Assessment

Instructions to the student

You are the Social Media Strategist for your chosen business, and the business would like to create a niche social media marketing campaign to raise awareness of their brand and product range, grow their network, and drive more traffic to their website. You are required to develop a niche social media marketing strategy for the business and lead the social media team in planning, implementation and management the strategy.

1. You are required to select an organisation to represent for the purpose of this assessment. You may select:
- an organisation you have access to, such as a business run by a friend or family;
- an organisation you currently work for;
- your own business; or
- a hypothetical business you create for the purpose of the assessment.
You must discuss your selected business with your assessor prior to commencing this assessment.

NOTE: Assessment 1 requires you to develop a niche social media marketing strategy for your chosen organisation. This strategy will need to be implemented and evaluated in Assessment 2.

If you select an organisation that you have access to, or an organisation you currently work for, you must:

1. Obtain written permission from the appropriate stakeholder (such as the marketing manager) clearly stating that the organisation grants permission for you to develop and implement a niche social media marketing strategy on its behalf, including permission to post content to the organisation's social media networks;

2. Include a copy of the written permission in your final assessment; and

3. Obtain all necessary logins to the organisation's social media networks.

Specifications

Part A

For Part A you must provide a research summary table that meets standard business reporting in terms of:
- Content: Use professional language that is appropriate when presenting to an executive team. For example, use language that is:
- Clear, concise and structured
- Objective - "The purpose of this study was to..." rather than "I did this study to..."
- Not colloquial
- Informed
- Level of detail: Provide detailed information that ensures your final conclusion is backed up by evidence.

Your assessor will be looking for evidence of:
- Ability to identify and research trends in niche social media marketing;
- Ability to identify niche social media marketing opportunities; and
- Knowledge of various methods of initiating consumer engagement and retaining interest through niche social media marketing.

Based on the assessment submitted, your assessor will be applying marking criteria to determine your competence in identifying and researching trends in niche social media marketing.

Part B
For Part B you must provide a comprehensive niche social media marketing strategy and implementation plan that meets standard business reporting in terms of:
- Content: Use professional language that is appropriate when presenting to an executive team. For example, use language that is:
- Clear, concise and structured
- Objective - "The purpose of this study was to..." rather than "I did this study to..."
- Not colloquial
- Informed
- Format: Adhere to the guidelines detailed in the instructions.
- Level of detail: Provide detailed information that ensures the strategy and implementation plan is engaging and supported by evidence.

Your assessor will be looking for evidence of the following:
- Ability to assess an organisation's existing niche social media marketing presence;
- Ability to develop a niche social media marketing strategy and implementation plan for an organisation;
- Ability to create engaging content tailored to an organisation's objectives;

- Ability to manage a team in the implementation of a niche social media marketing strategy;
- Knowledge of trends in niche social media marketing and how to adapt these into a niche social media marketing strategy;
- Knowledge of resources required to implement a niche social media marketing strategy and how to manage these resources;
- Knowledge of methods of initiating consumer engagement and retaining interest through niche social media networks

Your assessor will be applying marking criteria to determine your competence in developing a niche social media marketing strategy and implementation plan for an organisation.

Part A - Written Assessment

Research Global Trends

Based on your chosen organisation, you are required to research two organisations within the same industry that have a niche social media marketing strategy. These two organisations must:

1. Have a minimum of one active mainstream social media network profile with at least 1,000 followers;

2. Utilise at least one niche social media network in a marketing strategy and/ or campaign, which may include WhatsApp, Snapchat, Vimeo, Vine, Flickr, Tumblr, Reddit and/or Medium;

3. Utilise at least two different types of multimedia in their niche social media marketing strategy and/or campaign which may include video, photographs, podcasts, imagery and text;

4. Have an engaged social media following as seen through as least one like, share and/or comment on each of their last four social media posts.

Based on your research, populate the table below which you will utilise later in the niche social media marketing strategy:

Part B - Written Assessment

Niche Social Media Marketing Strategy

Develop a niche social media strategy and implementation plan for your chosen organisation using the project template provided, which includes all of the elements that will be assessed. The strategy and implementation plan must be written using professional language appropriate for presenting to the key stakeholders of the organisation.

The niche social media marketing strategy and implementation plan must include three niche social media marketing campaigns that comprise two different types of multimedia (images, videos, photographs, podcasts etc.), and are to be deployed across one niche social media network each. These niche networks to choose from include:
1. WhatsApp
2. Snapchat
3. Vine
4. Vimeo
5. Medium
6. Flickr
7. Tumblr
8. Reddit

Evidence of the effective management of three niche social media marketing strategy must be collected over a period of time (i.e. one campaign every 2 days for 1 week). Two or more of the campaigns may run concurrently.

The niche social media marketing strategy must include the following three (3) stages, which are all included on the niche social media marketing strategy template provided:

Stage 1. Business Overview and Research
1. Organisation overview
2. Niche social media marketing strategy and campaign audit questionnaire
3. Content constraints on the range of content and social media networks the organisation can utilise
4. Global trends summary based on the research Part A

Stage 2. Niche Social Media Marketing Strategy
1. Niche social media strategic ideas based on primary objectives
2. Niche social media marketing strategy summary including strategic initiatives, niche social media networks utilised, post frequency and key performance indicators (KPIs), as well as any cross-promotional activity
3. Niche social media campaign summary including three different campaigns running across one niche social media network each
4. Budget development and approval for the niche social media marketing strategy

Stage 3. Implementation Plan
1. Implementation plan for the niche social media marketing strategy
2. Niche social media marketing schedule
3. Content for each of the three niche social media marketing campaigns detailed in the strategy