7 Essential Elements Of A Business Social Media Networking Strategy

With the rapid proliferation of social media networks and social media tools having a social media networking plan is the key to using them effectively. A social media networking plan empowers to you simplify your social networking efforts by aligning your social networks with your business goals. A social networking plan will also help you track results so you can see how effective each network is in achieving your business goals and, if necessary, try other networks. That way you don't waste time in a social network if it is not meeting your identified goals.

Here are 7 essential elements of an effective social media networking plan.

1. Establish your social networking goals
Everyone knows about Twitter, Linked In and Facebook however these are not the only social networks there are.

Is your goal to raise awareness of your brand? Promote your products? Develop leads? Share your expertise? Network with like-minded people? Get referrals? Then choose a social network that matches that goal and you will get greater success than simply choosing one at random. Your goals should be business goals. Articulate them and write them down. Statistics say that people who write down their goals are more likely to achieve them. It's no different in social media networking.

2. Choose your social networking sites carefully
Since there are literally hundreds of social networking sites you will need to do some experimentation to find what fits your business goals. Twitter, Facebook and Linked In are the most well-known (with Twitter being the site of the hour), and while they are excellent sites they are not the only social networking sites by a long shot.

Sticking with just with just these three may mean you are on the popular sites; however take care you're not missing out on other or additional business networking opportunities. For example some business social networking sites are more open to promotion alongside relationship building while others frown on or prohibit product or service promotion in various degrees.

Here are some business social networking sites worth checking out.

Apsense: Promote products and sites on your business profile and get paid revenue for referrals

Entrepreneur Connect: Promote your business on Entrepreneur Magazine's own social network

FastPitchNetworking: Take advantage of email marketing and virtual trade-shows

GoBigNetworking: A start up community focused on finding expert advice and funding

Marzar: Great for businesses, entrepreneurs and professionals to promote their products, services and discover new business relationships and opportunities, find suppliers and stay abreast of new developments

Konnects: Worth checking out if you are in the newspaper industry

Xing: Create your own social network

Once you've a feel for some of the business social networks out there choose a limited number in which to participate.

3. Decide on your ideal contacts
Who are you looking for? While you may have hundreds of contacts, if you decide who you want to reach out to and make deeper connections with up front your social networking will be more effective. Focus on finding like-mined people who share your goals and match your target market. Be selective rather than accepting every invite that comes your way.

4. Participate consistently
Once you've chosen your social networks, participate regularly by contributing valuable content, sharing your expertise, answering questions, listening and making new connections. Show how you can meet an identified need. Drive traffic back to your own sites by including your signature, site and blog links in your posts, articles, videos etc.

5. Plan your time for social networking
It's important to allocate your time for participation in social networks up-front and this is where having a social networking plan will help. Many businesses jump in with no real plan, find other things take priority and quickly get overwhelmed with the amount of time it takes to participate fully. Be patient and develop a strong focused network that supports your business goals.

6. Track and measure your results
Invest time in building solid relationships, but make sure these are relationships that move you towards your goals. Success measures could be, for example, the number of referrals received, number of times your free offer has been downloaded, number of leads obtained, or followed up, sign-ups to your e-zine or similar. Tie what you are doing into your financial goals and plan.

7. Review your plan at intervals
How are you maximizing your time on your business social networks? Are your chosen networks still relevant to your goals 2-3 months later? How does your activity translate into those goals? Do you need to try another network? Review your social networking plan and tweak it as necessary.

In summary
1. Establish your business social networking goals
2. Choose your social networking sites according to those goals
3. Decide on your ideal contacts
4. Participate fully and consistently
5. Plan your time for social networking
6. Measure your results
7. Review your plan at intervals and make changes where necessary.