Creating a Social Media Plan

I'm currently trying to create two social media laundry lists:

1. To analyze a corporation's use of social media to promote itself (for a school project)
2. To analyze the way users are permitted to interact within social media on a corporate site (for a work project and in the end, my master's capstone)

Chris Brogan blogged about "An Author's Plan for Social Media Efforts".  Its original intent was for an author promoting a book; however, it's quite the inclusive list and a good start.

Brogan's list includes the basics at the top - a website and blog that can probably be integrated with one another.  He also talks about a newsletter.

Next up is trackability.  (Is that a word?)  It's important to know where your audience comes from.  The measures and metrics chapter of Joel Postman's "SocialCorp" (which I am pages away from completing!) is titled "Can You Count Everything That Counts".  Postman explains that tools like Google Analytics and microsites can be used to measure effectiveness.  Brogan suggests using URL shorteners (like TinyURL) that can tell you where every visitor came from.  Another measurement tool is Google Alerts - it lets you know when keywords of your choice are mentioned online. 

Joining Facebook and Twitter are no-brainers.  The key here is to join in the conversation and correct any mis-information.  Find out why people may be against your product or service and put in a good word without sounding like an advertisement.  Respond to comments on your blog

This is just a sampling of the tips - there are many more.  The main point is that you have to do a lot of things to be effective.  Think about to your college days.  I finally learned, around my Junior year, that if I read the book AND went to class AND did the work, I could easily get an A.  Social media works the same way.


Resources:

Brogan, Chris. "An Author's Plan for Social Media Efforts." www.chrisbrogan.com. N.p., 29 May 2010. Web. 31 May 2010. http://www.chrisbrogan.com/author-social-media/.

Pargeter, Kirsty. Social Media ROI. 2009. Web. 31 May 2010. http://www.masternewmedia.org/social-media-roi-how-to-calculate-social-media-marketing-return-on-investment/ (image)

Postman, Joel. SocialCorp: Social Media Goes Corporate. Berkeley, CA: New Riders, 2009. 133-153. Print.