How to approach social media...

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Your social media site is like an online mall. You have visitors that are walking through your mall. Your success lies in luring them into your 'store', engaging them, and keep them coming back for more. Here are five specific things you should be doing with your approach.

1. You need to brand and promote each of your social media sites appropriately. Let the consumer know what to expect from each site and allow them to create a personalized experience with social media. Give them the reasons they should interact with your brand and leverage each interaction to continuously identify their unique preferences so you can keep enhancing your offers to them.

2. A coupon can drive people to complete a sale. An ad in the paper can drive people to come invest in a certificate of deposit. But you can do more with social media. What if you 'Tweeted' about an article on your blog with links to Facebook where people now shared their personal experiences? You will be able to drive more engagement with this approach and drive other acquaintances in.

3. You need to nurture your social media networks by soliciting feedback - good & bad. Listen & respond to both concerns and suggestions. As you build up your opinions, people tend to pay more attention (search engines do too.) Additionally you can establish a group of experts who could turn into your go to team as you strive to respond to questions.

4. You have to build up your expertise. The consumer can find an answer to so many things from so many sources. They can do it expeditiously with social media. Your channels need to be able to answer things in even more detail. In fact, you should even consider empowering your touchpoints (including your people) with this additional data so your company looks like the expert.

5. You have to be real. This is not a reality show but it is about being genuine and helpful. You don't have to be cute, you simply have to care.

Social media will continue to evolve, your goal is consumer engagement. You have to monitor multiple metrics and while your 'justifiable' ROI might not be immediate - keep your eyes on the goal and persist.