1. You don’t have to be strategic with social media. Tactics may be easy to do (I’ll start a facebook account, let’s get the CEO to blog) but it’s strategy that will allow you to define your objectives and  track and measure your results.  If you’re spending 40 hours a week on tactics and  3 hours  on strategy then  don’t be surprised when your campaign crumbles.

2. Social media is free. Not quite. Sure, the platforms are all free but they’re also like hungry beasts that require constant feeding. Effective content marketing is what distinguishes a great social media strategy/campaign. Consider, do the people on your team have the time and skills to do the feeding? If not, then outsource. But please don’t set up accounts unless you can commit the resources to providing regular updates and dialoguing with users.

3. If you build it they will come.  Go back to point 1. You might get giddy with excitement when you see the numbers on your Twtitter account rise. But wait. Are the folks there engaged? Are they sharing your links? Making your campaign viral?  Effective social media campaigns require you to engage on other  sites, reference other users, chat and  respond. They may come but the numbers are really irrelevant if most of the folks on your sites are passive.

4. So many platforms mean my messages will be diffused. Nope, it’s quite the contrary.  The best social media experts use one hub and diffuse  messages from there. Okay, here’s an example.  Create a post on your blog. Later, Twitter that same post to drive traffic there. A phrase from your blog can generate discussion on your facebook account. And you can even make  your post broadcast friendly and develop YouTube content. See  what I mean?  Four platforms, one base. And I have only just gotten started.

5. Social media is a great place to dump all the corporate stuff. Whoa!  It really isn’t. Remember this is an informal network and not a digital dumping ground for content. Conversation drives it. Put material  that is clear, concise and resonates with people.