Select a company of your own choice to be the consultant for, such as the company you might currently work for.

For this assignment, you have these two options. Only select one to complete this week: Option 1: Assume that you have been hired as a consultant by the president of Camerons Coffee, a $40 million-dollar premium coffee manufacturer, located in Shakopee Minnesota (Petersen, n.d.). This is a real company, so you can easily research the companys website and current social media presence. A search will also find articles written about the company. Please become aware of the firms current presence on social media so that your recommendation will be geared toward changing, enhancing, or improving that presence. Option 2: Select a company of your own choice to be the consultant for, such as the company you might currently work for. The primary selection criteria are that it should be a SME (small to medium-sized enterprise with approximately 500 employees or less), and it must have a limited social media marketing strategy at present or none at all. Please become aware of the firms current presence on social media so that your recommendation will be geared toward changing, enhancing, or improving that presence. Assignment Criteria: Once you make your company selection, address the following: Your client, Cameron Coffee or the alternative firm you select, is considering investing significant financial and personnel resources into a more substantial social media marketing strategy. As the companys consultant, your assignment is to create a social media market proposal in the form of an executive report for consideration by the companys CEO and other top management. Design the strategy to help sell the companys products or services, as well as boost the companys image to customers (and potential distributors and retailers if their products are sold through a third party). Research these subjects, and then prepare an executive report that provides the following: Begin with an executive summary, including the general need for a social media marketing strategy for a firm like your client. Be sure to explain social media and social media marketing. Recommend two social media platforms that you think will provide the greatest impact for your client for the money and resources they will invest, along with your reason for their selection. Your arguments will be strengthened if you provide examples of firms that have successfully pursued similar social media strategies. Explain how each recommendation will resolve any issues and fulfill the companys needs. So, what is an executive report? Top executives are busy people, and they typically get numerous reports from people inside and outside their organizations, so when they read a report, they want clarity and conciseness. This is somewhat analogous to the famous elevator speech. What would you tell your boss if you only had a 10-floor elevator ride to explain your idea or project. In this case, you have a little more time and space, but you still want to grab the CEOs attention and fully informing this individual about your proposal as quickly and clearly as possible. Listed below are the items such a report typically contains: A brief executive summary at the start of your social media marketing proposal If it doesnt grab them, they probably wont read the rest. An introduction to your report that quickly explains the reason and importance of your proposal. A relatively brief explanation of the importance of social media marketing and the two platforms discussed in your recommendation. Your specific social media marketing recommendations for two social media platforms. These should include the specific benefits each recommendation brings to the company. Support your assignment with at least three scholarly resources. In addition to these specified resources, other appropriate scholarly resources, including seminal articles, may be included. Length: 3-5 pages, not including title and reference pages Social Media Marketing As discussed in the introduction to this section, in todays marketplace, prime-time TV ads and other traditional advertising and promotional strategies, such as billboards or direct (snail) mail, are either too expensive or ineffective to beat the competition. Do you read all the unsolicited mail that lands in your physical mailbox each day? Are you one of the many that have DVRs at home, and fast forward through the TV ads? For better or worse, peoples eyes are glued to their smartphones, tablets, and computer screens. So, what is an example of a firm with an excellent social media strategy? Thats not an easy question because social media itself is still evolving and the way to exploit it best is still experimental, but Whole Foods Market is often cited as a firm that so far has done it right. In part, Whole Foods Market has made it as much an educational tool as it is a promotional one. But many other firms have been noted for their social media market prowess, include Peel (phone cases), Wholesome Culture, Blenders Eyewear, and even older well-established marketers like KFC and General Electric (GE). This week, you will address technology by way of social media marketing. You will examine the best social media marketing strategies, and then apply them to an actual business case by preparing an executive report. See the assignment instructions for a discussion of how to create an executive report. Be sure to review this week’s resources carefully. You are expected to apply the information from these resources when you prepare your assignments. Books and Resources for the Week Evans, D. (2012). Social media marketing: An hour a day (2nd ed.). Indianapolis, IN: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Films for Humanities & Sciences (Producer). (2014). Social media for business marketing [Video file] Halula, W. (Producer). (2012). Advertising in the digital age [Video file]. Instagram. (2018). Whole Foods Market [Website]. Lanham, K. (2016). The land mines of social media marketing. Mortgage Banking, 76(11), 58-63. Mercadal, T. (2017). Social media marketing. Salem Press Encyclopedia. Twitter. (2018). Whole Foods Market [Website]. Wikman, B., & Cottrell, C. (2013). Social media marketing: 5 Ways to success. Archery Business, 38(4), 32-36.