Professor White Paper Abstract

The Social Media Magnet is presented as a new pedagogy for organic, inbound marketing instruction. This methodology has now been deployed for the last six years across multiple universities combining a digital online delivery system with a new theory and a live online practicum to teach college students both strategic and tactical planning for digital marketing campaigns. Using live website creation, social media planning tools, and email retention campaigns, students using this pedagogy learn the best practices for inbound marketing. This is not a simulation, but a live practicum that teaches students real-time inbound marketing principles. This paper recaps the Social Media Magnet Theory and Practicum but develops a deeper theoretical understanding of The Brand Axis, a strategic tool that will be used to measure brand loyalty and engagement, providing a strategic prescription for how brands can keep their brand messaging centered on the four brand elements: Story, Promise, Belief, and Trust.