Welcome to The Lighthouse
The Ultimate Resource for Social Media Managers
Welcome to The Lighthouse – The ultimate resource for social media managers, curated by trusted advisor, trainer and author, Luan Wise.
The Lighthouse is here to be your guiding light through all the latest news and platform changes. You can also find recommended resources from useful apps through to training courses, plus all the support you need to succeed in your chosen career.
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Bridging Generations: Using Cultural Insights for Social Media Success
Social media isn’t just a place to post updates—it’s a dynamic space where cultural narratives can come to life. To succeed, brands and creators must embrace generational social media marketing, going beyond surface-level trends to tap into the deeper cultural and...
How Different Generations Engage with Social Media
Generational labels have become popular ways to describe how different age groups interact with technology, particularly social media. However, these categories often oversimplify the diverse ways each generation engages with the digital world. While Boomers, Gen X,...
Looking Beyond X: Exploring Threads and Bluesky
A growing number of social media users seem to be on the hunt for alternatives to X (formerly Twitter). Once the go-to platform for real-time conversations and breaking news, X’s transformation has sparked curiosity and controversy, leading to increased attention on...
Unleashing the Ripple Effect: Harnessing Social Media to Be a Force for Good
On Saturday 21st September 2024 I delivered the following talk as part of TEDxAston University... Nearly two-thirds of the global population now use social media, spending an average of 2 hours and 20 minutes on various platforms every day. Whether it's checking...
From Likes to Loyalty: Using Social Media to Build Trust and Drive Sustainable Success
This post is based on a keynote delivered at the Global Marketing Summit, October 2024. The average social media user spends two hours 20 minutes a day scrolling, posting, and engaging with other users, across 6.7 different social media platforms (Source: Data...
Questions to Ask When Creating Customer Personas
As social media marketers, we must grasp a crucial reality: we are not our target audience. What we do on social media for work is not necessarily aimed at people like us. While we may be passionate about social media and have a deep understanding of how it all works,...
Resource Library
Looking for an app, training course or tool to help you create content? Check out our library of recommended resources
Bridging Generations: Using Cultural Insights for Social Media Success
Social media isn’t just a place to post updates—it’s a dynamic space where cultural narratives can come to life. To succeed, brands and creators must embrace generational social media marketing, going beyond surface-level trends to tap into the deeper cultural and...
How Different Generations Engage with Social Media
Generational labels have become popular ways to describe how different age groups interact with technology, particularly social media. However, these categories often oversimplify the diverse ways each generation engages with the digital world. While Boomers, Gen X,...
Looking Beyond X: Exploring Threads and Bluesky
A growing number of social media users seem to be on the hunt for alternatives to X (formerly Twitter). Once the go-to platform for real-time conversations and breaking news, X’s transformation has sparked curiosity and controversy, leading to increased attention on...
Careers Centre and Jobs Board
The Lighthouse Careers Centre is your beacon for discovering new opportunities in social media.
Whether you’re exploring a new role, looking to find top talent, or someone eager to glean insights into the real world of social media marketing, you can find everything you need right here.
Bridging Generations: Using Cultural Insights for Social Media Success
Social media isn’t just a place to post updates—it’s a dynamic space where cultural narratives can come to life. To succeed, brands and creators must embrace generational social media marketing, going beyond surface-level trends to tap into the deeper cultural and...
How Different Generations Engage with Social Media
Generational labels have become popular ways to describe how different age groups interact with technology, particularly social media. However, these categories often oversimplify the diverse ways each generation engages with the digital world. While Boomers, Gen X,...
Looking Beyond X: Exploring Threads and Bluesky
A growing number of social media users seem to be on the hunt for alternatives to X (formerly Twitter). Once the go-to platform for real-time conversations and breaking news, X’s transformation has sparked curiosity and controversy, leading to increased attention on...
What it’s like to work with me
Testimonials
Leigh Hopwood, CEO, CCMA (Call Centre Management Association)
“Some people can make the simple appear complex and others who are truly gifted in their profession can make the complex, simple. Luan Wise has the ability to retain all of the sophistication of social media marketing and present it without needing to make it complex. Planning for Success is a valuable read for business and students alike – social media marketing made simply sophisticated!”
Professor Jonathan Deacon, University of South Wales
“Many of us love scrolling social media; some of us even post content for others. Using social media for commercial benefit though is tough. Planning for Success takes a difficult challenge and breaks it into bite-size chunks. If you want to use social media strategically, this is the first book you should read.”
Dr Thomas Bowden Green, University of the West of England
“As someone who has often experienced imposter syndrome in the world of social media, Planning for Success offered me a much-needed sense of assurance. Learning from an expert like Luan Wise, who has a wealth of experience in the field, felt like a personalised mentorship that has immensely contributed to my professional growth. I found this book to be an enlightening and empowering resource.”
Tinisha Osu, Early career marketer. BSc Psychology and Biology. MSc Forensic Psychology
“This book is for everyone who would like to gain an understanding in the ever-changing field of social media. Planning for Success takes you on the complete social media marketing journey, stripping back the complex topic to allow you not just to understand all the various aspects, but also how to utilise them to achieve your goals, and measure the results. It’s the perfect no-nonsense guide.”
Anna Miller, Early career marketer. BA (Hons) Marketing
“Planning for Success is packed full of golden nuggets. Working in social media is fast-paced so it’s great to have a book that you can dip back into as a reminder of the fundamentals you need for planning and creating campaigns. If you ever get the opportunity to work with Luan, take it! She’s always up-to-date with the latest insights and her advice is relevant and practical. I love that I’ve now got everything written down in one handy reference guide.”
Elizabeth Starling, Social Media Manager
“Planning for Success is an educational read for anyone working in social media marketing. Luan comprehensively and knowledgeably talks you through a process for building a solid social media plan designed to support the overall business strategy. Luan’s step-by-step approach to it all explains both the ‘why’ and ‘how’, including brilliant case study examples across different industries and sectors, useful template resources and directions for onward research and learning if required. Too often social media is dumbed down and disregarded, yet so much can be achieved with its strategic use. Reading this book will help you develop the knowledge to do so!”
Beth Kirk, Social Media Marketing Coach
“Once I started reading, I couldn’t put it down. This book is an essential guide if you’re using social media to market your organisation. Whether, like me, you’ve worked in social media for a decade, or you’re just starting out, there is a lesson for everyone. Why? Because this book uses data from industry professionals, case studies and expert opinions to provide you with best practices. This book will blow your mind, enable you to build smart strategies and send you on the path to social media success. I love this book, an absolute 10/10.”
Jake Potter, Head of Social Media
“Planning for Success by Luan Wise is a must-read for anyone in social media or any other kind of marketing. The insights are clear and actionable, turning complex ideas into straightforward steps. This book is a practical guide for setting and achieving marketing goals. I’m going to go so far as to say it’s the best book on the realities of planning social media that I have read.”
Claire Hattrick, FCIM. Associate Director, Marketing
“I’ve had the benefit of knowing Luan for nearly a decade. She has probably forgotten more about social media marketing than I know. Fortunately for me, and you, she’s distilled a significant chunk of it down into “Planning for Success”. It’s an excellent book with supporting online tools that will get you excited about levelling up your social media marketing at a time when many professionals are probably feeling fatigued by it all. With its comprehensive and chronological work-a-long style, it’s going to help you rapidly apply sound, strategic principles to practical implementation. Don’t waste a minute, grab your copy and start Luan’s model to work today!”
René Power, B2B Marketing Consultant
“To those at work: If you feel that ‘the moment has passed’ and you ‘should know’ then this is the book for you! Buy, read and keep for reference and never feel that you didn’t know all there is to know about social media ever again!
To those in education: if I had my way not only would we give every student from Business Schools this book as they begin studying but we’d also give a copy of the book to all the other cohorts as well because whether you are studying Sports Science, Fine Art, History or Dentistry, social media is now too important and too powerful not to understand!
To current marketing students/early career marketers: look no further for your essential, core text! Written by someone with heaps of real ‘I have actually done this’ experience who has identified what you need to know and crucially, ensured it’s all here in one place!”
Dr Fran Hyde, Senior Lecturer in Marketing.