Harnessing social media

Although it’s the dog days of summer, with September quickly approaching, take some time to create or review your social media marketing strategy. With the economy in the dumps, connecting with your customers is more important than ever. Even if you already use social media, find out if it’s paying off.

With upwards of 500 million members, most people assume that Facebook is the place to be. While it can’t hurt to have a presence on Facebook, many other options exist, like YouTube, Twitter and Tumblr. Which ones are right for you? The choice depends on your goals. If you’re new to all this, you may already feel overwhelmed Don’t be.

Start by making a plan. The above slides outline six steps, from identifying who your customers are to tracking your return on investment. Read through the slides to understand the general concepts, then go back and tackle each of the action items.

Once you begin to implement the plan, closely monitor the flow of information you’ll receive, plugging it into your plan. That’s the beauty of the Web. You can make continual adjustments to see what effect it has. If you keep at it, you’ll eventually hit on a strategy that works for you.