Since the rise of Facebook and Twitter in the mid naughties, social media marketing has gone from strength to strength. During the recession digital marketing is one of the few sectors showing year on year growth, and in 2012 it is clear that those waiting for the bubble to burst are going to be waiting a little longer.

Cautious businesses are beginning to dip their toes in the waters of online marketing: but if your organisation isn’t social media ready just yet, you may want to consider introducing some more social practices online.

Do You Block Social Media Websites?
Blocking social media websites may seem like the easiest way to prevent employees wasting time online, but bear in mind that most people now have smartphones and can access their Facebook accounts on the move. If you only give the marketing team access to social media, you run the risk of your employees not being able to engage with your social media presence: leading to disenfranchisement. Allow everyone access: a good social media policy should establish appropriate conduct but not ban access all together.

Do You Have a Good Internet Connection?
The majority of social media websites are data heavy, so to ensure that the person in charge of social media marketing doesn’t tear their hair out in frustration. You can invest in superfast broadband, which will allow the marketing team to quickly upload images and videos to social networking sites, and they will be able to respond in a timely manner to customers or clients. Social media is an extension of customer service, and being quick to respond will set you above the pack.

Does Social Media Fit Your Tone of Voice?
Your brand is one of the most important things that your organisation has, but if your brand tone of voice is staid and formal, you may have to bend the rules a little bit for social media. For social media to work, you need to portray yourself as fun and friendly - or at the very least, interesting. After all, you’re asking people to spend their free time with you. Ask yourself (and your public relations team) whether people would want to spend their time with someone who never cracks a smile. If you’re brand team refuse to move on this point, it might be best to leave social media alone.

What is Your Strategy?
If you have all of the prerequisites in place, you may think you’re ready to employ a social media manager (or assign the task to someone in your marketing team). Before you do that, ask yourself what you want to achieve by building a social media presence. Do you want to give your customers another avenue to complain? Do you want to drive traffic to your website? Or are you simply doing it because everyone else is?

If it’s the last reason, then your motives are wrong. Otherwise ensure that you employ an individual with the skill-set that you need: driving traffic to a website may require a background in SEO, and giving your customers an avenue of communication may require a customer service background.

Fiona Roy writes for a digital marketing agency. This article has been commissioned by a client of said agency. This article is not designed to promote, but should be considered professional content.