Almost gone are the days of pure person-to-person communication in the blogsphere and in online communities. Business always finds a way to invade and monetize any new communication media or platform. From FTC disclosures to self-promoting blog and forum comments,  what once was no-mans land for commerce is now the next frontier.

The hot topic, at least for us and our clients, this year was “How do we effectively use social media?” There has been a lot written about this subject over the past several months with a wide range of perspectives, but there seems to be consensus from the qualified experts on a few key points:

Look before you leap

It makes no sense to start a blog, begin Tweeting or set-up a Facebook page without first doing your homework. Learn what others are doing, what people are saying about you and your business sector and how they are saying it. Analyze the benefits to see if it makes sense for your business to spend time and money participating in social media. It isn’t for everyone.

It’s no silver bullet

Just like any other media, one needs a well planned strategy and well executed tactics to be successful. Sure the initial cost is low compare to broadcast media, but participating in social media in time intensive. It does not happen overnight and needs a consistent, honest approach.

Don’t put all your eggs in one basket

Social media will not save your business. Marketing should have many fronts and social media be a small part. I have read in several places only about 10% of your online marketing budget should be spent on social media. Obviously, this will vary depending on the type of business.

Beware of guarantees

Social media is the wild, wild, west of the Internet. The experts are learning new way to improving the conversation every day, but there are no guarantees. Anyone promising large numbers of visitors, or clicks, or viral content should be suspect.  There are ways to get short terms boosts in certain statistics, but how does this affect long-term goals? Long term goals are what matters. This goes back to strategy.

Social media initiatives can be successful. We’ve all read about some very effective things companies have done, but the important thing is how it can help your business. Due diligence, strategy, perseverance and the proper expectations go a long way in defining success.