So, you’ve decided to branch out into social media? Too right, it’s one of the hottest areas of marketing, communications and sales online right now. There are plenty of sites, tools and apps out there that should make it easy for you to make your foray easier; but on the flip side, there are as many initiatives and ideas that could be overly expensive and possibly disruptive to your other activities or business activity.

Here are a few thoughts to steer you in the right direction.

Reach out to your most active users and bring them into your brand’s embrace. They can be your greatest allies but without their interest or engagement you could possibly lose their advocacy.

…does not a social media project make.  Create a plan for the channels, apps, content and activities that you want to communicate and find the right tools for the job. Don’t forget about e-mail marketing either, it’s still a valid choice for getting your message through.

Sounds easy? It is if you make sure that any technology or online projects have clearly defined and measureable objectives.

As important are your key users are those people in your business who have your back. Make sure that these people know about your project, understand and support the objectives. Getting the right business support will help keep your project on the straight and narrow.

Do you have an IT team? Make sure they form part of your stakeholder group (perhaps an inform role rather than approve!), and make sure that the right vendors are involved in the right roles. 

Social projects are well served by collaboration to find the most innovative solutions to your drive your objectives. Collaboration drives excitement, lateral-thinking and will create momentum – all good things.

Sounds like common sense, but it is often overlooked – make sure your project objectives are aligned to the other marketing, communications, IT and web objectives, which should be linked with your business goals and plan.

Figure out what is going to work for your project, team, product or business and formulate the plan around the approach. If this is your first time launching into the social space, take it one step at a time but know how you’ll approach the project before you start.