastructure Implications and Options for Supporting Enterprise Social Media (Robert Wollan and Kelly Dempski).

V Empowering Employees for Social Media Success.

15 Culture Traits, Employee Incentives, and Training (Christine Eberle).

16 New Roles and Responsibilities (Chris Zinner and Vanessa Godshalk).

17 Social Media Policies (Chris Bourdreaux).

18 Social Media, Collaboration, and Value Creation in Organizations (Robert J. Thomas).