It’s been said time and time again for a business to succeed in social media, they need to understand their customers.  Designing and incorporating a strategy for social media isn’t a checklist, it’s an evolution.  Jumping in and talking is fine if  you are a person, but as a company, there are some things to consider first.

1. It’s important to understand the culture of  the platforms you are interested in engaging on.  Fark or Digg has an entirely different persona than LinkedIn.  If you are interested in talking to college-humored males with a penchant for Photoshopping funny pictures – Fark and Digg are the place for you (hey, they spend a lot of money…)  Looking for sales professionals?  LinkedIn is where you need to be.  Know your audience, know your platform.
2. Don’t start with the technology – start with the goals.  Just this week a project came across our desk from a company looking to enter social media. They had already determined what technology and social media sites they wanted to be on, without having the slightest idea who they wanted to talk to, what they wanted to talk about, and who actually hangs out on these sites.  Backwards.  Goals first, tactics second.
3. Don’t just talk about your business.  Be a person first and have fun.  While it seems counter productive to chit-chat about personal items on company time, the fact that you present yourself as a human being goes a long way to building trust.  No one is saying tell everyone what you eat for lunch every day, but sharing some volunteer efforts your company engages in or publicly thanking co-workers for decorating your office (and sharing a quick picture) for your birthday shows you aren’t just about the end sale.
4. You have to be a listener, not just a broadcaster.  Ever take part in a conversation where the other person talks about themselves for 20 minutes, and when you finally get a word in, they are gazing over your shoulder looking for the next person to pitch to?  Try practicing ‘active listening‘ on the social channels before starting to start your own agenda.
5. Does it blend?  How does social media fit with your entire PR & Marketing plan?  Social media marketing is a subset of a larger comprehensive plan to launch your company into a new era of customer communication. Abandoning everything that’s worked in favor of something you know little about is a guaranteed failure.  Stick with what works, and add to it.

How much does it cost to do your own social media marketing?  Twitter is free! Facebook is free! YouTube is free! Blogging is free!  Hell, even conferences to learn about social media are free!  It’s all FREE!

Nothing is free. There, now it’s out in the open.  In fact, social media is one of the largest expenses your business will ever have – regardless of how small (or large) your company is.

You may never pay a cent for Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, blog design, or blog hosting.  You don’t need to.  But the time you need to invest in the care and feeding of your social media technology channels and relationships you forge can potentially eat up more time than physically exists in a day.  Add to that the learning curve and constant churn of information and gadgetry, and you have yourself a full time job in social media.  But how does that leave you time to tend your own business?  You know, the one that actually earns you money?  Answer is, it doesn’t leave you any time to focus on what you need to do to run a business.  End result, why bother?  If social media takes up all your time, any business you generate will have to be passed by because you need to spend all your time on social media to generate business.

All of the sudden, free doesn’t look so free…

Time is money.  Money and time do not grow on trees.  While it’s true you can always print more money, time is a constant in our corner of the universe.  You get what you get.  Exchanging one for the other is the best way to beat the system.  One thing you still can grow and cultivate is expertise, but like oak trees, it takes a long time to grow proper and strong.

The great news is you don’t have to have an “all-or-nothing” attitude about integrating social media into your work day.  The key?  Selective delegation.  But of course that also comes at a cost.  Not sure you could let the control of your brand to someone else?  Could you give up some of the tasks involved with writing just one blog post?  It’s easier than you think.

Let’s break down a blog post.  It can take anywhere from 10 minutes to two days (or more) – depending on how quickly you can write or generate quality ideas – to go from idea to published post.

• Research post ideas
• Select topic
• Research and education on topic
• Draft outline
• Decide on SEO
• Flesh out article
• Identify tags and categories
• Come up with an attention-grabbing title
• Verify facts
• Include disclosure if needed
• Find links
• Edit and insert graphics or video
• Check spelling and grammar
• Click “publish”
• Verify RSS feeds
• Cross link blog post on social media sites
• Respond to comments on blog
• Respond to comments on social media sites regarding blog
• Solicit opinions and feedback on content
• Collect and analyze statistics
• Note lessons learned for next blog post
• Keep spinning plates…

ONE. BLOG. POST.  Yes, it takes a lot of time.  Time out of your day that you could be working on your core business.  How much money would you lose if you took two days off – didn’t collect a paycheck, didn’t make one sale, didn’t answer one email or phone call – to write a post?

Would social media – in this case a simple blog post – be easier to tackle if the to-do list looked something like this?

• Generate high level topic ideas — Detailed research of each idea
• Select topic from multiple abstracts and choose topic to move forward with (or possibly continue to write post yourself) — Receive approved topic, research and education on topic, draft outline, decide on SEO, flesh out article, identify tags and categories, come up with an attention-grabbing title, verify facts, include disclosure if needed, find links, edit and insert graphics or video, check spelling and grammar, submit post for for draft review
• Wait for blog post draft, note changes and revisions — Execute revisions
  
• Click “publish” — Verify RSS feeds, cross link blog post on social media sites, determine if any comments on blog or social media need to be responded to, collect and analyze statistics, and summarize any actionable items and pass back to business
• Get back to your business  —  Collect your retainer and help plan the next blog post

By now you’ve realized the first section of each task is what the you should still be taking charge of.  The second part of each task are items that can be attended to without your direct involvement. Now think about EVERYTHING that social media entails – blogging, web video, podcasts, and social networking sites.  Not an issue, that’s what interns are for!  Can someone straight out of school help you with a realistic and detailed strategy?  With setting and reaching goals?  Professional business experience and expertise are sadly undervalued when it comes to social media.  The industry is considered new, and it is assumed new means easy.  Social media is not complicated, but it is no means easy.  Still trust someone without the business chops to help shape your brand?

All of the sudden, free doesn’t look so free…

How much time and research do you think it takes to produce technology resource guides, conduct social media market research, competitive analysis, editorial topics, suggested departmental involvement, and define measurable goals?

If you have the time and discipline to do it yourself, you and your business will be better for it.  Even better, letting employees become empowered to become involved in social media.  Firms like Purple Stripe Productions handle complex and shifting strategy plans in this area of expertise – social media technology, communication, and training – so that you can concentrate on your area of expertise.  Growing your business.  Serving your customers.  Rewarding your employees.  Cultivating prospects.  Improving processes.  Enjoying your family.

How is your time best spent?

PS – This blog post took 3.5 hours from “idea to publish.”

As always, Mashable has come out with not only incredible information on social media for small businesses, they have compiled the best of the best into one concise article.  Article categories include:

• Social Media 101
• Blogging
• Video
• Mobile
• Productivity
• PR and Marketing
• Numbers and Stats
• Strategy and Management

While the first four topics may be in the cross-hairs for small business owners, items like productivity, strategy and management usually are not.  Gadgets and tools online provide instant gratification but long term goals (and a lot of tweaking along the way) are proven not just in social media, but advertising, public relations, and marketing.  After all, that is what social media really is – building of relationships with other people.

The list from Mashable is extensive, and if you take the time and follow what is already laid out, you can get very far in your social media endeavor.  Not all the suggestions will work for your particular industry or business.  There are millions of ideas and strategies that are not listed – because *you* have  yet to invent them.  That’s the great thing about social media, there aren’t many rules, and you can make up your own ideas as you go along.

The only way to fail is not to start.