The release of Queen Bee’s “visual album,” simply entitled Beyoncé, shocked the music world with a daring marketing strategy. With one post of a short Instagram video (caption: “Surprise!”), Beyoncé proved that the power of social media cannot be underestimated. The element of surprise and word of mouth was all it took to spread the news.

From a social marketing perspective, 3 simple facts helped sell a record-breaking 828,773 copies worldwide in just three days:

• A massive social media following: 18 million on Instagram and 65 million on Facebook
• Twitter reported 1.2 million tweets in twelve hours

These facts reflect multiple social platforms used to promote Beyoncé’s album; however, social media is not simply about the tools used, it’s about communication, connection, conversation, collaboration – engagement. Beyoncé is a smart marketer who leveraged the power of people and their social presence to get the word out on her new product. The immutable lesson for marketers is that in our advertising-and-promotion drenched world, word of mouth is still one of the most effective forms of marketing.