Over the course of the past two months, I’ve had many discussions with individuals and companies, small and large, about social media. I am really excited to talk with people who are either planning on using or already using social media. The questions I always ask are:  do you have a plan and how are you going to monitor your social media presence?

Many times these questions seem to stump them.  First off, I can not stress enough the importance of having a social media plan. There are so many companies out there where they bring in an intern to do the social media work. I think this is great, but what happens when the intern leaves? Chances are the social media presence dies when that person leaves. That’s one of the reasons it’s so important to have a social media plan. Also, many social media experts will recommend that you don’t need to use every tool out there. Use the ones that fit with you and / or company.

How are you going to monitor your social media presence? There are many tools out there including Techrigy (www.techrigy.com), Radian 6 (www.radian6.com) and ViralHeat (www.viralheat.com). I am currently using the Techrigy tool, but I will be evaluating the others in coming weeks (look for an upcoming posting). I have found that many of the companies I have spoke with over the past few months do not know the correct way to monitor their social media presence. Using one of these tools is so important, I can’t stress it enough. I love showing these companies information that they can track (demographics, positive / negative feedback and much more) and how they can interact better with their clients / customers. I love seeing their eyes light up when they see how they can use these tools to improve and monitor their social media presence.

As the use of social media improves and matures many companies need to have these two things in order to be sure they are reaching their current & potential customers. Check out one of the social media monitoring tools and see if it is something that your company can use.

Are you using one of these tools to monitor your social media presence? When you started your social media work, did you have a plan? If not, what happened? Any lessons learned from having a plan or not having a social media plan?