If you track social media marketing best practices, chances are you’ve heard of Santiago Solimei, the global head of social media at the Melia group of hotels. While their success with social media marketing has been extensively covered in the press, let me remind you of the outcomes: the company has been named one of the 10 most influential brands on social media; and has built a solid online community (over 6 million followers) around its 545 brand and hotel accounts on different social media platforms in 167 countries. If you think those numbers are staggering, then listen to this - Social media generates 24% of the traffic to melia.com and more than €42 million in sales have been attributed to social. Today, Santiago takes us through a social media marketing masterclass which will have you asking: “How strategic is my social media strategy really?”Santiago calls social media the ‘golden thread that connects all the stages of the consumer journey’. But, lets be honest - for many marketers ‘social media’ is a must-do where mere social media presence becomes the end in itself. Often, there is no real ‘strategy’ beyond setting up the social handles and getting an agency (or worse, a couple of interns) on board to man the stations. However, approached strategically -and in the right context, of course – your social media ROI could be much higher than you probably think possible. Listen in as we talk to the man who has put his money where his mouth is when it comes to proving the business case for social media.Here are some highlights of the stuff we discussed:- Why Melia Hotels wants to be a ‘social first’ company, and the key levers to get there:- The role of the CEO in driving business outcomes from social media, and hiring the right kind of people for a digital/ social first team- Developing an organization wide social media charter for global enterprises- Converting social media engagement to revenue (while remembering that selling is not the ultimate goal of social media)- The fans set the rules – and other rules of social media engagement- Building a balance between branded and experiential content, studio content and user- or influencer-generated content – and why nothing is ever actually ‘free’ – not even UGC- The difference between ‘community’ and ‘audience’ - How to behave like an online publisher/ experience seller/ content generator/ media company (while still retaining the essence of a hotel and travel company)- The 4 pillars of your social media strategy:o The right peopleo The right platforms and toolso The right budgets for media and campaign management o The right budget for amplification and content boosting