media management case study

• © 2020

Media Management

Strategy, Business Models and Case Studies

• Bernd W. Wirtz   ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1480-8513 0

Information and Communication Management, German University of Administrative Sciences, Speyer, Germany

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• Provides a detailed overview of media management
• Addresses a comprehensive range of media formats, from print to digital
• Presents various detailed case studies combining all aspects of business models in the media sector

Part of the book series: Springer Texts in Business and Economics (STBE)

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18 Citations

• Table of contents

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Table of contents (15 chapters)

Front matter, foundations of media management.

Bernd W. Wirtz

Dynamic media management capabilities: a case study

In the past decade television broadcasters have transformed themselves into multi-sector media firms. Traditional media and telecommunications industries have converged, resulting in new media technologies and platforms keyed to digitalisation, correlated with fundamental changes in audience consumption habits, and encouraging exploration of new business models. This transformative and largely unpredictable media environment raises important questions about how media firms have adapted to a competitive media environment that is characterised by uncertainty. Dynamic Capability Theory provides us with an appropriate lens through which to examine how media firms adapt to rapidly changing environments. It argues that in dynamic markets, firms must adapt and refresh their resource base in order to develop new capabilities and competencies that will help them to adapt to market change and deliver sustainable competitive advantage over time. This chapter examines the theory on ‘dynamic capabilities’ and applies it to a media company in the UK (BskyB) to illustrate its importance, by engaging a critical evaluation of the company’s ability to adapt and transform from a subscription based television company into a multi-product, multi-platform media firm. The chapter concludes by arguing that that Dynamic Capabilities Theory provides a valuable contribution to the debate on how media firms can maintain high levels of corporate performance in response to fast changing market conditions.

Related Papers

Journal of Media Business Studies

Prof. Dr. John J Oliver

The competitive dynamics of many industries have changed considerably over the past decade, and perhaps, none more so than in the Media Industry. Industries have long been examined by researchers from a strategic perspective with various themes of inquiry relating to; industry structure and positioning, industry evolution and development, industry lifecycle, industry change and industry consolidation. Fundamentally, this body of knowledge emphases the importance of an organisation's strategic fit with their competitive environment. This paper extends our knowledge of industry analysis into the domain of dynamic capabilities. As such, it examines the notion of dynamic capabilities existing at industry level and in doing so it presents the findings from a survey of UK media executives into the existence dynamic capabilities in the UK Media Industry. The convergence of media industry capabilities The increasingly dynamic nature of the media environment provides an ideal context to ...

Journal of Strategy and Management

PurposeDynamic capabilities (DCs) help media firms adapt to rapidly changing environments. The purpose of this study is to provide a comprehensive literature review of studies of DCs in strategic management research with a view to understanding its implications for the management of media organizations. Essentially, it fertilizes on the idea that the concept of DC is useful and vital for answering various critical questions regarding the challenges that media organizations are currently facing.Design/methodology/approachThis study builds on a systematic literature reviewing design as the research methodology. It aims to identify, critically evaluate, and integrate factors, dimensions, and findings on studies of DCs in strategic management research and builds knowledge transfers to the field of strategic management research in the media industry.FindingsThe study shows that the DC framework helps media firms effectively respond to changing environments. The conceptual DC framework ha...

The past decade has seen a transformation in the way media organizations have managed their businesses. The emergence of digitalization has paved the way for new media technologies, a proliferation of media outlets and multiple platforms to distribute mediated content. The work of Picard (2002), Kung (2008) and Oliver (2013) demonstrated the nature of high velocity media market conditions, whilst Doyle (2013, p.35) noted that “media firms have naturally adapted” their businesses, in response to the dynamic nature of the media environment, as a means to protect and sustain their company. This paper proposes that media firms manage their business and strategies through a process of adaptation. As such, organizational adaptation is examined through the lens of Dynamic Capabilities Theory (Teece and Pisano, 1994) which is well placed to consider how media firms have adapted (Ambrosini, Bowman & Collier 2009) to a transformational context heavily influenced by technological innovation. This paper will present the findings from a survey of UK media executives and argue that Dynamic Capabilities Theory can be extended to consider the ‘ability’ of a media organization to adapt their strategies, business model, resources and capabilities, faster than their rivals, that can provide them with an Adaptive Advantage in the market place. Keywords: Adaptive Advantage, Dynamic Capabilities, Competitive Advantage, Adaptation, Business Strategy, Business Model, Media Management, Media Strategy.

Strategic Management Society Conference

The past decade has seen a transformation in the way television broadcasters have managed their businesses. This paper examines the ‘dynamic capability’ of two UK television broadcasters, BskyB and ITV, and their ability to adapt and transform themselves into multi-product, multi-platform media companies. Using Comparative Financial Analysis and Content Analysis of company Annual Reports, it compares and contrasts operating ratios in a time series, to gauge each company’s historical performance over time, whilst also providing inter-company comparisons. It also illustrates how the strategic management of media firms can be significantly different for two companies operating in the same sector. This research demonstrates an original contribution to knowledge in two areas. Firstly, it provides evidence of the dynamic capability performance effects of significant players in UK television broadcasting. Secondly, it extends the limited debate in literature on how to measure dynamic capability performance.

The competitive dynamics of many industries have changed considerably over the past decade and perhaps none more so than in news media. There is no doubt that this industry continues to undergo structural changes that compel news media firms to adapt and transform their business in response to the dynamic nature of media environment (Oliver, 2012; 2014). Indeed, many scholars have written extensively of the influence that the digital media environment has had on news businesses in terms of organizational value chains, profitability and their strategic adaptation to an environment disrupted by innovative new media technologies (Kung, 2008; Picard, 2010; Coates Nee, 2013; Neilsen, 2014; Schlesinger and Doyle, 2015). Industries have long been examined by researchers from a strategic perspective with various themes of inquiry relating to; industry structure and positioning, industry evolution and development, industry lifecycle, industry change and industry consolidation. Fundamentally, this body of knowledge emphases the importance of an organisation’s strategic fit with their competitive environment to achieve competitive advantage. This paper argues that ‘industry analysis’ could usefully draw on Dynamic Capabilities Theory (Teece, Pisano and Shuen, 1997) which argues for the strategic adaptation and reconfiguration of news media firm resources and capabilities in order to address a rapidly changing competitive environment. The increasingly dynamic nature of news media provides an ideal context to examine the dynamic capabilities exhibited at industry level, and whilst questions of industry analysis have been extensively covered in the field of strategic management, there is a dearth of literature that examines dynamic capabilities at industry level, and more specifically, UK news media. This paper will present empirical findings from a comparative time-series analysis (1997-2013) of the UK Publishing Industry and compare it to other industries categorised within the UK Creative Industries. Using descriptive statistics, this research will examine two key resource based metrics: the number of employees and the Gross Value Added by each industry. In doing so, this analysis will extend the limited knowledge on industry level dynamic capabilities and inter-industry performance and provide an insight into how the UK Publishing Industry has adapted to digital media over two decades change and turbulence. Keywords: Dynamic Capabilities, Industry Analysis, Creative Industries, Publishing, Media Management.

International Journal of Media Management

"The UK broadcast media landscape provides an interesting context to understand and explore the competitive dynamics of media organisations’. As an industry characterised by uncertainty and turbulence, this paper considers the process by which broadcast media organisations develop their strategies and the type of analytical tools that they use to underpin this process. This paper presents the findings of a survey of UK broadcast media executives and their views on the outlook for the UK Media Industry; the influence that the competitive environment has on developing media strategy; and the management tools that they use and their levels of satisfaction with these tools. It concludes that UK broadcast media is a competitive and turbulent environment, and that media strategy is developed using a number of media management tools that have varying degrees of success in terms of helping broadcast media executives to manage their media organisations’ in uncertain and complex conditions. "

Robert G. Picard

International Journal of Business Excellence

Päivi S Maijanen

The past decade has seen a transformation in the way media organizations have managed their businesses. The emergence of new media has paved the way for new technologies, digitalization, a proliferation of media outlets and multiple platforms to distribute mediated content. Picard (2002, p.46) argued that these structural market changes compel media executives to address the issue of sustainability since “a firm that is competitive today can lose that competitiveness in future years”. The work of Kung (2008) and Oliver (2012) demonstrated the nature of high velocity market conditions that characterize many media industries, whilst Doyle (2013, p.35) commented that “media firms have naturally adapted their business and corporate strategies” in response to the dynamic nature of media environment. This paper examines the concept of media firm sustainability by investigating the dynamics of the current UK media environment and the efficacy of media firm strategy and resource management. As such, issues of media firm sustainability will be examined through the lens of Dynamic Capabilities Theory (Teece and Pisano, 1994) which is well placed to consider how media organizations have adapted (Ambrosini, Bowman & Collier 2009) to a transformational context heavily influenced by technological innovation. This paper argues that it is the ability of a media organization to adapt and refresh their resource base, capabilities and competencies that can provide them with an advantage in the market place. As such, this paper argues that Adaptive Advantage should be a prime consideration for media firms operating in the type of high velocity market conditions that can threaten the sustainability of their business. This paper will present the findings from a survey of UK media executives and argue that Dynamic Capabilities Theory can be extended to consider not only the adaptation of organizational strategy and resources, but the notion that a media firm can gain an Adaptive Advantage over their competition, and therefore, provide the basis for the long-terms sustainability of their business.

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Top 40 Most Popular Case Studies of 2021

Two cases about Hertz claimed top spots in 2021's Top 40 Most Popular Case Studies

Two cases on the uses of debt and equity at Hertz claimed top spots in the CRDT’s (Case Research and Development Team) 2021 top 40 review of cases.

Hertz (A) took the top spot. The case details the financial structure of the rental car company through the end of 2019. Hertz (B), which ranked third in CRDT’s list, describes the company’s struggles during the early part of the COVID pandemic and its eventual need to enter Chapter 11 bankruptcy. 

The success of the Hertz cases was unprecedented for the top 40 list. Usually, cases take a number of years to gain popularity, but the Hertz cases claimed top spots in their first year of release. Hertz (A) also became the first ‘cooked’ case to top the annual review, as all of the other winners had been web-based ‘raw’ cases.

Besides introducing students to the complicated financing required to maintain an enormous fleet of cars, the Hertz cases also expanded the diversity of case protagonists. Kathyrn Marinello was the CEO of Hertz during this period and the CFO, Jamere Jackson is black.

Sandwiched between the two Hertz cases, Coffee 2016, a perennial best seller, finished second. “Glory, Glory, Man United!” a case about an English football team’s IPO made a surprise move to number four.  Cases on search fund boards, the future of malls,  Norway’s Sovereign Wealth fund, Prodigy Finance, the Mayo Clinic, and Cadbury rounded out the top ten.

Other year-end data for 2021 showed:

• Online “raw” case usage remained steady as compared to 2020 with over 35K users from 170 countries and all 50 U.S. states interacting with 196 cases.
• Fifty four percent of raw case users came from outside the U.S..
• The Yale School of Management (SOM) case study directory pages received over 160K page views from 177 countries with approximately a third originating in India followed by the U.S. and the Philippines.
• Twenty-six of the cases in the list are raw cases.
• A third of the cases feature a woman protagonist.
• Orders for Yale SOM case studies increased by almost 50% compared to 2020.
• The top 40 cases were supervised by 19 different Yale SOM faculty members, several supervising multiple cases.

CRDT compiled the Top 40 list by combining data from its case store, Google Analytics, and other measures of interest and adoption.

All of this year’s Top 40 cases are available for purchase from the Yale Management Media store .

And the Top 40 cases studies of 2021 are:

1.   Hertz Global Holdings (A): Uses of Debt and Equity

2.   Coffee 2016

3.   Hertz Global Holdings (B): Uses of Debt and Equity 2020

4.   Glory, Glory Man United!

5.   Search Fund Company Boards: How CEOs Can Build Boards to Help Them Thrive

6.   The Future of Malls: Was Decline Inevitable?

7.   Strategy for Norway's Pension Fund Global

8.   Prodigy Finance

9.   Design at Mayo

10. Cadbury

11. City Hospital Emergency Room

13. Volkswagen

14. Marina Bay Sands

15. Shake Shack IPO

16. Mastercard

17. Netflix

18. Ant Financial

19. AXA: Creating the New CR Metrics

20. IBM Corporate Service Corps

21. Business Leadership in South Africa's 1994 Reforms

22. Alternative Meat Industry

23. Children's Premier

24. Khalil Tawil and Umi (A)

25. Palm Oil 2016

26. Teach For All: Designing a Global Network

27. What's Next? Search Fund Entrepreneurs Reflect on Life After Exit

28. Searching for a Search Fund Structure: A Student Takes a Tour of Various Options

30. Project Sammaan

31. Commonfund ESG

32. Polaroid

33. Connecticut Green Bank 2018: After the Raid

34. FieldFresh Foods

35. The Alibaba Group

36. 360 State Street: Real Options

37. Herman Miller

38. AgBiome

39. Nathan Cummings Foundation

40. Toyota 2010

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How to write a social media case study (with template)

Written by by Jenn Chen

Published on  October 10, 2019

Reading time  8 minutes

You’ve got a good number of social media clients under your belt and you feel fairly confident in your own service or product content marketing strategy. To attract new clients, you’ll tell them how you’ve tripled someone else’s engagement rates but how do they know this is true? Enter the case study.

Social media case studies are often used as part of a sales funnel: the potential client sees themselves in the case study and signs up because they want the same or better results. At Sprout, we use this strategy with our own case studies highlighting our customer’s successes.

Writing and publishing case studies is time intensive but straight forward. This guide will walk through how to create a social media case study for your business and highlight some examples.

What is a social media case study?

A case study is basically a long testimonial or review. Case studies commonly highlight what a business has achieved by using a social media service or strategy, and they illustrate how your company’s offerings help clients in a specific situation. Some case studies are written just to examine how a problem was solved or performance was improved from a general perspective. For this guide, we’ll be examining case studies that are focused on highlighting a company’s own products and services.

Case studies come in all content formats: long-form article, downloadable PDF, video and infographic. A single case study can be recycled into different formats as long as the information is still relevant.

At their core, case studies serve to inform a current or potential customer about a real-life scenario where your service or product was applied. There’s often a set date range for the campaign and accompanying, real-life statistics. The idea is to help the reader get a clearer understanding of how to use your product and why it could help.

Broad selling points like “our service will cut down your response time” are nice but a sentence like “After three months of using the software for responses, the company decreased their response time by 52%” works even better. It’s no longer a dream that you’ll help them decrease the response time because you already have with another company.

So now that you understand what a case study is, let’s get started on how to create one that’s effective and will help attract new clients.

How to write a social marketing case study

Writing an effective case study is all about the prep work. You’ve got to get all of the questions and set up ready so you can minimize lots of back and forth between you and the client.

1. Prepare your questions

Depending on how the case study will be presented and how familiar you are with the client to be featured, you may want to send some preliminary questions before the interview. It’s important to not only get permission from the company to use their logo, quotes and graphs but also to make sure they know they’ll be going into a public case study.

Your preliminary questions should cover background information about the company and ask about campaigns they are interested in discussing. Be sure to also identify which of your products and services they used. You can go into the details in the interview.

Once you receive the preliminary answers back, it’s time to prepare your questions for the interview. This is where you’ll get more information about how they used your products and how they contributed to the campaign’s success.

2. Interview

When you conduct your interview, think ahead on how you want it to be done. Whether it’s a phone call, video meeting or in-person meeting, you want to make sure it’s recorded. You can use tools like Google Meet, Zoom or UberConference to host and record calls (with your client’s permission, of course). This ensures that your quotes are accurate and you can play it back in case you miss any information. Tip: test out your recording device and process before the interview. You don’t want to go through the interview only to find out the recording didn’t save.

Ask open-ended questions to invite good quotes. You may need to use follow-up questions if the answers are too vague. Here are some examples.

• Explain how you use (your product or service) in general and for the campaign. Please name specific features.
• Describe how the feature helped your campaign achieve success.
• What were the campaign outcomes?
• What did you learn from the campaign?

Since we’re focused on creating a social media case study in this case, you can dive more deeply into social strategies and tactics too:

• Tell me about your approach to social media. How has it changed over time, if at all? What role does it play for the organization? How do you use it? What are you hoping to achieve?
• Are there specific social channels you prioritize? If so, why?
• How do you make sure your social efforts are reaching the right audience?
• What specific challenges do organizations like yours face when it comes to social?
• How do you measure the ROI of using social ? Are there certain outcomes that prove the value of social for your organization? What metrics are you using to determine how effective social is for you?

As the conversation continues, you can ask more leading questions if you need to to make sure you get quotes that tie these strategic insights directly back to the services, products or strategies your company has delivered to the client to help them achieve success. Here are just a couple of examples.

• Are there specific features that stick out to you as particularly helpful or especially beneficial for you and your objectives?
• How are you using (product/service) to support your social strategy? What’s a typical day like for your team using it?

The above quote was inserted into the Sprout Lake Metroparks case study . It’s an example of identifying a quote from an interview that helps make the impact of the product tangible in a client’s day to day.

At the end of the interview, be sure to thank the company and request relevant assets.

Afterwards, you may want to transcribe the interview to increase the ease of reviewing the material and writing the case study. You can DIY or use a paid service like Rev to speed up this part of the process.

3. Request assets and graphics

This is another important prep step because you want to make sure you get everything you need out of one request and avoid back and forth that takes up both you and your customer’s time. Be very clear on what you need and the file formats you need them in.

Some common assets include:

• Logo in .png format
• Logo guidelines so you know how to use them correctly
• Links to social media posts that were used during the campaign
• Headshots of people you interviewed
• Social media analytics reports. Make sure you name them and provide the requested date range, so that if you’re using a tool like Sprout, clients know which one to export.

4. Write the copy

Now that the information has been collected, it’s time to dissect it all and assemble it. At the end of this guide, we have an example outline template for you to follow. When writing a case study, you want to write to the audience that you’re trying to attract . In this case, it’ll be a potential customer that’s similar to the one you’re highlighting.

Use a mix of sentences and bullet points to attract different kinds of readers. The tone should be uplifting because you’re highlighting a success story. When identifying quotes to use, remove any fillers (“um”) and cut out unnecessary info.

5. Pay attention to formatting

And finally, depending on the content type, enlist the help of a graphic designer to make it look presentable. You may also want to include call-to-action buttons or links inside of your article. If you offer free trials, case studies are a great place to promote them.

Social media case study template

Writing a case study is a lot like writing a story or presenting a research paper (but less dry). This is a general outline to follow but you are welcome to enhance to fit your needs.

Headline Attention-grabbing and effective. Example: “ How Benefit turns cosmetics into connection using Sprout Social ” Summary A few sentences long with a basic overview of the brand’s story. Give the who, what, where, why and how. Which service and/or product did they use? Introduce the company Give background on who you’re highlighting. Include pertinent information like how big their social media team is, information about who you interviewed and how they run their social media. Describe the problem or campaign What were they trying to solve? Why was this a problem for them? What were the goals of the campaign? Present the solution and end results Describe what was done to achieve success. Include relevant social media statistics (graphics are encouraged). Conclusion Wrap it up with a reflection from the company spokesperson. How did they think the campaign went? What would they change to build on this success for the future? How did using the service compare to other services used in a similar situation?

Case studies are essential marketing and sales tools for any business that offer robust services or products. They help the customer reading them to picture their own company using the product in a similar fashion. Like a testimonial, words from the case study’s company carry more weight than sales points from the company.

When creating your first case study, keep in mind that preparation is the key to success. You want to find a company that is more than happy to sing your praises and share details about their social media campaign.

Once you’ve started developing case studies, find out the best ways to promote them alongside all your other content with our free social media content mix tool .

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Journal of Digital Media Management

Journal of Digital Media Management is the major peer-reviewed, professional journal for all those involved in the capture, storage and effective application of digital media assets.

Each quarterly 100-page issue publishes in-depth articles, real world case studies and reviews written by some of the leading experts in the field. Topics range from lessons learned in DAM procurement, to the challenges of digital content work flow, and to monetizing digital assets in new and innovative ways. It cuts through the deluge of information facing DAM professionals to deliver authoritative, practical content that provides genuine thought-leadership on digital media management, with actionable advice and ‘lessons learned’ from end users on selecting and using DAM systems in practice.

Journal of Digital Media Management  is the official journal of the Henry Stewart DAM conference series .

Journal of Digital Media Management does not solicit advertising or publish advertorial and every article is peer-reviewed by its expert Editorial Board to ensure the Journal:

• Focuses on end users' concerns
• Publishes real-life case studies from leading DAM users
• Provides a  benchmark for you to measure your organization against
• Publishes authors from a wide range of sectors including broadcast, entertainment, media, consumer and business brands, social media, cultural institutions, education, not-for-profits and government
• Shows how DAM supports strategic business goals, helping professionals demonstrate the value that DAM can and does contribute to the bottom line
• Combines strategic-level thinking with the technical knowledge needed to put business strategy into practice
• Does not promote a service or product

As such, the journal showcases the latest thinking, practice and developments in digital asset management, including:

• Distribution, protection and monetization of digital assets
• Valuing digital assets
• Metadata, taxonomy and search
• Digital content workflows
• Maximizing and protecting brand value
• Digital rights management
• Marketing operations
• DAM and social media
• Maximizing the value of DAM system functionality
• The DAM vendor landscape
• Selecting the right DAM system
• Measuring ROI on DAM investments
• New technologies and what they offer
• Storage and archive solutions
• Operational efficiencies
• Content and data architectures
• Video and video on demand

Essential reading for group heads, departmental heads, managing directors, directors, SVPs, EVPs, VPs and senior managers of:

• Digital asset management
• Digital media
• Content management
• Media operations
• Digital libraries
• Creative services
• Marketing and brand management
• Photography services
• IT and technology architecture
• Website management; as well as
• C-Suite executives
• Service providers, consultants and analysts
• DRM legal advisors

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" Journal of Digital Media Management  is one of the most thoughtful and complete journals on the subject of digital asset management.  The articles are written and reviewed by some of the foremost experts in the industry."

We use Journal of Digital Media Management to see what's being talked about, what works, what doesn't work, what backs up our strategy or what challenges our strategy. For ITV's Content Management team, the range of practitioners and the very practical scenarios provide a trigger for the development of new ideas.

" Journal of Digital Media Management  provides a vital professional resource that accomplishes three important objectives for the field of digital asset management: a peer-reviewed publication, a history of best practices, and a practical source of learning for anyone with responsibility for organising and sharing content."

" Journal of Digital Media Management is the premier forum for professional and relevant discourse in digital media and content management featuring pertinent, credible and disciplined peer-review articles."

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Effective Social Media Campaigns: Case Studies

• Key Takeaways

79% of marketers believe that social media is an effective marketing channel. (Source. Sprout Social)

Video content on social media generates 12 times more shares than text and images combined. (Source. SmallBizGenius)

71% of consumers are more likely to make a purchase based on social media referrals. (Source. HubSpot)

Effective social media campaigns hinge on visual content, compelling narratives, and audience targeting.

Influencer marketing and data-driven decisions can significantly impact campaign success.

The world of digital marketing has undergone a profound transformation with the advent of social media platforms. In today’s landscape, social media campaigns have emerged as a driving force behind brand success. They have the potential to connect businesses with a global audience, foster engagement, and drive tangible results. However, the key to harnessing this potential lies in crafting and executing effective social media campaigns. This article serves as a comprehensive guide to understanding the intricacies of such campaigns, using real-world case studies as our compass.

In the following sections, we will delve deep into the strategies and tactics that underpin successful social media campaigns. We’ll explore the power of visual content, the art of crafting engaging narratives, audience targeting and segmentation, the role of paid advertising, influencer collaborations, data-driven decision-making, cross-platform integration, crisis management, and, most importantly, how to measure the success of your campaigns through Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). We firmly believe that the integration of case studies into each section will provide actionable insights, allowing marketers and businesses to not only grasp these concepts but also apply them effectively in their own campaigns.

1. Introduction to Social Media Campaigns

In the ever-evolving landscape of digital marketing, social media has emerged as a pivotal platform for businesses and brands to connect with their target audiences. The term “social media campaign” refers to a structured marketing effort designed to achieve specific goals through various social media channels. This topic serves as the foundational point of our article, providing readers with a comprehensive understanding of the importance and relevance of social media campaigns in today’s business environment.

• 1.1 The Role of Social Media in Modern Marketing

Social media platforms, such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn, have become integral components of marketing strategies for businesses of all sizes. They offer unique opportunities to engage with a global audience, build brand recognition, and drive customer loyalty. By establishing a presence on these platforms, companies can tap into the immense potential of social media marketing.

• 1.2 Importance of Effective Campaigns for Brand Success

The success of a brand often hinges on its ability to effectively utilize social media. The digital era has ushered in a paradigm shift in consumer behavior, with people increasingly turning to social platforms for product information, reviews, and recommendations. Therefore, brands that can craft and execute compelling social media campaigns have a competitive edge in the market. In this article, we delve into case studies to highlight the tangible impact of well-executed campaigns on brand success.

• 1.3 Overview of the Article’s Focus on Case Studies

To illustrate the principles and strategies behind effective social media campaigns, this article relies on real-world examples in the form of case studies. These case studies offer practical insights into how businesses have leveraged social media to achieve their marketing objectives. By examining specific instances of successful campaigns, readers can gain a deeper understanding of the strategies, tactics, and outcomes associated with social media marketing.

• 1.4 The Value of Real-World Examples in Learning

Case studies provide a unique educational experience by offering a bridge between theory and practice. They allow readers to witness the application of marketing concepts in real scenarios, providing valuable lessons that can be adapted to their own marketing efforts. Through the analysis of these case studies, readers can discern patterns, best practices, and pitfalls to avoid when embarking on their social media campaigns.

2. The Power of Visual Content

In today’s digital landscape, the role of visual content in social media campaigns cannot be overstated. Visual elements have the unique ability to capture the audience’s attention, convey messages quickly, and create a lasting impact. In this section, we will delve into the various aspects of visual content and explore how it contributes to the effectiveness of social media campaigns.

•  2.1. Utilizing Eye-Catching Images and Graphics

Visual content often starts with the use of captivating images and graphics. Whether it’s an eye-catching photograph, an intriguing illustration, or an attention-grabbing infographic, the right visuals can immediately pique the interest of your audience. Marketers need to understand the significance of choosing images and graphics that align with their brand and campaign objectives. We will discuss how selecting the right visuals can set the tone for the entire campaign and leave a memorable impression on viewers.

•  2.2. The Impact of Video Content

Videos have become a dominant force in the realm of social media. From short clips to longer-form content, videos offer a dynamic way to engage with audiences. This  explores the effectiveness of video content in social media campaigns. We will discuss the advantages of video marketing , such as its ability to convey complex messages, evoke emotions, and increase user engagement. Case studies will be presented to highlight successful video-centric campaigns that have achieved remarkable results.

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•  2.3. Infographics as a Storytelling Tool

Infographics are a powerful tool for storytelling on social media. They allow marketers to condense information into visually appealing and easily digestible formats. In this section, we will explore how infographics can be leveraged to convey data, statistics, and narratives effectively. We’ll discuss the design principles behind compelling infographics and provide examples of campaigns that have effectively used infographics to educate and engage their audiences.

•  2.4. User-Generated Content and Its Authenticity

User-generated content (UGC) has gained prominence as a means of building trust and authenticity. UGC involves content created by customers or fans of a brand, and it often showcases real-life experiences and testimonials. We will examine the impact of UGC in social media campaigns, emphasizing how it fosters authenticity and credibility. Case studies will demonstrate how brands have harnessed the power of UGC to build strong relationships with their audience.

• 2.5. Case Studies Showcasing Successful Visual Campaigns

To reinforce the concepts discussed in this section, we will present real-world case studies of social media campaigns that have excelled in utilizing visual content. These case studies will offer concrete examples of how businesses and organizations have leveraged eye-catching images, videos, infographics, and user-generated content to create compelling and effective social media campaigns. By analyzing these success stories, readers will gain insights into the strategies and tactics that drive engagement and deliver results in the world of visual content on social media.

3. Crafting Engaging Content

In the realm of social media campaigns, crafting engaging content is undeniably a cornerstone of success. Your content is the bridge that connects your brand with your audience, and it’s crucial to ensure that this connection is not only established but also strengthened. Here, we delve into the intricacies of creating content that captivates and resonates with your target audience.

•  3.1. Strategies for Creating Compelling Content
• Understanding Your Audience: Crafting engaging content begins with a deep understanding of your target audience. Take the time to research their preferences, interests, and pain points. Tailoring your content to address their specific needs is key to engagement.
• Storytelling Techniques: Storytelling is a powerful tool in the world of content creation. Learn how to weave narratives that not only convey your brand’s message but also evoke emotions and create a memorable impact.
•  3.2. Building Brand Personality Through Content
• Consistency in Branding: Effective content aligns with your brand’s identity. Explore how to maintain consistency in messaging, tone, and visuals across all your social media platforms to reinforce your brand’s personality.
• Showcasing Brand Values: Engaging content often reflects your brand’s values and mission. Discover strategies for infusing your content with your brand’s ethos, creating a deeper connection with your audience.
•  3.3. Interactive Content and Engagement Tactics
• The Power of Interactivity: Interactive content, such as polls, quizzes, and live sessions, can significantly boost engagement. Learn how to incorporate these elements into your social media campaigns to encourage participation.
• Engagement Tactics: Beyond the content itself, engagement tactics play a vital role. Explore techniques like responding promptly to comments, running contests, and encouraging user-generated content to keep your audience actively engaged.
•  3.4. Case Studies Exemplifying Effective Content Strategies

Real-World Examples: To solidify your understanding of crafting engaging content, we’ll delve into case studies from successful social media campaigns. These case studies will showcase how brands effectively applied the strategies mentioned above to achieve remarkable engagement and results.

Crafting engaging content is an ongoing process that requires creativity, a deep understanding of your audience, and adaptability. By following the strategies and principles outlined in this section, you can set the stage for creating content that not only captures your audience’s attention but also keeps them coming back for more, ultimately driving the success of your social media campaigns.

4. Targeting the Right Audience

In the world of social media campaigns, success hinges significantly on understanding and effectively targeting the right audience. Identifying your audience is akin to the foundation of a house; it’s the starting point upon which all your efforts will be built. Here, we delve into the critical aspects of audience targeting, providing you with valuable insights to ensure your social media campaigns hit the mark.

• 4.1 Importance of Understanding Your Audience

Before embarking on any social media campaign, it’s imperative to gain a deep understanding of your audience. This involves comprehensive market research to define demographic details such as age, gender, location, and interests. By knowing your audience inside and out, you can tailor your content and messaging to resonate with them. Case studies in this section will demonstrate how brands successfully researched and understood their target audience, leading to highly effective campaigns.

• 4.2 Segmenting Your Audience for Personalized Messaging

Once you’ve identified your broader audience, the next step is segmenting it into smaller, more specific groups. This segmentation allows you to craft personalized messages that cater to the unique needs and preferences of each group. We’ll explore various segmentation strategies, including psychographic, behavioral, and geographic segmentation. Real-world examples will showcase how brands effectively divided their audience and delivered tailored content for maximum impact.

• 4.3 Data-Driven Targeting Strategies

In today’s data-driven landscape, harnessing the power of analytics is paramount. We’ll discuss how data can inform your targeting strategies, enabling you to make informed decisions. By analyzing user behavior, engagement patterns, and conversion rates, you can refine your targeting to reach the right people at the right time. Case studies will highlight instances where data-driven targeting resulted in remarkable campaign success.

• 4.4 Case Studies Demonstrating Successful Audience Targeting

To solidify the concepts discussed in this section, we’ll present a series of case studies that exemplify the art of audience targeting. These real-world examples will showcase how renowned brands meticulously identified their audiences, segmented them effectively, and leveraged data-driven insights to create impactful social media campaigns. By examining these success stories, you’ll gain actionable insights to apply to your own campaigns, ensuring that you’re reaching the audience most likely to convert and engage with your brand.

5. Leveraging Social Media Advertising

Social media advertising has become an integral component of modern digital marketing strategies. To effectively utilize social media advertising, businesses need to understand the nuances of paid promotion, ad formats, budget allocation, and measuring return on investment (ROI). In this section, we will delve into key aspects of leveraging social media advertising for successful campaigns.

• 5.1 Paid vs. Organic Reach on Social Media

One of the fundamental decisions in social media advertising is whether to rely on organic reach or invest in paid promotion. Organic reach refers to the audience your content naturally reaches without paid promotion, while paid reach involves allocating a budget to boost content visibility. It’s crucial to strike the right balance between these two approaches. Organic reach is limited, and algorithms frequently change, making it challenging to reach a wider audience. Paid reach, on the other hand, offers more control over targeting and exposure but requires a financial investment. Businesses must assess their goals, target audience, and available resources to determine the optimal mix of paid and organic strategies.

• 5.2 Ad Formats and Placements

Social media platforms offer a diverse range of ad formats and placements to cater to different campaign objectives. Understanding these options is essential for crafting effective advertising strategies. For instance, Facebook provides options such as image ads, video ads, carousel ads, and more. Instagram offers sponsored posts and stories. LinkedIn specializes in B2B advertising, while Twitter has promoted tweets. Each platform has its strengths and audience demographics, so selecting the right ad format and placement aligning with campaign goals is critical. Creative and compelling ad content tailored to the chosen format further enhances the campaign’s effectiveness.

• 5.3 Budgeting and ROI Tracking

Allocating a budget for social media advertising is a strategic decision that impacts campaign reach and outcomes. It involves setting aside funds for ad spend, creative production, and campaign management. Establishing a clear budgeting strategy ensures that resources are utilized efficiently. Additionally, tracking ROI is essential to measure the effectiveness of advertising efforts. Tools like Google Analytics and social media platform insights provide data on ad performance, including click-through rates, conversion rates, and cost per acquisition. Regularly monitoring these metrics allows businesses to make data-driven adjustments and optimize their advertising spend.

• 5.4 Case Studies Showcasing Successful Social Media Advertising Campaigns

To illustrate the concepts discussed in this section, we will delve into real-world case studies that exemplify successful social media advertising campaigns. These case studies will provide concrete examples of businesses that effectively leveraged paid promotion, selected the right ad formats, allocated budgets strategically, and achieved measurable ROI. By examining these success stories, readers can gain insights and inspiration for their own social media advertising endeavors.

6. Harnessing the Power of Influencers

In the realm of social media campaigns, influencers have emerged as key players capable of driving brand engagement and expanding reach. This section explores the dynamics of influencer marketing, providing valuable insights into how brands can effectively harness the power of influencers.

• 6.1 Identifying the Right Influencers for Your Brand

To embark on a successful influencer marketing journey, it’s crucial to identify influencers who align with your brand’s values, target audience, and objectives. This involves meticulous research to pinpoint individuals whose content resonates with your niche. The right influencer will not only bring authenticity to your campaigns but also enhance credibility.

• 6.2 Collaboration and Partnership Strategies

Once you’ve identified potential influencers, the next step is to initiate collaborations and partnerships. Successful influencer marketing hinges on building authentic relationships with influencers. Brands must craft compelling proposals, outlining the mutual benefits of the partnership. Effective communication, transparency, and negotiation skills are essential in establishing a fruitful collaboration.

• 6.3 Measuring the Impact of Influencer Campaigns

The effectiveness of influencer campaigns goes beyond mere follower counts. In this section, we delve into the metrics and tools required to measure the true impact of influencer marketing. Brands need to track engagement rates, click-through rates, conversions, and sentiment analysis to gauge the success of campaigns. Measuring ROI and aligning influencer efforts with business goals are vital aspects of this evaluation.

• 6.4 Navigating Potential Pitfalls

Influencer marketing is not without its challenges. Brands need to be prepared to navigate potential pitfalls such as influencer controversies, authenticity concerns, and changes in influencer algorithms. This section provides strategies for mitigating risks and ensuring the longevity of influencer partnerships.

• 6.5 Case Studies of Effective Influencer Marketing

To illustrate the effectiveness of influencer marketing, we present case studies showcasing brands that have leveraged influencers successfully. These real-world examples demonstrate how influencers can amplify brand messages, drive engagement, and contribute to campaign success. Each case study offers unique insights and lessons that can be applied to your influencer marketing efforts.

7. Data-Driven Decision Making

In today’s digital age, data plays a pivotal role in the success of social media campaigns. Marketers and businesses can no longer rely solely on intuition and creativity; they must harness the power of data to make informed decisions that drive results. This section explores the significance of data-driven decision making in social media campaigns and its s.

• 7.1 Importance of Data in Campaign Decisions

Data serves as the foundation upon which effective social media campaigns are built. It provides valuable insights into audience behavior, content performance, and campaign reach. Marketers can use data to identify trends, preferences, and opportunities, allowing them to tailor their strategies for maximum impact.

By analyzing data, businesses can determine which social media platforms are most effective for their target audience, the types of content that resonate best, and the optimal posting times. This information guides campaign decisions, ensuring that resources are allocated wisely and efforts are focused where they matter most.

• 7.2 Key Metrics to Monitor for Success

To make data-driven decisions, it’s crucial to identify and monitor key performance metrics. Metrics vary depending on campaign goals, but common ones include engagement rate, click-through rate (CTR), conversion rate, and return on investment (ROI). Each metric provides unique insights into campaign performance.

For instance, a high engagement rate may indicate that your content is resonating with your audience, while a low conversion rate might signal the need for optimization in your conversion funnel. By tracking these metrics, marketers can assess the effectiveness of their campaigns in real-time and make necessary adjustments to improve outcomes.

• 7.3 Tools for Social Media Analytics

The availability of advanced analytics tools has made data analysis more accessible to businesses of all sizes. Social media platforms themselves offer insights and analytics dashboards, allowing marketers to track metrics within the platform. Additionally, third-party analytics tools provide more in-depth analysis and reporting capabilities.

Tools like Google Analytics, Hootsuite, and Sprout Social enable marketers to measure the impact of their social media efforts comprehensively. These tools offer features such as audience segmentation, content performance tracking, and competitor analysis, empowering businesses to refine their strategies based on data-driven insights.

• 7.4 Case Studies: Highlighting Data-Driven Success

To illustrate the power of data-driven decision making, this section will present case studies of companies that have leveraged data effectively in their social media campaigns. These real-world examples will showcase how businesses used data analysis to refine their targeting, content, and overall strategies, resulting in significant improvements in campaign performance.

By examining these case studies, readers can gain actionable insights into the practical application of data-driven decision making. These success stories will serve as inspiration for businesses looking to maximize the impact of their social media campaigns through data-driven approaches.

8. Cross-Platform Integration

• 8.1 Coordinating Campaigns Across Multiple Platforms

In today’s digital landscape, it’s crucial for businesses to maintain a presence on various social media platforms to reach a diverse audience. Coordinating campaigns across multiple platforms is essential to ensure a consistent brand message and maximize the impact of your social media efforts. This involves strategizing how content and messaging will be adapted to fit the unique characteristics of each platform, whether it’s Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, or others. Successful coordination ensures that your audience receives a unified and compelling brand experience, regardless of the platform they choose to engage with.

• 8.2 Consistency in Messaging and Branding

Consistency is the cornerstone of effective cross-platform integration. It means that your brand’s messaging, tone, and visual identity should remain cohesive across all social media channels. Consistency not only reinforces your brand’s identity but also fosters trust and recognition among your audience. Achieving this consistency involves creating brand guidelines that dictate how your brand should be represented across different platforms. This includes using the same color schemes, logos, fonts, and voice to maintain a coherent brand presence.

• 8.3 Maximizing Reach Through Integration

One of the primary advantages of cross-platform integration is the ability to maximize your reach. Each social media platform has its unique user base and strengths. By integrating your campaigns, you can leverage these strengths to reach a broader and more diverse audience. For example, you might use Instagram for visually appealing content, Twitter for real-time updates, and LinkedIn for professional networking. Integrating these platforms strategically allows you to tap into the strengths of each while maintaining a consistent brand identity.

• 8.4 Case Studies of Successful Cross-Platform Campaigns

To illustrate the effectiveness of cross-platform integration, let’s look at a few case studies. For instance, a clothing brand may use Instagram and Pinterest for visual inspiration, Facebook for community engagement, and Twitter for real-time promotions. This coordinated approach enables the brand to showcase its products, connect with customers, and drive sales seamlessly. Similarly, a tech company may use LinkedIn for professional outreach, Twitter for customer support, and YouTube for informative tutorials. These examples demonstrate how businesses can strategically integrate their social media efforts to achieve specific goals and engage with their target audience effectively.

Cross-platform integration isn’t just about being present on multiple social media platforms; it’s about orchestrating a harmonious and impactful brand presence across them. By coordinating campaigns, maintaining consistency, and strategically leveraging each platform’s strengths, businesses can maximize their reach and create a more engaging social media experience for their audience. The case studies further emphasize the real-world benefits of this approach, showcasing its potential for businesses of all sizes and industries.

9. Crisis Management on Social Media

• 9.1 Preparing for Potential Social Media Crises

In the world of social media, crises can arise unexpectedly, and it’s essential for brands to be prepared. This preparation involves developing a crisis management plan that outlines potential scenarios, roles and responsibilities, and communication strategies. Identifying the types of crises that can occur, such as negative customer feedback, product recalls, or social media scandals, is the first step. Once potential crises are identified, brands can create detailed response protocols, designate crisis team members, and establish a chain of command. Preparation also involves setting up monitoring tools to detect issues early, allowing for a swift response.

• 9.2 Handling Negative Feedback and PR Disasters

Negative feedback on social media can quickly escalate into a crisis if not handled properly. Brands must have clear guidelines for responding to negative comments, reviews, or mentions. This includes addressing concerns in a timely and empathetic manner, acknowledging mistakes when they occur, and offering solutions to rectify issues. Transparency is key in maintaining trust during crises. In the case of PR disasters, such as product recalls or public relations scandals, brands should have a crisis communication plan that includes messaging, media response, and a designated spokesperson. Effective crisis communication involves providing accurate information, taking responsibility, and outlining steps being taken to resolve the situation.

• 9.3 Case Studies Illustrating Effective Crisis Management

To better understand effective crisis management on social media, it’s valuable to examine real-world case studies. One notable example is how Johnson & Johnson managed the Tylenol crisis in the 1980s. When tampered Tylenol capsules resulted in several deaths, the company immediately recalled all products and engaged in open and transparent communication with the public. This swift and responsible action helped rebuild trust and safeguard the brand’s reputation. Another case study is how Starbucks responded to a racial bias incident in one of its stores. The company publicly apologized, closed stores for a day of anti-bias training, and continued to engage with stakeholders to address the issue. These case studies demonstrate the importance of proactive crisis management strategies.

• 10. Conclusion

In today’s fast-paced digital world, where the social media landscape is ever-evolving, the ability to craft and execute effective campaigns is more crucial than ever. This article has taken you on a journey through the various facets of social media marketing, using real-world case studies as our guiding stars. We’ve explored the impact of visual content, the art of storytelling, audience targeting, advertising strategies, influencer collaborations, data analytics, cross-platform integration, and crisis management. These are the building blocks of a successful social media campaign.

As we conclude this exploration, it’s vital to remember that the world of social media marketing is dynamic and requires adaptability. Strategies that work today may need adjustment tomorrow. However, armed with the knowledge, insights, and examples provided in this article, you are better equipped to navigate this ever-changing landscape. Your campaigns can be more than just posts and hashtags; they can be powerful tools for building brand identity, fostering engagement, and achieving your marketing goals. The path to effective social media campaigns is paved with creativity, data-driven decisions, and the willingness to learn from the successes of others. It’s time to embark on your own journey of social media success.

Connect with us at  EMB .

• Q. What’s the importance of visual content in social media campaigns?

Visual content grabs attention and boosts engagement, making it a key element in successful campaigns.

• Q. How can I measure the success of my social media campaigns?

Define KPIs, set benchmarks, use analytics tools, and analyze data to gauge performance.

• Q. Why are real-world case studies valuable for marketers?

Case studies provide practical insights and examples of effective campaign strategies.

• Q. What role does influencer marketing play in social media campaigns?

Influencers can amplify brand messages and connect with niche audiences authentically.

• Q. How do I handle a social media crisis effectively?

Preparedness, transparency, and swift response are vital in managing social media crises.

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How to conduct a social media case study: Identifying the right campaign and collecting relevant data

Whether your social media campaign is designed to increase brand awareness, improve customer engagement, or boost sales, a social media case study is the perfect way to persuasively convey the value of your agency’s services and land more clients.

Be successful with social media on behalf of your clients by downloading “The ultimate guide to effective social media for business” now.

Everything from gathering data to constructing your presentation also depends on selecting the right subject that best reflects the successes of your social media services and campaigns. In this article, we'll take you through the entire step-by-step process of putting together a social media case study, as well as give you guidelines for picking the right candidate to base your study on.

Table of Contents

What is a social media case study.

• It has clearly defined campaign objectives
• It’s relevant to the target audience
• It’s anything but ordinary
• You have the data to tell a story
• The campaign had a successful outcome

Determining the best data sources

Selecting key metrics: identifying key measures of success, decoding the data, making data digestible through the art of presentation, choosing metrics that matter, harnessing the power of data analysis tools, read between the lines: spotting patterns and trends, benchmarking your performance, it’s all iterative: uncovering opportunities for optimization, step 1: provide a clear, concise summary, step 2: harness the power of visual aides, step 3: provide context, step 4: emphasize the impact on your client’s business, step 5: warp it up and provide a call-to-action, what are the benefits of conducting a social media case study, how can social media case studies improve my marketing strategies.

A social media case study is an in-depth real-world example that showcases the success and impact of a social media campaign. Intended to help agencies demonstrate the value their services bring to clients, social media case studies highlight how the effective creation and execution of a strategy helped a client achieve their business goals.

Social media marketing case studies provide prospects with valuable insights into the tactics, strategies, and results of a specific social media effort, offering inspiration for others looking to learn from others’ success—or buy your white-label social media management services.

Choosing the perfect campaign for your case study on social media

Creating a case study on social media takes some time, effort, and resources, so it’s a good idea to set yourself up for success by choosing the right campaign from the start. By the end of this section, you’ll know exactly how to identify a case-study-worthy campaign, how to source data, and how to analyze and present it.

Checklist for choosing your campaign

Our 5-point checklist will give you all the necessary ingredients needed to pick the right campaign for your social media case study, and ultimately, create a successful study. This checklist will apply whether you’re using a previous campaign for your example or are running a new campaign with the intention of turning it into a case study.

1. It has clearly defined campaign objectives

Every social media campaign sets out with a mission. This mission, or list of objectives, should serve as your first criterion when choosing a subject for your case study.

To be well-suited to a social media marketing case study, the objectives should be SMART: specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART). They should also tie into the broader marketing objectives of the business, acting as the north star steering the campaign's course.

Whether the campaign's aim is to amplify brand awareness, increase customer engagement, or catapult sales figures, having clear and—crucially—measurable objectives is paramount. If the campaign objectives aren’t SMART, it will be difficult to convincingly convey that they have been met.

For example, “increase followers” isn’t a very SMART objective, since it isn’t specific, measurable, or time-bound. How do you know when the goal has been met? Instead, “increase Instagram followers by 500 per month in Q2” is very specific, easy to measure, and has a well-defined time limit.

2. It’s relevant to the target audience

The more a campaign resonates with its target audience, the more likely it is to succeed. This resonance stems from the campaign's relevance to the audience, mirroring their interests, values, and needs.

When a campaign speaks the audience's language, it's more likely to spark conversation, ignite engagement, and foster loyalty. The campaign shouldn’t just be liked by its target audience, it should be loved . Make sure the target audience can be clearly and concisely defined for readers of your social media case study, since this will help you illustrate how your strategy was well-suited to that particular audience.

3. It’s anything but ordinary

In a world where new campaigns are launched every day, standing out from the crowd is a feat worthy of study. Unique aspects of the campaign, whether it’s an out-of-the-box content strategy, a unique approach to engagement, or a pioneering use of new tech, can set a campaign apart and make it an interesting, compelling social media marketing case study.

If you want to inspire your case study readers, putting a spotlight on anything particularly unique or unexpected about a successful campaign is a great way to pique their interest in working with your agency.

4. You have the data to tell a story

Digital marketing is all about the numbers, and social media case studies are no different. Without it, any claims you make about the results of your marketing efforts will be unsupported and empty. When choosing a campaign to study, make sure that the necessary data to showcase your success is available.

This data should support the SMART goals of the campaign and might include:

• Engagement rates
• Campaign reach
• Campaign impressions regenerated
• Conversions
• Clicks generated

5. The campaign had a successful outcome

The ultimate measure of a campaign's worth is, of course, its success in meeting its objectives. Whatever the goals of the campaign were, the data collected should demonstrate that they were indisputably met—or even exceeded. Whether the aim was to build awareness of a brand, boost engagement rates, drive conversions, or some other measurable result, choose a campaign that clearly met its goals.

A successful campaign serves as a testament to the power of your social media services, making it the perfect protagonist for your social media case study.

Diving for data: Mastering the art of collecting relevant data

We’ve established that data is crucial for telling the story of your campaign in a social media case study, but how should you go about collecting it? Keep these considerations in mind when determining where to get data, which data to use, and how you’ll analyze and present it.

The quality of your data depends largely on the sources you use to collect it. These might include in-app social media analytics , website tools like Google Analytics, or full-featured social media management platforms that include robust analytics.

Web analytics tools that monitor website traffic, traffic sources, bounce rates, and conversion rates also provide a wealth of valuable information.

Surveys, customer feedback, and offline sales data can provide additional insights depending on the objectives of the campaign in your social media marketing case study. Don't forget to look at industry benchmarks and competitor performance to contextualize the data you gather in your campaign. Navigating these varied sources of data is an important skill if you want to create persuasive social media marketing case studies.

Once you know your data sources, the next step is to zero in on the specific metrics that effectively capture your campaign's success.

Metrics are the compass points that guide your understanding of the campaign's performance. Key performance metrics (KPIs) might include:

• Impressions
• Click-through rates (CTRs)
• Cost per acquisition
• Return on investment (ROI)

The choice of metrics should clearly align with the campaign objectives. If the campaign aimed to increase brand awareness, then metrics like reach, impressions, and brand mentions would be relevant. If the objective was to boost sales, then conversion rates, sales figures, and ROI would be more pertinent to your social media case study examples.

Once your data has been collected, it's time to roll up your sleeves and dive into the analysis. This involves sifting through the data to identify trends, patterns, outliers, and correlations.

For instance, did a spike in engagement rates coincide with a particular post? Did a change in posting frequency impact reach or impressions? Does a correlation exist between the time of posting and the engagement rate? Did certain post types drive more website visits?

The goal of data analysis is to uncover the story being told by numbers, revealing the strategies that worked, those that didn't, and helping you understand the “why” behind your successes. We’ll go into more detail covering how to analyze your data in a moment.

The final stage in the data journey is making it presentable and easily understood in your social media marketing case study. The goal of data presentation is to display the data points and insights in a way that guides the reader to appreciate the overall narrative of your case study.

This involves organizing the data into a logical structure, highlighting key findings, and making complex data digestible at a glance. Visual aids like charts, graphs, and infographics can be incredibly effective in achieving this. They can help distill complex data into easily understandable visuals, highlight trends and correlations, and emphasize key findings.

Data sleuthing: How to analyze data for social media marketing case studies

The data collection tools mentioned above can produce a great deal of information, so it’s important to know how to properly analyze and organize it so that it doesn’t confuse readers of your social media marketing case study.

Follow these guidelines to make sure you don’t get bogged down in irrelevant figures, instead zeroing in on precisely the information that helps you demonstrate the success of your campaign.

A case study without relevant metrics isn’t worth the paper it’s printed on, so before you dive into the data, it's crucial to have your success metrics in place.

These are the signposts that will guide your analysis, revealing whether your campaign is on track or veering off course. Metrics like reach, engagement, conversions, impressions, and cost per acquisition can illuminate different facets of your campaign's performance.

To recap an important point, the metrics you choose should tie back to your campaign's objectives, providing evidence of your success in meeting them.

Even if you aren’t a seasoned data scientist , there's a wealth of tools available to make the process easier. Google Analytics, Hootsuite Analytics, Sprout Social , and Vendasta’s Social Marketing are all examples of solutions that make it easier to understand the impact of your social media campaigns, so you can measure success and make better decisions.

In the user-friendly interface of Social Marketing, you can dig into the performance of every social media post you make, including reach and engagement for posts on Instagram, Facebook, Google Business Profile, Twitter, and LinkedIn. You can also see a graph of performance over time right in the dashboard , making it easy to track the impact of your campaigns.

Another feature to love is link performance tracking, which helps you demonstrate exactly how many clicks each link generated, making it possible to gauge how different posts contribute to website visits.

Raw data is great, but where it really becomes impactful for readers of your social media marketing case studies is when you can effectively convey patterns, trends, and their meanings.

This could mean recognizing which content strikes a chord with the target audience, which messaging spurs engagement, or even which times of day yield the best results. These patterns offer insights into the effectiveness of your campaign, shedding light on what's working and what's not.

No digital marketing effort takes place in a vacuum. Once you've got a handle on your data, it's time to see how you stack up against the competition.

Comparing your campaign's performance to industry benchmarks can provide a reality check, showing you how your campaign measures up to industry standards. This can spotlight areas of strength to capitalize on, as well as weaknesses that need addressing, helping you fine-tune your strategy for future campaigns and determine what to emphasize in your social media marketing case study.

The final piece of the data puzzle is identifying opportunities for optimization. This is where your data analysis really pays off. By scrutinizing what worked well and what fell flat, you can pinpoint areas for improvement and craft even better guidelines for social media management .

Maybe your messaging needs a tweak, your targeting needs adjusting, or your content format needs a shake-up. Whatever the case may be, these insights are the golden nuggets that can drive your campaign's continuous improvement, propelling it from good to great.

The big reveal: Presenting your findings in your case study

With your data gathered and analyzed, it’s time to put your case study on social media together. The goal should be to convey all the important information you’ve generated in a way that is easily intelligible even by people who aren’t necessarily data wonks. Here’s how it’s done.

Your social media marketing case study summary is your chance to provide a snapshot of your campaign's key findings and results. It should be compelling enough to encourage the reader to read the rest of your case study while being brief enough to be scanned by someone in a hurry.

Highlight the campaign's objectives, the platforms you used, the target audience, and the impressive results achieved by your efforts. Once you’re done, edit for clarity and brevity: there’s a good chance your first draft is wordier than necessary.

The best social media case study examples avoid looking like a daunting wall of text by including compelling visuals. Add some punch to your case study with a smattering of relevant, informative visuals.

Graphs and charts can bring your data to life, while images can capture the essence of your campaign and entice readers by generating social media ideas for businesses . Not only do these visuals make the information in your case study on social media easier to digest, but they also make it pop visually, making it more engaging—and shareable—to today’s easily distracted reader.

Frame your social media case study example within the wider landscape by discussing industry benchmarks and comparing your results to those of your competitors. This will give your audience a deeper understanding of the significance of your results, underlining how the impact of your social media servers is greater than what they might find with other agencies.

Remember, the prospective clients reading your social media marketing case studies are likely imagining the possibilities of working with your agency for their business. You want to convince them that you can deliver game-changing results.

The best way to do this? Spell out how your campaign fueled your client's goals and objectives, be it skyrocketing brand awareness, supercharging customer engagement, boosting sales, or achieving whatever the specific objectives of the campaign were. This is your chance to showcase your agency's value in harnessing the power of social media in reputation management , brand building, revenue generating, and more, so don't hold back.

Cap off your case study by summarizing your key takeaways and the wisdom gleaned from the campaign. Finally, leave your reader with a call to action that supports your business goals. If you want to sell social media packages , consider providing a link to the relevant page on your website, for example.

Invite readers to try a similar approach or contact your agency for help with their social media campaigns. This will help ensure your case study resonates, inspires, and provokes action from your prospects and clients.

Frequently asked questions

Conducting a social media marketing case study offers numerous benefits, including allowing you to showcase your agency's successes and providing tangible proof of your skill and effectiveness. It also provides valuable insights and learnings that can inform future strategies and serves as a persuasive marketing tool to attract new clients.

Social media case studies can boost your marketing strategies by highlighting what works and what doesn't in social media marketing. They provide a wealth of data on audience behavior, engagement, and conversion patterns. By analyzing this information, you can refine your strategies, optimize your content, and better align your efforts with your clients’ objectives.

About the Author

Lawrence Dy

Lawrence Dy is the SEO Strategy Manager at Vendasta. His career spans from starting as a Jr. Copywriter in the automotive industry to becoming a Senior Editorial Content Manager in various digital marketing niches. Outside of work, Lawrence moonlights as a music producer/beatmaker and spends time with friends and family.

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Innovation at Moog Inc.

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Metaverse Wars

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SmartOne: Building an AI Data Business

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Honeywell and the Great Recession (A)

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Target: Responding to the Recession

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Hometown Foods: Changing Price Amid Inflation

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Elon Musk's Big Bets

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Elon Musk: Balancing Purpose and Risk

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Tesla's CEO Compensation Plan

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China Rapid Finance: The Collapse of China's P2P Lending Industry

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Forbidden City: Launching a Craft Beer in China

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Booking.com

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Innovation at Uber: The Launch of Express POOL

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Racial Discrimination on Airbnb (A)

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GitLab and the Future of All-Remote Work (A)

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TCS: From Physical Offices to Borderless Work

Creating a virtual internship at goldman sachs.

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Unilever's Response to the Future of Work

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AT&T, Retraining, and the Workforce of Tomorrow

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United Housing - Otis Gates

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Insurer of Last Resort?: The Federal Financial Response to September 11

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Kathryn McNeil (A)

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Carol Fishman Cohen: Professional Career Reentry (A)

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Alex Montana at ESH Manufacturing Co.

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Michelle Levene (A)

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John and Andrea Rice: Entrepreneurship and Life

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Top 3 Stellar Social Media Case Studies to Inspire You

In this blog you will explore 3 captivating social media case studies and their tips for success. Benefit from their strategies, and mistakes to assure success of your next campaign.

Social media is every marketer’s safe haven for branding and marketing.

And why not?

More than 50% of the population is active on social media, and more are signing up with every passing second.

In a recent poll by Hubspot, 79% of the respondents have made a purchase after seeing a paid advertisement on social media .

This isn’t just a happenstance.

It’s the constant efforts that these brands put behind their dynamic presence on social media, that counts.

But how do they captivate their customers’ attention for this long despite the budding competitors?

Well, that’s something that we’ll reveal in this blog.

We shall assess 3 different social media case studies. All of them are best in their niches. Their game is simple yet effective.

How effective? Let’s take a look.

Social Media Case Study 1: Starbucks

Starbucks and social media are a match made in heaven. Being one of the sensational brands online, they are stirring the social media world with their strong presence.

They brew the right content to elevate the experiences of their coffee lovers. But how do they nail marketing with perfection every single time? Let’s find out.

Starbucks in Numbers

Starbucks mastered the advertising transition from offline fame to online undertaking. They use each social media with a varied goal to target pitch-perfect reach. Drawing in more customers than ever before, they strike the right balance in content across multiple platforms.

Key Takeaways

Though not every company has a Starbucks budget to promote and spend lavishly on social media marketing, here are some quick takeaways that will undoubtedly help.

1. Chasing Trends

Be it any event, brands must take the advantage to showcase their viewpoints and opinions. Successful brands like Starbucks jump into the bandwagon and leave no stone unturned to make their voice count in the trending list.

Here’s one such social media campaign example from Starbucks.

Starbucks is a firm believer in LGBTQ+ rights. When the pride wave surged, Starbucks came forward and reinstated its belief through the #ExtraShotOfPride campaign.

Starbucks joined hands with the Born This Way Foundation to raise $250K to support the LGBTQ+ community. Throughout the social media campaign, they shared quotes and stories of various Starbucks employees cherishing the pride spirit.

2. Less is More

Social media is not about quantity but quality. Starbucks follows the “less is more” principle to maintain the quality standards, even in the caption. Spamming followers’ feeds with constant posting is a big no-no. Starbucks shares 5-6 posts per week on Instagram and 3-4 weekly posts on Facebook .

Creative and crisp! That’s what defines a Starbucks caption. This post with 111+k likes is no exception. Nothing is better than a minimalist post with a strong caption.

3. User Generated Content is the King

Ditch the worry of creating content every day when you can make use of user generated content. Starbucks makes sure to retweet or post its loyal customers’ content. User generated content postings starkly improve brand credibility.

Look at this Facebook post made out of customers’ tweets. The new Oatmilk drink got the appreciation shower by some, and Starbucks couldn’t resist but share it with others. It saved them efforts on content brainstorming, plus they got free PR.

4. Building Rapport

Building rapport with the audience is an unsaid rule to brand fame. Social media has now taken the onus of dispensing quality service by aiding brands in prompting faster replies .

Starbucks is always on its toe to respond to customers actively solving concerns, expressing gratitude, or reposting. That kind of proactive service definitely deserves love and adoration.

5. Loads of campaigns

Starbucks is known for its innovative social media campaigns. Be it a new product launch or any festivity around the corner, Starbucks always turns up with a rewarding campaign.

In this social media campaign example, Starbucks introduced #RedCupContest with prizes worth $4500 during Christmas of 2016. A new entry came every 14 seconds.

The grand total of entries was a whopping 40,000 in just two days. Indeed Starbucks knows how to get the most out of the festive fever.

6. Content mix

Last but not least, the content mix of Starbucks is inspiring. They create tailored content for every platform.

The official youtube channel of Starbucks comprises content in varied hues. From recipes to even series, Starbucks is the ultimate pioneer of experimenting.

Even on Instagram, they use all the features like Guides, Reels, and IGTV without affecting their eye-popping feed. Starbucks also follows the design consistency for its aesthetic content mix.

Starbucks has proved time and again to be a customer-centric brand with their unrelenting efforts.

Social Media Case Study 2: Ogilvy & Mather

Ogilvy & Mather needs no introduction. Founded by David Ogilvy, the ‘Father of Advertising’ in 1948, the agency continues the legacy of revolutionizing marketing long before the advent of social media.

The iconic agency helps several Fortune 500 companies and more make a massive impact on their audiences worldwide.

Ogilvy & Mather knows its game too well and never fails to astonish. Not just high-profile clients, Ogilvy nails its marketing with perfection every single time.

Keep on reading.

Ogilvy & Mather in Numbers

They use social media to target pitch-perfect reach. Drawing in more hype than ever before, they know how to strike the right balance and bring out emotions with their heart-warming campaigns.

Not every company has David Ogilvy’s legacy or even affluent clients to boast of, but here are some quick takeaways that will undoubtedly help you become a pro marketer.

1. Integrating Values

Ogilvy stands apart from the crowd, creating trends. They leave no stone unturned to communicate values.

Proud Whopper is one such social media campaign by Ogilvy that was an instant hit on the internet. People were offered whoppers in rainbow-colored wrappers, with a note that said, “Everyone’s the same on the inside.” This was to reinstate the importance of LGTQ+ rights.

The campaign got 1.1 billion impressions, $21 million of earned media, 450,000 blog mentions, 7 million views, and became the #1 trending topic on Facebook and Twitter.

Ogilvy made a remarkable #Tbt video to honor this momentous event showcasing their supremacy in creating impactful campaigns.

2. Quality over Quantity

Ogilvy believes in the “ Quality supremacy ” to maintain their high standards, even in post captions.

Arbitrary posting isn’t a part of their agenda. They share 5-7 posts on Instagram and Facebook weekly.

Direct and very precise. That’s what defines an Ogilvy caption. This post is no exception. They have exhibited the success of their client work by describing the motive behind the campaign and sharing the ad they created for raising awareness.

3. Adding Credibility

Won awards? It’s time to boast! Because that’s the most authentic way of establishing trust among your clients. It bears proof of your excellence.

Look at this pinned Twitter post. Ogilvy won the Global Network of the Year by the very prestigious London International Awards. It also earned Regional Network of the year for Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and Europe.

What better than this to give its audience an idea about Ogilvy’s roaring success and undoubted potential?

4. Being Innovative

Building rapport with the audience is an unsaid rule to brand fame. And that’s why you need to tell stories. Social media has become an indispensable medium to spread your stories far and wide.

Ogilvy shares its historical tale of existence and how it has adapted to the challenges of the changing world. The team extensively talks about their adaptation to the latest trends to stay on top always.

5. Brainstorming Uniqueness

Being unique is what propels you on social media. People are always looking for brands that do something different from the herd. So your task each day is undeniably brainstorming unique content.

KFC wanted more of its customers to use its app. Well, Ogilvy and KFC decided to hide a secret menu in the app, which was a mass invitation for the download without being salesy at all. Results? Downloads up by 111% at launch!

6. Inspire Your Peeps

Inspiration is everywhere. But how do you channelize and mold it as per your brand guidelines? The renowned brands move their audience, filling them with a sense of realization. Who doesn’t seek validation? We all need quotes and inspiration to live by.

Ogilvy has dedicated its entire Pinterest profile to inspiration. The profile has numerous insightful infographics that encourage you to pursue marketing when your spirits run low. And that’s how it brings out the very essence of being the marketing leader: by inspiring its followers.

Got some good ideas for your branding? We have created templates and tools to help you execute them hassle-free. Tread on further and download the Trending Hashtag Kit for 2024 to get into action.

Social Media Case Study 3: PewDiePie

YouTube king with 111 Million subscribers on PewDiePie Channel, Felix Arvid Ulf Kjellberg, has defied all norms. One of the most prolific content creators of the decade, Felix was on the list of World’s 100 Most Influential People by Time Magazine in 2016.

Needless to say, he is still relevant to this day and has a massive following on social media. Not just for branding, the Swedish YouTuber leveraged social media to give himself a new identity and opened doors to fame and a successful career.

What was the cause of this extraordinary trajectory?

Let’s find out.

PewDiePie in Numbers

PewDiePie likes to keep his social media raw and unfiltered. That’s why subscribers love to have a glimpse of his everyday life and follow him on other social media platforms as well. Here’s a quick snapshot of that.

Felix took the early bird advantage and started creating content when it wasn’t even popular practice. We can’t go back in time, but we can definitely learn a lot from his social media success.

1. Start Now

If you are still skeptical about making the first move, then don’t. Stop waiting and experiment. It’s better late than never.

Social media is in favor of those who start early because then you create surplus content to hold your audience . You quench their thirst for more quality content.

PewDiePie started creating videos in 2011 and live-streamed his gaming sessions with commentaries. It was something new and completely original. Ever since, he has continued to make thousands of videos that entertain his audience.

2. Gather Your Tribe

Being a content creator, PewDiePie knows his act of engaging his audience very well. He strives to build lasting connections and encourages two-way communication. As a result, his followers like to jump onto his exciting challenges.

Felix treasures his gaming community. He frequently asks his followers to take screenshots and turn them into funny memes . He gives them tasks to keep them engaged and amused .

3. Collaboration and Fundraising

Once you reach the stage and gain popularity, people want to see more of you with their favorite personalities. That’s what Felix does.

He collaborates with multiple YouTubers and brands and puts out exclusive content for his followers. He also goes for multiple fundraising campaigns to support vital causes and social wellbeing.

Here’s one such social media campaign example. PewDiePie supported the CRY foundation and raised $239000 in just one day to bring a positive impact for children in India. He thanked all for their contribution and taking active participation towards a noble cause.

4. Keep it Real

Felix likes to keep his content fluff-free. You get to witness raw emotions from an unfiltered life. This instantly appeals to the audience and makes the posts more relatable .

Apart from that, he also uses storytelling techniques to narrate his experiences, adding a very personalized touch to each of the videos.

Here’s a video of Felix where he and Ken from CinnamonToastKen discuss what can be possibly done with a million dollars around the world. The topic is quite intriguing.

More than 3.8M people have watched it and 216K of them liked it as well, proving that you need not always sweat to create complex content. Even the simplest ones can make the cut.

Social media campaigns are winning hearts on every platform. However, their success rates largely depend on your year-round presence. That’s why being consistent really does the trick.

We’re sure, you must have learned a few things from the above mentioned social media case studies .

To excel further at your social media marketing, use our FREE Trending Hashtag Kit and fill your calendar with everyday content ideas.

On downloading, you get 3000+ hashtags based on each day’s theme or occasion. You also get editable design templates for a hassle-free social media posting.

What are you waiting for? Download now.

Frequently Asked Questions

🌟 How do I start a social media campaign idea?

Here’s how you can start a social media campaign:

• Finalize your campaign goals
• Brainstorm personas
• Pick a social media channel
• Research your competitors and audience
• Finalize an idea that’s in trend
• Promote the campaign
• Start the campaign
• Track the performance

🌟 What are the different types of social media campaigns?

Different types of social media campaigns are:

• Influencer Campaigns
• Hashtag Challenges

🌟 Why is social media campaign important?

Social media campaigns have various benefits:

• Boost traffic
• Better Conversions
• Cost-effective Marketing
• Lead Generation
• PR & Branding
• Loyal Followers

🌟 What are some of the best social media campaign tools?

Some of the best social media campaign tools are:

• SocialPilot

🌟 What are the top social media sites?

The top social media sites are:

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20 Best Social Media Marketing Case Study Examples

How would you like to read the best social media marketing case studies ever published?

More importantly, how would you like to copy the best practices in social media marketing that are based on real-world examples and not just theory?

Below, you’ll find a list of the top 20 social media case study examples along with the results and key findings. By studying these social media marketing studies and applying the lessons learned on your own accounts, you can hopefully achieve similar results.

Table of Contents

Social Media Case Study Examples

793,500+ impressions for semrush on twitter  – walker sands social media case study.

The case study shows how Walker Sands implemented a premium Twitter microcontent program for Semrush, a global leader in digital marketing software. Semrush needed a strategic social media marketing partner to help distinguish its brand from competitors, drive a higher engagement rate among its target audience, and build brand loyalty. In this case study, you’ll find out how the social strategy focused on three things: using humor, embedding the brand in trending conversations, and focusing on the audience’s interests over marketing messages. The result was an increase of more than 793,500 impressions, 34,800 engagements, and a 4.4% average engagement rate.

Viral Oreo Super Bowl Tweet  – Social Media Case Study

This is a popular case study to learn valuable insights for B2C marketing. During Super Bowl XLVII, the lights went out in the football stadium and the Oreo brand went viral with a single tweet that said “Power out? No problem. You can still dunk in the dark.” Read the historical account of that famous social media marketing moment from the people who lived through it so you can gather ideas on how to be better prepared for future social media campaigns that you can take advantage of in real-time.

Facebook Posting Strategy That Lead to 3X Reach & Engagement  – Buffer Social Media Case Study

In this social media case study example, you’ll find out how Buffer cut its Facebook posting frequency by 50% but increased the average weekly reach and engagement by 3X. Hint: The strategy had to do with creating fewer, better-quality posts, that were aimed at gaining higher engagement.

Achieving a 9 Million Audience by Automating Pinterest SEO  – Social Media Case Study

This is a good social media marketing case study for marketers who use Pinterest. Discover how Chillital went from 0 to 9 million engaged audience members and 268 million impressions. You’ll learn about the step-by-step research process of finding where your audience lives and breathes content, get a detailed analysis of how the author used Pinterest to generate brand awareness, and learn about using community-driven content promotion to scale social media results.

5X Increase In App Installs from TikTok  – Bumble Social Media Case Study

With the use of TikTok on the rise, social media case studies are now being shared about how to get the most value out of marketing on this platform. This one, in particular, is good to read because it explains how Bumble, a dating app, used TikTok more effectively by following the mantra, “Don’t Make Ads, Make TikToks”. This case study in social media marketing resulted in a 5X increase in app installs and a 64% decrease in cost-per-registration.

330% Increase In Reach for the Make a Wish Foundation – Disney Social Media Case Study

Check out this case study to find out how the Make-A-Wish Foundation increased its social media reach, audience, and engagement by partnering with Disney in a Share Your Ears campaign. The strategy was simple: ask people to take a photo of themselves wearing Mickey Mouse ears, post it on social media with the hashtag #ShareYouEars, and a $5 donation would be made to Make-A-Wish. The results were unbelievable with over 1.7 million posted photos and 420 million social media impressions. This led to a 15% audience increase on Facebook and a 13% audience increase on Instagram with a total increase of 330% in social media reach and a 554% increase in engagement during the campaign.

How 3 Schools Used Social Media Advertising to Increase Website Traffic & Applications – Social Media Case Study

This example includes three of the best social media case studies from Finalsite, a marketing agency for educational institutions. It shows the power of social media advertising to increase website traffic and enrollment. One case study, in particular, shows how a limited budget of $350 per month increased website sessions by 515%, more than 2,200 clicks on the apply button for a study abroad application, 2,419 views on the request information page, and 575 views on the application process page.

Client Case Studies – LYFE Marketing Social Media Case Study

LYFE Marketing is a social media management company that helps clients gain new customers, generate sales, and increase brand exposure online. This page includes several of its top social media marketing case studies along with the approach and key results from each campaign. It’s packed with screenshots of the social media posts and engagement metrics so you can understand how each strategy worked for success, and get inspiration for your own campaigns.

3X Leads for a Local Business – Vertex Marketing Social Media Case Study

This is a good case study about finding the right balance between organic reach with social media posts and paid reach with social media marketing ads. You’ll find out how Vertex Marketing helped a local kitchen and bath remodeling business increase the number of leads by 3X. As for the return on investment (ROI) for this campaign, each lead for the client was worth about $10,000. The result was 6,628 audience reach, $12.43 average cost per conversion, and 18 conversions.

235% Increase In Conversions with Facebook Ads Funnel – Marketing 360 Social Media Case Study

This is one of Marketing 360’s case study examples that demonstrates the effectiveness of a Facebook ads sales funnel for B2B marketing. An ads funnel is a series of social media advertisements that target a specific audience at each stage of the buyer’s journey. By mapping out the buyer’s journey and creating a social media marketing ad campaign for each stage, you can guide new leads through the sales funnel and turn them into paying customers. This case study resulted in a 235% increase in conversions for a truck lift manufacturer.

15% Increase In Social Media Followers In 6 Months – Hootsuite Social Media Case Study

This is one of the best social media marketing case studies available online for businesses in the hospitality industry. Find out how Meliá Hotels International incorporated social media directly into its business model, both as a channel for client communication and as a platform to listen and learn about client needs and preferences. As a result, Meliá Hotel’s social media following grew from 5 million to 6 million in six months; an increase of more than 15%.

The Impact of Social Signals On SEO – Fat Stacks Social Media Case Study

This is a good case study for understanding the effect social media can have on SEO. By building links for a web page on social media channels like Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, LinkedIn, etc, the rankings for long tail keywords improved in Google’s search engine.

96 Link Clicks for a Vacation Rental – Maria Peagler Social Media Case Study

As the title of this social media case study example suggests, you’ll learn how Maria Peagler helped a vacation rental get 96 clicks out of 3,274 audience reach on a single Facebook ad; about a 2.9% click-through rate (CTR). What’s most important about this B2C example is those clicks were of the highest quality the client could receive because Maria dug into the analytics to find out the best time during the day to post the ad and the perfect age groups to target while also using specific language to only drive clicks that would more likely convert.

Vienna Tourist Board Uses an Instagram Wall to Attract Tourists – Walls.io Social Media Case Study

Inside this case study, you’ll find out how the City of Vienna uses a simple social media content aggregator to display its Instagram feed on the website. This basic marketing strategy harnesses the power of user-generated content to gain more followers and keep in touch with previous visitors to increase brand awareness and repeat visits.

Complete Instagram Marketing Strategy for Sixthreezero – Vulpine Interactive Social Media Case Study

This is an in-depth case study on social media marketing with Instagram. You’ll discover how Vulpine Interactive was able to turn an existing, unmanaged account into a strong company asset for Sixthreezero, a bicycling company that uses ecommerce to drive sales. There was a lot of strategy and planning that went into growing the account by 39%, increasing website traffic from Instagram by over 300%, and achieving 77,659 total engagements. Inside, you’ll get the complete social strategy, tactics, key performance indicators (KPIs), and results

Twitter Marketing Success Stories – Social Media Case Study

If you’re looking for social media case study examples for Twitter using both organic and paid ads, then this page has everything you need. It includes Twitter’s top marketing success stories for you to get new ideas for your own B2C and B2B marketing campaigns.

How 3 Big Brands Use Pinterest for Marketing – SmartInsights Social Media Case Study

This is a case study page by SmartInsights with an overview of how 3 big brands use Pinterest for marketing. Although it’s a quick read, you can learn some valuable tactics that Nordstrom, Sephora, and Petplan are using to market their brands on this social media platform.

25+ TikTok Social Campaign Results – Chatdesk Social Media Case Study

If you’re looking for the best social media case studies for TikTok, then this list by Chatdesk is an excellent resource. It includes more than 25 examples from big brands like Starbucks, Redbull, Spikeball, Crocs, Guess Jeans, and Gym Shark. Give it a read to find out exactly how these brands use TikTok effectively to scale their businesses.

Reddit for Business: Meet Your Maker – Social Media Case Study

Want to learn how to use Reddit to market your business online? This new social media marketing case study page by Reddit called “Meet Your Maker” showcases the people behind some of the most innovative and creative brand activations on our platform. Examples include campaigns by Adobe, Capcom, and noosa Yoghurt.

How Boston University Uses Snapchat to Engage with Students – Social Media Case Study

With more than 75% of college students using Snapchat on a daily basis, it became clear that Boston University had to make this platform a primary marketing channel. This social media case study outlines all of the top strategies Boston University uses to connect with prospective and current students.

Now, if you’re looking for more digital marketing ideas, then make sure to check out these other related guides:  SEO case studies with data on improving organic search engine optimization, PPC case studies  for paid search examples, email marketing case studies , affiliate marketing case studies , content marketing case studies , and general digital marketing case studies .

What Is a Social Media Case Study?

A social media case study is an in-depth study of social media marketing in a real-world context. It can focus on one social media tactic or a group of social media strategies to find out what works in social media marketing to promote a product or service.

Are Case Studies Good for Social Media Marketing?

Case studies are good for social media because you can learn about how to do social media marketing in an effective way. Instead of just studying the theory of social media, you can learn from real examples that applied social media marketing methods to achieve success.

Summary for Social Media Marketing Case Studies

I hope you enjoyed this list of the best social media marketing case study examples that are based on real-world results and not just theory.

As you discovered, the social media case studies above demonstrated many different ways to perform well on social platforms. By studying the key findings from these case study examples, and applying the methods learned to your own accounts, you can hopefully achieve the same positive outcome. New social media case studies are being published every month and I’ll continue to update this list as they become available. So keep checking back to read the current sources of information on social media.

• Open access
• Published: 21 March 2024

Perceptions of social media harms and potential management strategies: vaping case study

• Jonine Jancey 1 ,
• Gemma Crawford 1 ,
• Elizabeth Bowman 1 ,
• Katharina Wolf 2 ,
• Tama Leaver 3 ,
• Stella Bialous 4 &
• Kahlia McCausland 1  

BMC Public Health volume  24 , Article number:  876 ( 2024 ) Cite this article

52 Accesses

Metrics details

The social media landscape is now ubiquitous in people’s everyday lives. It is a space where culture, politics, economics and sociological and public health discourses occur. There is mounting evidence that e-cigarette products are being promoted and advertised on social media, a media platform particularly popular with young people. Our research aimed to understand industry professionals’ perceptions of social media harms and potential management strategies using vaping as a case study.

A critical realist perspective guided reflexive thematic analysis of the qualitative in depth, semi structured interviews. Data collection occurred in January and February 2023 with 13 participants working in the areas of public health, digital media, law, governance, tobacco control and advocacy.

Two superordinate themes emerged from the data: (1) Fathoming a complex system (social media) that contained the subordinate themes of Traversing Boundaries (crossing borders, crossing sectors) and Ungovernable (global and local landscapes, vested interests, self-regulation and opacity). (2) Addressing complexity (social media)– that contained the subordinate themes of Strengthening Institutions (global to local, policy and legislation, individuals and organisations); Defanging Industry (responsibility and transparency, moderation and algorithms, complaints); and Engaging Citizens (raising awareness, framing messaging).

Conclusions

There was consensus among participants that e-cigarette related social media content can be harmful and government action is urgently needed. There was an identified need for the development of government led national-level regulatory frameworks, with government led appropriate legislation; identification of an organisation or organisations with suitable levels of regulatory power and resources to monitor, enforce and penalise noncompliant social media companies; accompanied by increased community awareness raising of harmful social media content and improved digital literacy.

Peer Review reports

Introduction

The social media landscape is now ubiquitous in people’s everyday lives. Culture, politics, economics and sociological and public health discourses occur in this space [ 1 ]. In 2021, more than four billion people worldwide used social media, spending an average of 144 min each day on platforms such as TikTok, Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and YouTube [ 2 ]. These platforms provide users with opportunities to interact with a broad range of global content, exposing them to social change and marketing decisions, including harmful products such as e-cigarettes, an issue of global concern [ 3 ]. Globally, 82 million people were estimated to use e-cigarettes in 2021 [ 4 ], with the global e-cigarette market in 2023 estimated to be worth USD 24.6 billion and predicted to increase by 3.4% over the next five years [ 5 ].

E-cigarette products are known to be harmful to health [ 6 ]. Australia, where this research was centered, has historically taken a precautionary public health approach to e-cigarettes. Regulations have made it illegal to source liquid nicotine without a prescription from a medical doctor [ 7 ]. Yet, recent figures show that more than one-quarter (26.1%) of Australians aged 18–24 have tried e-cigarettes, with ‘ever-use’ [daily, weekly, monthly and less than monthly use], especially high among those who currently smoke (63.9%) [ 8 ]. Almost three-quarters (71.9%) of young people reported using e-cigarettes “out of curiosity,” and one in five (21.7%) used them because they believe that “vaping is less harmful than regular cigarette smoking” [ 8 ]. In response to increased e-cigarette uptake, in January 2024, Australian legislation was introduced banning the importation of single use vapes, with refillable vapes banned from March 2024 [ 9 ].

While traditional forms of e-cigarette advertising and promotion (print, radio and television) are regulated in Australia, tobacco and other independent vaping companies have increasingly turned their attention to social media platforms [ 10 ]. E-cigarette products are promoted and advertised on social media [ 11 ] through user-generated content, advertisements, and social media influencers [ 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 ]. The use of social media is particularly popular among young people [ 11 ]. There is substantial concern about young people’s exposure to e-cigarette advertising and user-generated content on social media, which is associated with lower perceptions of e-cigarette harm and more positive attitudes towards e-cigarettes, leading to the normalization of e-cigarettes and increased use [ 16 , 17 ].

The World Health Organization’s (WHO) Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) [ 18 ] was developed in response to the globalisation of the tobacco epidemic. The FCTC is a legally binding treaty with 183 signatories worldwide, that aims to reduce tobacco use and exposure to tobacco smoke. According to Article 13 of the FCTC, “ a comprehensive ban on all tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship applies to all forms of commercial communication, recommendation or action and all forms of contribution to any event, activity or individual with the aim, effect, or likely effect of promoting a tobacco product or tobacco use either directly or indirectly .” This ban includes traditional media (print, radio and television) and social media [ 18 ]. However, social media companies are not bound by the FCTC, and the United States (US), which is home to many social media companies, is a non-party to the FCTC [ 19 ].

Currently, social media platforms self-regulate, guided by their own content policies, which refer to prohibited content, including advertising and promotion of tobacco and e-cigarette products. However, it appears these platforms are disregarding their own e-cigarette content policies by permitting non-compliant content to be posted, thereby exposing users to content they should not be exposed to [ 20 , 21 ]. For example, there is evidence that social media account holders are not prevented from using various means to positively promote products on platforms (e.g., competitions encouraging users to share images of vape products, featuring vaping experiences, cross-promotion on alternate social networking platforms, and links to blogs to increase positive, searchable e-cigarette content) [ 22 ].

The self-regulation approach of social media platforms requires review as it is insufficient to control the content promoting e-cigarette products [ 14 , 20 ]. Greater protection of social media users could be achieved by moving from self-regulation to public regulation (enforcement by an independent public regulator), which is legally binding to ensure greater accountability of social media platforms, content moderation, transparency, compliance and enforcement of content policy and sanctions for noncompliance [ 1 ]. Our research aimed to understand industry professionals’ perceptions of social media harms and potential management strategies using vaping as a case study. Although the research focused on Instagram and TikTok, findings could be extended to other social media platforms and other harmful products.

Methodology

We used a critical realist perspective to guide reflexive thematic analysis of the qualitative data [ 23 ]. This approach recognises that an individual’s experiences are socially located, having their own interpreted reality. Critical realism aims to provide a coherent interpretation of data anchored in the accounts of participants. This study was approved by the Curtin University Human Research Ethics Committee (HR2021-0250). The COREQ checklist [ 24 ] guided the reporting of findings.

Research team

The study was conducted at a large public university located in Perth, Western Australia, with input from a collaborator in the US. The research team was composed of members with expertise in public health, social media, law, marketing, tobacco control, and qualitative research.

Eligible participants were from English-speaking countries; aged 18 years and older; were subject matter experts currently working in public health, digital media, law and governance, tobacco control and advocacy, providing a range of perspectives to enable exploration of the topic through multiple lenses.

Recruitment

Seven members of the research team identified potential participants. Once identified, individuals were contacted via email, with any non-respondents being sent a follow-up email two weeks later. The email/s explained the purpose of the study by providing the participant with an information statement and consent form. Interested individuals were invited to contact the research team via email or telephone to express their interest in participating and have any questions answered. Prior to the interview, deidentified examples of e-cigarette-related posts from TikTok (videos) and Instagram (static images) were sent to the participants along with a summary of each platform’s content policies to orientate the participants to the topic and the discussion questions. Online interviews (Microsoft Teams) were arranged for a mutually convenient time.

Data collection

The use of a semi-structured interview guide facilitated flexibility and adaptability within each interview [ 25 ]. The interview guide addressed the following: e-cigarette content on social media; management of e-cigarette content on social media; the development and enforcement of policy and regulations for e-cigarette content on social media; and demographic information (age, sex, type of work and workplace). An iterative process was applied. As new ideas and concepts were discovered, the concepts were integrated into subsequent data collection guiding further adaptation of the interview guide [ 26 ]. The interviews were conducted in English, lasted an average of 36 min (range 35–58 min) and were audio-recorded, with participant informed consent being obtained prior to commencement.

Data analysis

All interviews were undertaken by a trained female researcher (EB), transcribed verbatim by the authors (JJ, EB) and checked for accuracy. Interview transcripts were anonymised and imported into NVivo (v12) to facilitate analysis. The primary author (JJ) initially coded the data. Initial codes were reviewed and discussed with a co-author (GC). Broad themes were constructed, then discussed, refined and confirmed by both authors (JJ and GC). This process facilitated immersion in both the data collection and analysis, thereby ensuring that the data coding adequately described the intentions and content of the interviews [ 27 ]. Reflexive thematic analysis included re-reading interviews to ensure familiarisation with the data, systematic coding of data, grouping of codes, identification of named themes, and refining themes [ 23 ]. As qualitative data looks for themes and patterns, it is important to ensure that the context and narrative are not lost by trying to quantify something that is not meant to be quantified. Accordingly, we did not quantify the data [ 28 ]. To increase the study rigour and trustworthiness of data, participants were emailed their transcript and draft results. This process provided them with an opportunity to provide feedback and check the accuracy of the presentation of findings (member checking). Demographic data were analysed using descriptive statistics (SPSS v26).

Participants’ demographic profile

Thirteen participants agreed to participate in the one-on-one interviews. The participants were mainly female ( n  = 7), employed within a university ( n  = 9) or not-for-profit (NFP) organisations ( n  = 4), and resided in Australia ( n  = 9) or overseas ( n  = 4) (United Kingdom (UK) and US). Seven participants declined our invitation to participate due to time constraints and three did not respond to our email invitations.

Two superordinate themes were constructed from the data: (1) Fathoming a complex system– social media; and (2) Addressing complexity– social media. To support the thematic analysis, de-identified quotes from participants were used in the presentation of the data.

Fathoming a complex system

Participants described the issues and challenges of navigating the social media landscape as it related to e-cigarettes. The subordinate themes of Traversing Boundaries (crossing borders, crossing sectors) and Ungovernable (global and local landscapes, vested interests, self-regulation and opacity) are presented in Fig.  1 .

Fathoming a complex system (theme and subordinate themes)

Traversing boundaries

Crossing borders.

A major challenge of managing e-cigarette content on social media identified by participants was the porous borders that exist within and between countries and regions. These porous borders facilitate global information dissemination and sharing. This reach and cross border transmission of content has been enabled by the extensive global networks and abundant resources of transnational social media companies.

… so, this global reach… just increases the complexities and makes it so much harder [to manage social media content].” (Participant 1: Public health; Australian (Aus) university).

Participants suggested that the ability of posted content to traverse borders was further facilitated by social media users who willingly shared content, because it is well-marketed, targeted, appealing, and seen as an interactive opportunity. This was highlighted by one participant who noted the following:

It’s really hard and tough to try and control social media because it transcends international borders and because a lot of what these companies are doing is trying to get people to pass things on, which they may be doing innocently because they’re, you know, fun, brightly coloured, attractive images. But the marketing is being done, and you know, by people (account holders) that don’t really understand what they’re getting into and what they’re part of, and sometimes for free.” (Participant 10: Tobacco control; UK NFP).

Crossing sectors

Participants reported that the management of social media content was more challenging, due to the number of sectors involved in and affected by social media company activities. Nominated sectors included health, business, media, communication, and law. In Australia, this was exemplified as a matter for cross-portfolio consideration, as one participant noted.

It’s a health issue, but actually, it’s a media issue. And the Communications Minister should be the one to look at it because she’s also got an alternative approach, which is to say social media companies are content service providers under the Telecommunications Act. She can make a content service provider rule, which would be managed by the Australian Communications and Media Authority [ACMA], or enforced by the ACMA, and that rule could be a prohibition against vaping advertising.” (Participant 8: Governance and telecommunications; Aus university).

Social media regulation and policy were highlighted as convoluted and unclear. This led to questions regarding who is, and who should be responsible for the management of social media companies and in turn their content, “ there’s this whole discussion coming out of the ACCC [Australian Competition and Consumer Commission] … and I think one of the questions they’re putting out there is… which entity should be responsible? ” (Participant 12: Consumer advocacy; Aus NFP).

Ungovernable

Global and local landscapes.

Participant narratives suggested that cross-border exposure to e-cigarette content on social media is exacerbated by the differing regulatory and legal frameworks globally, within and between countries and regions. For example, participants suggested that more profuse e-cigarette social media content is generated in countries with liberal tobacco control regulations; however, this same content is also viewed in countries with tighter regulations, such as Australia.

… even if you had great laws… what about the fact that you can access these ads from other countries.” (Participant 4: Public Health; Aus university).

Participants suggested that as a consequence of social media’s relative newness and pervasiveness, the development and implementation of regulations and legislation to manage social media companies was lacking and “ way out of date.” For example:

There is a pretty pressing need to modernise our legislation on all forms of tobacco and related marketing. So, at the moment we’re operating legislation that’s 30-odd years old.” (Participant 4: Public health; Aus university).

Vested interests

Participants noted a range of actors with vested interests that included the tobacco and vaping industry, proponents of vaping, influencers, and the social media platforms themselves. The actors’ actions were at times recognised as conflicting with social media platform content controls, and that these actions directly benefited them (i.e. tobacco and vaping industry, proponents of vaping, influencers), and subsequently the platforms. For instance, the tobacco and vaping industry, along with proponents of vaping and influencers capitalised on high exposure, effective promotional opportunities, and the ability to engage and reach extensive audiences using relatively little effort and resources. In turn these actions had the potential to result in substantial revenue for social media companies. These industries were identified as the “ power in the marketplace.” One participant stated.

… the only entities that really have a global lens on social media trends and regulation are the [social media] companies themselves.… See, the earth is basically one country in their mind.” (Participant 13: Global public health policy; UK university).

Several participants highlighted the consequential opposition that social media companies and other interested actors would enact, both directly and indirectly to avoid outside regulation. For example, “[opposition] from the people who are doing things on Instagram… But there’ll be much stronger opposition from the companies behind them, the industries behind them and other related industries.” (Participant 4: Public health; Aus university).

Self-regulation

Current self-regulation of platform content by social media companies was broadly reported as hindering the ability to adequately manage e-cigarette content. Self-regulatory models were predominantly viewed as inappropriate, problematic, not workable and “ in favour of industry” [social media companies]. Overwhelmingly, participants highlighted the ineffectiveness of self-regulation in this space, “Self-regulation is just ultimately, you know, largely a failure… There’s no incentive to do it.” (Participant 11: Public health; US university).

Participants suggested that platform self-regulation was inadequate in ensuring e-cigarette content moderation occurred, as platforms could choose when to enforce, or not to enforce, even their own content policies:

They don’t even get slaps on the wrist typically. And as a result, we’re seeing not enough done about this kind of content that is very harmful.” (Participant 2: Law and social media; Aus university).

The reported lack of repercussions for this behaviour contributed to perceptions that the companies were ungovernable. Participants suggested that social media companies perpetuated this notion to further a self-regulation agenda to policymakers, who were viewed as lacking the knowledge needed to make reforms and were slow to regulate:

“This idea that we would allow a newspaper or a billboard company to self-police and then just go oh, that’s a shame when the self-policing didn’t work, it’s nonsense. So why do we allow that to happen with digital media companies? Because our lawmakers are old and tired and can’t figure out how to regulate these platforms? It’s just lazy.” (Participant 5: Public health; Aus university).

However, there was minority support for some degree of self-regulation using a stepwise approach:

So firstly , [social media companies] write a [self-regulatory] code . If your code is strong enough, then we’ll let you run with it.…And if you fail, we’ll make it mandatory, and your failure will lead to pecuniary penalties.” (Participant 8: Governance and telecommunications; Aus university).

Participants commented on the challenges of distinguishing between organic, or paid/commercial content, reporting that different types of content can influence opinions as to how this content should be managed. Participants suggested that individuals produced organic content to present opinions, while commercial content was supported by vested interests and represented potential financial gain. Organically produced content by individuals was seen as “ a much greyer area” .

Popular forms of expression about or representation of vaping by ordinary social media users, by musicians, artists, celebrities and so on. I mean, you can’t ban that in the sense that you can’t ban people from posting images of themselves smoking or drinking or doing other stupid things .” (Participant 9: Digital media; Aus university).

The commercial benefits that influencers gain from sharing content on their accounts means they need to use appropriate hashtag terms (e.g., #ad, #sponsored and #gifted) to identify partnerships and renumerations in their posts. However, participants questioned the effectiveness of terms such as ad and sponsored in drawing adequate attention to the incentives and payments received, as these hashtags were not noticeable in the context of the post:

I personally am not convinced that #ad is sufficient to bring full attention to [social media] users that it might be a paid promotion.” (Participant 12: Consumer advocacy; Aus NFP).

Participants also questioned whether the use of hashtags was ultimately just a way around policy and regulation.

It’s a form of commercial communication. It’s an advertisement.” (Participant 5: Public health; Aus university).

There was also commentary by participants regarding known influencer activity, with one participant stating:

I know for a fact that influencers are being used to promote these products [e-cigarettes] 100%. Like you’d have to be very naive to not think that’s happening.” (Participant 5: Public health; Aus university).

Addressing complexity

Participants described potential strategies to address the perceived complexities of the social media landscape as it related to e-cigarettes. The subordinate themes were Strengthening Institutions (global to local, policy and legislation, individuals and organisations); Defanging Industry (responsibility and transparency; moderation and algorithms; complaints); and Engaging Citizens (raising awareness, framing messaging), as presented in Fig.  2 .

Addressing complexity (theme and subordinate themes)

Strengthening institutions

Global to local.

The management of social media content was seen as a global issue, requiring a global response. Narratives highlighted the importance of cross-border collaboration and international cooperation through government involvement and leadership, to enable appropriate management of e-cigarette related content on social media.

The WHO was nominated “as an engine and driver” to lead global action through its FCTC, with reference to Article 13 (which lays down basic obligations to Parties to ban tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship).

But it’s only going to really be effective [management of e-cigarette related content on social media] and happen, if government bodies and global cooperation through the [WHO] FCTC actually make it illegal and charges these media companies for violating the law.” (Participant 5: Public health; Aus university).

Conversely, one of the participants had a conflicting opinion of the WHO FCTC, believing its position had been weakened, stating that “ it [WHO] has been relatively defanged.” (Participant 11: Public health; US university).

Some participants argued that although social media companies are global businesses, they operate in regions and “ have the capacity to adapt their offerings within jurisdictions based on regulatory standards and posture of regulators.” (Participant 12: Consumer advocacy; Aus NFP). Cases were cited where social media companies had operated to remove certain content based on the requirements of specific regions. For example, the eradication of alcohol sales on eBay (sales of alcoholic beverages is only allowed by pre-approved sellers who hold a valid liquor licence and buyers older than 18 years of age). Other cited examples of local action at a country-level, included the following.

I think it’s totally possible for nations to have national-level frameworks that control what platforms can and can’t do. And again, I think the EU [European Union] with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) has really shown us you can do that, and Australia has as well around things like the News Media Bargaining Code.… you can set national rules for platforms if you’re a valuable market and they will comply with them.” (Participant 9: Digital media; Aus university).

Policy and legislation

Participants called for appropriate legislative change to enable the management of social media companies and in turn the management of their content. Existing content policies driven by social media companies could reportedly be “ easily wormed out of ,” while legislation was suggested as far more powerful.

Well, we need a regulatory framework to cover the social media platforms. I don’t think policies… they might have of their own, that you know, prohibits sale and prohibition of tobacco products and e-cigarettes, is sufficient, because it’s not being complied with. And so, you need actual laws and rules and enforcement mechanisms to make sure that they follow suit. ” (Participant 12: Consumer advocacy; Aus NFP).

However, participants emphasised that whatever legislation is introduced, the responsible governing body or organisation must have the authority, and resources to monitor and enforce legislation and “ the power to penalise” to make social media companies comply.

… the only way you’re gonna stop these companies is with massive financial fines and public naming and shaming, so you need to name and shame - who violated it, the processes, how much they were fined. And they need to pay those fines. And look, I have no concept of how much money is a lot of money. Is a million dollars a lot of money?… Is a billion dollars a lot of money?” (Participant 5: Public health; Aus university).

Individuals and organisations

Participants recognised a range of individual and organisational actors that could and should play a role in managing social media content, whether that be through advocacy, oversight or legislative controls. Participants strongly emphasised the central role of government in stewarding this issue.

… it’s a government responsibility to me. You know that, just like it is for all of our other tobacco control laws.” (Participant 10: Tobacco control: UK NFP).

Participants spoke of the need for government leadership and political actors in the areas of communications, health and business. In addition, there were several government and government statutory organisations that were nominated as needing to play a current or future role in social media content management, in Australia, as cited below:

We’ve got a group of regulators , [such as] the eSafety Commissioner, the Australian Communications and Media Authority [ACMA], the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner, which is the Privacy Commissioner and the ACCC [Australian Competition and Consumer Commission] have a working group [working group on digital platforms], which is basically looking at platform issues.” (Participant 8: Governance and telecommunications; Aus university).

Other organisations nominated to oversee social media content, included the Australian Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) and local and federal departments of health. Participants argued that any organisation charged with this responsibility required appropriate levels of power to be effective. Participants also acknowledged the importance of intersectoral collaboration, which would bring together various actors with assorted knowledge and skills to inform discussions and action for better management of social media content, including:

… people who are working in the social media, communications, and public health space would be a good point of departure, and then lawyers who are active in communications laws, laws pertinent to communications.” (Participant 3: Public health and social media; US university).

Defanging industry

Responsibility and transparency.

Participants noted that social media platforms have the capacity to remove accounts when they violate their content policies. Systematic enforcement of this approach was recommended with one participant suggesting, “ anyone who breaches it [content policy]… kick them out of social media permanently…” (Participant 2: Law and social media; Aus university).

It was suggested that “ buy-in” from companies regarding any strategy to better manage their social media content would be beneficial as “ they are extremely powerful, politically and economically.” (Participant 12: Global public health policy; UK university). There was also recognition by participants that social media companies were facing lawsuits in the US due to their failure to manage content. These lawsuits may act as an incentive or catalyst for them to be more proactive in managing the content on their platforms. Some participants recommended consulting with social media companies to determine how they were going to manage content, and consultations with jurisdictions that had introduced controls:

You know the EU is probably the strongest example of that, whereas they might not have done something particularly around vaping, they’ve done lots around putting requirements on platforms to monitor and manage certain kinds of content.” (Participant 9: Digital media; Aus university).

Participants reported that adequate control of e-cigarette related content on social media would require transparent action by social media platforms for all types of content, including advertising, which participants suggested can be ephemeral. For example, participants cited the example of Facebook where it had tried to be more transparent with political advertising:

They only do it for political adverts, but I think having some kind of function where you could actually go and search for sponsored content generally would seem like a potential goal to reach. So at least you can see the amounts they reach by category.” (Participant 13: Global public health policy: UK university).

Moderation and algorithms

Participants suggested that social media platforms should continue using and expanding the role of people moderators to manage content. Currently, moderating processes are used by social media companies, but individuals expressed the need for this activity to be more focused and better resourced. For example.

… content moderators are real people sitting in suburban Manila who are watching video material and photo material as it goes up, so you could do that. (Participant 8: Governance and telecommunications; Aus university)

Social media companies also develop algorithms (a set of rules to be followed in calculations or problem-solving for computers) to manage their content. Participants suggested algorithmic moderation approaches as a practical approach to the management of social media content. Narratives also suggested a perception that algorithms could provide a mechanism to ensure the identification and removal of content or prevent certain content from ever existing. There was the suggestion that “ some of the best” software engineers work at these social media companies, who hold suitable expertise to effectively manage content:

Detecting vaping using algorithmic approaches is likely to be more successful than some other things that you want to get rid of… just detect it and delete it, it’s not an unreasonable first bit to do.” (Participant 8: Governance and telecommunications; Aus university).

There were recognised opportunities for maintaining and extending complaint systems at the individual and organisational levels. For example, participants noted that at the individual level community members could challenge or complain directly to the social media account holder who posted the content.

There was an influencer who didn’t display #AD. I wrote on his Instagram. Hey, you didn’t put #AD or #SP [sponsored], with a smiley face. So, he deleted my comment and changed his thing within like an hour.” (Participant 2: Law and social media; Aus university).

Alternatively, participants suggested that complaints could be made to the social media platform by “having a simple social media user complaint system that says I’ve seen this content.” (Participant 8: Regulation and governance; Aus university).Participants also described the role of an independent complaint panel as used in other areas of public health, which was seen as having added benefit of addressing the limitations of self-regulatory, industry-led systems:

The other thing that I think has been done in Australia in the context of alcohol, is the civil society have set up independent panels where people and users can send complaints to put pressure on the Government. Because industry-led or affiliated panels tend to be quite weak and will actually turn a lot of complaints away or dismiss them.” (Participant 13: Global public health policy: UK university).

Engaging citizens

Raising awareness.

Narratives suggested that to effectively raise awareness of e-cigarettes and their impact, public education, particularly with specific target groups, such as the general community and decision makers was required. Participants suggested that recommendations for better management of social media content could act as a catalyst for change without the community seeing such changes as “a threat to their freedom” , or politicians being concerned that it may “ cost them votes”. For this to occur, participants noted the need for a strong understanding of social media content management, and the benefits of better content management including reduced community exposure to harmful products. This included the need for critical health and media literacy.

So, for me, from a [country redacted] perspective, you need both regulation and awareness raising and critical analysis. So, I think we have to engage with the target audience. We have to engage with young people, and we have to make them aware of how these multinational corporations are trying to addict them and why these products are not, in reality, not the way that the image is being presented.” (Participant 10: Tobacco control; UK NFP).

Framing messages

Communicating the need for improved management of harmful content on social media was also suggested by participants. This included using strategies employed by public health actors in tobacco and alcohol control, such as putting pressure on social media companies regarding inappropriate content and drawing attention to the vested interests of companies selling harmful products. In addition, participants suggested building on existing work by taking a combined approach to harmful products (including gambling, smoking, and ultra processed foods) and calling for an enforcement agency that addresses harmful products more broadly.

“I think it’s very hard to look at vaping in isolation from other harmful product industries and the commercial determinants of health more generally. I think partly it allows you to build much bigger advocacy coalitions and tie into much bigger conflicts of interest.” (Participant 13: Global public health policy: UK university).

These strategies were highlighted as providing an opportunity to gain the attention of a range of political actors and build advocacy opportunities. In addition, participants suggested positioning harmful products more strongly through a social justice lens, “ particularly regarding the rights of children and the right to health” (Participant 13: Global public health policy: UK university) and as a contributor to noncommunicable disease through the promotion of harmful products:

So, we need to be looking at e-cigarettes, tobacco, alcohol, unhealthy food and drink. You know, Coca-Cola, et al, who are really running rampant because they have the resources and the time, they can buy in the expertise to do so.” (Participant 10: Tobacco control; UK NFP).

Social media has changed the way people communicate, interact and access information, goods and services, providing a forum for exposure to a range of imagery and opportunities that often do not occur in the ‘real world’ [ 29 ]. There has been aggressive promotion of e-cigarettes via social media, specifically targeting adolescents and young adults [ 30 , 31 ], supporting the normalization of e-cigarettes and increased use [ 16 , 17 ]. How to deal with this new borderless digital media environment is a public health challenge.

By speaking with people who identified as working in public health, digital media, law, governance, tobacco control and advocacy, and using e-cigarette content on social media as a case study, we identified the complexity of the social media environment and potential opportunities for controlling the ready exposure to harmful content, via the themes of strengthening institutions, defanging industry and raising awareness.

In considering how to deal with social media content, we need to acknowledge the structural power of tobacco, vaping and media companies and highlight their global capacity to influence individual and community behaviour, as well as policy and public health outcomes [ 32 ]. Responding to this dynamic and financially lucrative environment presents a range of challenges, particularly considering the power of social media companies, the limited experience of regulators, and relative sluggishness of regulatory action to catch up to technology [ 33 ].

Social media platforms provide a powerful, inexpensive, and pervasive marketing stage for products, generating revenue primarily by collecting user data and capturing their attention, which is then monetised through advertising services [ 29 , 34 ]. There are currently 4.9 billion social media users worldwide [ 2 ], spending an average of 144 min each day online [ 35 ]. These exposures and interactions translate into significant dollars for digital platforms, with TikTok generating $350 million in revenue in 2022, and Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Snapchat together generating $205 million [ 35 ]. The global e-cigarette market is expected to grow to USD 28.17 billion by 2023, with the online distribution channels expected to register the fastest growth [ 36 ].

Considering the global operations of social media companies, our study participants recognized that coordination across borders is critical to the management of the platforms and their content [ 29 ]. Some participants highlighted the relevance and leadership opportunity of the WHO FCTC, specifically Article 13 [ 18 ], while others were less sure about this approach. FCTC Parties have recognized the challenges around monitoring and enforcing cross-border advertising, and have called for processes that more effectively facilitate global cooperation to ban cross-border advertising and sponsorship [ 37 ]. However, others in our study, particularly those from the social media area, suggested that content could be controlled at a country level.

Participants in our study provided examples of regulations that have already been implemented to manage social media companies and their content at a country level. These examples included the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation, considered one of the strictest privacy and security laws globally [ 38 ]; and the Australian News Media and Digital Mandatory Bargaining Code, which enables Australian news businesses to bargain with digital platforms regarding payment for news. Other examples include the UK Online Safety Act [ 39 ], which ensures social media platforms are held responsible for the content they host [ 40 ] and Australia’s recently introduced Public Health (Tobacco and Other Products) Act 2023 [ 9 ] which will aim to address the proliferation of e-cigarette advertising and promotional activities on social media. How this particular Australian legislation, proposed to commence in April 2024, is enacted, and its effectiveness remain to be seen. It will be crucial that this legislation is regularly reviewed to limit the development of loopholes and ensure it maintains effectiveness in the dynamic online environment [ 37 ].

These examples of current and proposed regulations have been introduced at a country level by government to manage social media companies and the content published on their platforms, demonstrating that these companies are governable. However, any government lead regulation needs to be accompanied by overseeing organisations that have access to the resources to monitor, enforce and appropriately penalise these companies for non-compliance [ 41 ]. Identifying these agencies is another step in the process of governance and will require continuing government leadership to ensure society and individuals are protected from harm in this online environment [ 29 ].

More specifically, those participating in our study stated that self-regulation was largely a failure, as the growing digital marketplace provided the ideal environment for those with vested interests to promote and distribute e-cigarettes and other harmful products globally, via organic and commercial content [ 42 ]. However, no matter what legal regulations are imposed on platforms their internal commitment to self-regulation will impact compliance [ 43 ]. These companies still need to have clear policies and community guidelines that set the rules for conduct, as presently they are often vague and unclear [ 43 , 44 ].

Currently social media company policies are enforced via a mix of moderation processes that include outsourced workers reviewing content, machine learning tools that detect and remove content, and internal policy teams that set standards and oversee the processes [ 45 ]. These moderation processes can be challenging due to their inability to interpret language, and context and community standards, making it difficult to distinguish between problematic and permissible posts [ 46 ]. Nonetheless, it is important to have ongoing monitoring and evaluation of moderation processes to assess the viability of any of these actions.

Drawing on our findings, we call for open community dialogue about social media companies’ operations to increase awareness of their processes and impact. This dialogue needs to include regulators so that informed debate can lead to appropriate cultural change around expectations of the company’s behaviour and in turn the content they host. Open dialogue will enable increased awareness about e-cigarettes and potentially other harmful products, such as gambling, alcohol, and ultra processed foods. Accompanying this, community online media literacy education and resources could be introduced to enable increased awareness and knowledge of what content is permissible and the implications of interacting in the online environment [ 29 ]. Equipping people with the skills to critically evaluate online information, will reposition the media user as an active participant [ 47 ]. Providing an independent easily accessible community complaints systems will further enhance the role of individuals and the community in managing social media content.

Limitations

Our study’s sample size of 13 may be considered a study limitation, however, it does provide a range of insights into the challenges and opportunities for management of social media content. In addition, social media is a dynamic environment and therefore recommended responses to better manage its content may change over time.

Through qualitative insights, participants working in the areas of public health, digital media, law, governance, tobacco control and advocacy, identified a range of levers that could be enacted to decrease exposure to e-cigarettes and theoretically to other harmful content on social media.

The management of social media content was seen as a global issue, requiring a global response, with the narrative highlighting the importance of cross-border cooperation. However, at a country level, government oversight and actions are the priority. This should comprise the development of national-level regulatory frameworks, which have government leadership and appropriate legislation; and in the Australian context, identification of organisation/s with suitable levels of regulatory power and resources to monitor, enforce and penalise noncompliant social media companies. This activity should be further facilitated by an effective independent complaints panel and also an internal commitment from social media companies to protect their users from exposure to harmful content.

In parallel, participants also identified the need to raise community awareness regarding social media platform operations. In particular strategies are needed to increase digital literacy regarding harmful social media content in conjunction with framing messages to increase pressure on social media companies to improve the management of unwanted and harmful content. Social media companies need to take responsibility for content published on their platforms, as these platforms need to be safe environments that do not expose users to harmful products that can increase adverse health outcomes.

Data availability

No datasets were generated or analysed during the current study. The dataset is available on reasonable request to the corresponding author.

Code availability

Not applicable.

Abbreviations

Australian Competition and Consumer Commission

Australian Communications and Media Authority

Framework Convention on Tobacco Control

Not-for -profit

Therapeutic Goods Administration

United Kingdom

United States

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Acknowledgements

We would like to acknowledge and thank the 13 people who agreed to participate in the study and those who reviewed the manuscript.

This work was supported by the Western Australian Health Promotion Foundation, Healthway (grant number 32089).

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Jonine Jancey, Gemma Crawford, Elizabeth Bowman & Kahlia McCausland

School of Management and Marketing, Curtin University, Kent Street, Perth, WA, 6102, Australia

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School of Media, Creative Arts and Social Inquiry, Curtin University, Kent Street, Perth, WA, 6102, Australia

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School of Nursing, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, 94158, USA

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Contributions

Funding acquisition: JJ, KM, TL, KW, and SB; Conceptualisation of research: JJ, KM, TL, KW, SB, EB; Project administration: JJ, KM; Data curation: JJ, EB; Methodology: JJ, KM, TL, KW, EB; Formal analysis: JJ, GC;Writing of main manuscript– original draft: JJ, GC; Writing– review and editing: JJ, KM, TL, KW, SB, EB.All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Jonine Jancey .

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This study was approved by the Curtin University Human Research Ethics Committee (HR2021-0250).

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JJ has received funding from the WA Health Promotion Foundation (Healthway). She is also on the Board of the Australian Council of Smoking and Health (unpaid role.

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Jancey, J., Crawford, G., Bowman, E. et al. Perceptions of social media harms and potential management strategies: vaping case study. BMC Public Health 24 , 876 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-024-18362-8

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Case Studies , Social Media Management

Case Study: Fitness Social Media Management Done Right

February 24, 2023

In today’s ever-evolving digital world, social media management is becoming increasingly important for fitness centers.

It’s no longer enough to just have a website and hope people will find it. In most communities, there are plenty of other fitness centers, gyms and personal trainers competing for the exact same clients.

To win in such a competitive market, you need a proactive fitness marketing strategy that’s centered on the channels most popular with your client base. For many fitness businesses, that’s on social media platforms, like Facebook and Instagram.

The right fitness social media management strategy can help you build brand awareness, reach new clients and increase engagement with your current clients. It can also help you build relationships with the local community, promote special offers and events, and get valuable feedback from clients.

Local fitness center drives success with active social media management

One local fitness center learned just how powerful the right social media management strategy can be.

Over the past 90 days, they’ve driven more than 12K impressions, more than 1K clicks and hundreds of conversions. And, while social media isn’t a big driver of direct conversions for them, it’s clear by their conversion paths that it’s making an impact.

By comparing the latest 60-day period to the previous one, you can see that having an active fitness social media strategy has paid off for this gym. They’ve seen a 53% increase in impressions, a 37% increase in clicks and engagements, and a 60% increase in conversions.

How did they do it?

First, they optimized their social media profiles with high-quality pictures of their gym and logo, making it a point to keep their branding consistent across their website and social media profiles.

Second, they stayed active on social media by posting on a regular basis. By posting a mix of promotional and informative content, they were able to keep followers up to date about their fitness center, while providing value and giving people a reason to follow them.

Third, they built strong relationships with leads and members on social media by engaging with their followers. By responding to reviews, comments and questions, they demonstrate to potential clients that they care and are the right choice.

Last but not least, they gave potential members a behind-the-scenes look at their gym by posting pictures of their real team and members, helping to build trust and convert leads.

Fitness social media management has become a critical tool for building brand awareness and trust in your community. By staying active, engaging with your audience and providing value, you can build strong relationships with leads and members.

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MEDIA & ENTERTAINMENT, CASE STUDY

Transforming Media Asset Management with Wasabi & VIDA Content OS

VIDA Content OS , a media asset management platform by Visual Data Media Services, supports content owners in storing, delivering, and distributing their media libraries. By efficiently managing content libraries, VIDA caters to the needs of film distributors, TV series producers, and large broadcasters.

Challenge: Finding the Right Solution for BBC Studios

BBC Studios, (Motion Gallery) is the commercial arm of the BBC, which sells licensed clips from their vast archive for use in everything from documentaries and news shows to film and television series. Traditionally master content for licensing was held on premises and LTO, however, this method required manual scaling as the library grew. “Hardware management became burdensome and increased costs of IT overhead and electricity was not scaling well” said David Nickolls, Product Owner for VIDA. The volume of data was in the hundreds of terabytes and growing, and this manual process quickly became unsustainable.

In addition, BBC Studios’ use of the system involves constant access and search by thousands of registered users, retrieval, screening, and delivery of specific high-res clips on demand. This requires a high level of organization, speed, and availability to meet instant requirements, often under tight deadlines.

These scenarios necessitated a software solution that was not just secure, but also quick, easily accessible, and economical. When it came time to rearchitect the workflow, Nickolls knew the new product needed a storage solution that could keep up with the demands of the growing and constantly changing media landscape. They needed a solution that could offer scalability, speed, reliability, and a competitive cost structure to accommodate the unique requirements of their diverse client base.

“Wasabi's commercial model and scalability makes it an absolutely essential component of our overall architecture.” — Symon Roue, Managing Director, VIDA

Building a Storage Solution for Scale

Building the system that Nickolls wanted to create would require the seamless interaction of multiple pieces of software and teams, all working in tandem. At the heart of the operation would be storage solutions built to scale with the business and fuel the entire system with hyper-available content.

To tackle these complex challenges, VIDA chose to partner with Wasabi Hot Cloud Storage .

Wasabi’s commercial model provided VIDA with the ability to scale its storage across multiple geographic regions. “Wasabi has enabled us to grow our storage footprint rapidly and because storage management is a cinch, we’ve saved valuable time as well,” said Nickolls. It is especially important for the clients of BBC Motion Gallery, who requires frequent access and delivery of specific clips from their vast archive. Wasabi now serves as a key storage location for VIDA’s data.

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Crucially, Wasabi is compatible with the range of software needed to orchestrate the larger VIDA Content OS system. Two key examples are Dolby Hybrik, which the VIDA team employs for transcoding, and IBM Aspera for large file transport, both of which interoperate with Wasabi. Wasabi’s S3 API compatibility was key to the content operating system aspect to VIDA as a whole, which sits on AWS Lambda. “We’re using a whole host of the AWS services, but we’ve tightly integrated Wasabi in VIDA as hot storage,” said Nickolls. Wasabi’s flexibility allows VIDA to construct its offering using best-of-breed components while maintaining lower overall storage costs for customers of their platform. “It’s given us a very scalable, easy-to-implement architecture,” said Symon Roue, Managing Director at VIDA.

Beyond this, Wasabi’s consistent performance provides VIDA with the reliability needed to ensure their clients’ content was always available and secure. In the media industry, where content security and availability are critical, Wasabi’s robust infrastructure and reliability played a significant role in VIDA’s decision to choose them as storage partner.

Result: Wasabi Hot Cloud Storage Paves the Way for Content Availability

The partnership with Wasabi has yielded impressive results for VIDA. The scalability and economic model of Wasabi have allowed VIDA to grow its business. Wasabi’s reliable service has made VIDA’s operations smoother and more efficient, thereby enhancing customer satisfaction—particularly when it comes to being secure.

“Our clients’ contents, security, and availability are the service we’re actually providing ultimately,” said Roue. “So, it’s got to be rock solid; it’s got to be always available.”

Wasabi’s flexibility and compatibility were integral to the success of VIDA’s architecture. Taking advantage of S3’s large partner ecosystem allowed Nickolls and the VIDA team to utilize an array of technologies that enable seamless interplay between the VIDA team, BBC Studios, and Getty Images, which serves as BBC Motion Gallery’s commercial partner. What was before considered a manual system is now largely automated thanks to these interlocking processes.  

The Next Steps

The demand for storage will only increase, and VIDA’s partnership with Wasabi will enable them to meet this challenge head-on, future-proofing their business. Wasabi’s flexibility and commitment to innovation will allow VIDA to stay nimble in the rapidly evolving media industry.

Looking ahead, VIDA envisions broadening its horizons by exploring new markets and engaging with more clients, which Wasabi’s scalability will comfortably accommodate.

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Title: quantifying the aggregate flexibility of ev charging stations for dependable congestion management products: a dutch case study.

Abstract: Electric vehicles (EVs) play a crucial role in the transition towards sustainable modes of transportation and thus are critical to the energy transition. As their number grows, managing the aggregate power of EV charging is crucial to maintain grid stability and mitigate congestion. This study analyses more than 500 thousand real charging transactions in the Netherlands to explore the challenge and opportunity for the energy system presented by EV growth and smart charging flexibility. Specifically, it analyses the collective ability to provide congestion management services according to the specifications of those services in the Netherlands. In this study, a data-driven model of charging behaviour is created to explore the implications of delivering dependable congestion management services at various aggregation levels and types of service. The probability of offering specific grid services by different categories of charging stations (CS) is analysed. These probabilities can help EV aggregators, such as charging point operators, make informed decisions about offering congestion mitigation products per relevant regulations and distribution system operators to assess their potential. The ability to offer different flexibility products, namely re-dispatch and capacity limitation, for congestion management, is assessed using various dispatch strategies. Next, machine learning models are used to predict the probability of CSs being able to deliver these products, accounting for uncertainties. Results indicate that residential charging locations have significant potential to provide both products during evening peak hours. While shared EVs offer better certainty regarding arrival and departure times, their small fleet size currently restricts their ability to meet the minimum order size of flexible products.

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Have an idea for a project that will add value for arXiv's community? Learn more about arXivLabs .