Top 10 Social Media Considerations

So many businesses are diving into social media these day…which is good, but often without any thought or strategy. I’ve outlined 10 considerations to look at as you delve into the latest digital phenomenon that is now nearly mainstream.

Depending on the size of your company, it’s very helpful to create an internal list of social media guidelines…outline items that are allowed to be discussed in the public forum and what are not.
Just like any marketing tactic, you need to know where you are and where you want to go. Create a series of success metrics to track your social media efforts.
Facebook, Twitter, MySpace and YouTube are not the only games in town, there are a lot of niche social media sites…seek out and leverage. Here is my top-5 list of business networking sites.
Figure out how you’re actually going to connect, communicate and control your messages.
Social Media and the web in general are technologies, therefore constantly changing…in order to be successful you must be malleable in your tactics.
Everyone wants to generate “Word-of-Mouth” advertising/buzz…social media does just that, but you need to integrate it within everything you do.
Marketing your business using social media is merely one tactic in an overall strategy to meet your objectives.
Be prepared for negativity…it’s going to happen! Someone, somewhere will have something bad to say about you or your company…have a plan as to how you will address this situation.
Test…don’t be afraid to try new things, see what works and ditch what doesn’t.
Be careful not to be too self-promotional…the idea is to develop relationships.