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As a multi-media designer and someone who uses social media constantly, I get a lot of questions from clients asking how they can adapt their interactive marketing campaign to encompass social media. I’ve learned through these conversations that there are a lot of misconceptions about what social media can do for business. I’m going to try to break these myths so you know how to approach a social media strategy.

Social Media is free:

No it’s not. While it’s free to start a Facebook, Twitter, Myspace account, if you plan on starting a corporate social media campaign/program then you should know you can’t expect your CEO to just start tweeting. You need a web designer to work on applying your brand to each of these profiles. You’ll need to have your marketing professionals outline an “Online Brand Strategy” that includes voice and tone. You may even want to consider hiring a copywriter or marketing professional to do your updates for you. Updating all of your accounts is a full-time job and don’t expect to squeeze that responsibility into your CEO or Marketing Director’s position and get good results. It takes a certain prowess to blog, even microblog and it’s worth paying for that service.

Social Media is for Everyone:

Everyone, yes… every business, no.  Certain businesses don’t belong on social media, while it’s rare, cases do exist.  Ask yourself “what am I marketing?” and then “Will my clients want to associate with my product online?”. If you’re selling hemorrhoid cream or you run a nursing home, the answer will probably be no. Another thing to take into account is that not all social networks may be right for you. Some networks cater to certain demographics and others require specific actions. While Facebook canvases most target audiences, Myspace does not. Know your audience, know where they live and stay away from places they don’t. The mere presence of your brand where it doesn’t belong can be detrimental.

Social Media is a Great Marketing Tool:

Yes it is, but tread lightly. People friend/follow/join you company or product’s profiles because they like (or hate) your brand. Don’t push too hard on them to buy your product. They are already inclined to do so and users are more savy about marketing then you think they are. If you spend 100% of your time posting marketing material, users will stop seeing the value in the connection they’ve made with you. Remember to start conversations about your product, engage your audience and most importantly… listen and respond. It’s not all sell, sell, sell with social media, there’s a social element to it.

Transparency:

It’s ok to give your company/product a voice. Make sure that voice fit’s your brand as well as your audience. The majority of brand’s voices sound like Ben Stein and are not attractive to users. A good example of voice is Apple’s use of “I’m a Mac, I’m a PC” and it’s reflective in their sales. While many brands will need to adopt a more-or-less generic voice, that voice can still reflect positive qualities like Justin Long’s Mac character portrays. Letting your audience see that you’re human is the main objective of transparency. Transparency take one step further when applied to social media. You now have the ability to engage your current and potential consumers in meaningful conversation. You will see that some people use this opportunity to complain about your product. Many companies remove this content from their profiles while others take a better approach and address each complaint and attempt to remedy them. Social media is a great place to get feedback about new or preexisting products. It’s a great place to do i/0 testing, user groups, etc. and can save your many dollars in your testing budget if done right.

ROI and Analytics:

So you want to know what kind of return you can expect from a social media campaign? Don’t expect too much. If’ you’ve hired a social media consultant this will probably be the first question you ask them. Make sure to listen closely for the bullshit. Some consultants aren’t worth the spit they throw at you. Social media is new and hard to track for. Make sure you have the appropriate analytics set up before you launch a social media campaign. Hire an SEO/SEM professional to help target this new traffic. This will be very important in finding out what kind of return you’re getting. Your ROI might not be what you expect. Don’t expect a giant spike in sales. Your return might be from customer feedback or networking. Social media can be a bit of a gamble. It’s a gamble you want to take now, before it’s passe.

An Additional Piece of Advice:

Many companies are hiring “Social Media Consultants”. It’s important to hire the right one. Make sure that you research their background. Not everyone with 3,000 Twitter followers is qualified to consult you. Look for someone with history in the web/interactive industry specifically. Ask for references that aren’t from the last six months, those companies have not seen enough results yet. While some individuals are great consultants, look for interactive marketing companies that have good track records. Too many “mavericks” are out there preying on corporate ignorance. Don’t be ignorant, do your homework.

Got some other tips? Questions? Let me know via comment.