t seems that so many businesses are wanting to jump on the social media bandwagon, thinking it will be the silver bullet that will solve all their sales problems.

But then they simply setup a Facebook and Twitter account, whack some social media share buttons on their websites and think they are done.

Why is it that organisations in this country think that this is enough?

Social media is resource intensive and requires a clearly thought out strategy and approach to really make it work for your brand. Its also much more than just a few posts here or there.

When first approaching social for your business, think about the following, if you truly want to succeed?

• What are we trying to achieve?
• What social networks do our clients actually use? (Do we really need to use Pinterest if our customer isn’t there?)
• How are we going to get our customers to connect with us?
• Once we get the users there, what then? Giving away prizes is not enough, what about some value in the conversation?
• What is the true business outcomes we want from our social media efforts? (Is it better data for your CRM program?)

If you can ask yourself these important questions, you are well on your way to success. Remember to plan well ahead and put yourself in your customers shoes and really prove that your business has a place at the social media party.