Social media for sales and operations cannot begin to be explained in one blog post. Nor is it covered in one week of my intro to Social Media Marketing course. The tools, concepts, and principles we discuss are revisited in the subsequent social media courses and much of the rationale stems from traditional marketing practices. As I have stated in my previous posts, social media is a tool meant to integrate into an organizations marketing strategy and overall operations, it is not meant to stand-alone.

A social media marketing plan will directly affect an organizations people and processes at various levels of involvement. To help you identify possible areas of weaknesses or even strengths, ask yourself:
1. Do you have the resources to invest in an infrastructure for social?

2. Can you commit to a social media marketing strategy for the long-term?

3. Are roles and expectations clearly identified and documented?

4. What new roles will be created?

5. Do you have the resources to acquire the right people for new roles?

6. Will roles be cross-functional?

7. What experience level is needed for each role?

8. Do you have staff to address acquiring data, analyzing data, and getting data to the right people?

9. Are you prepared to address governance issues?

10. How will you determine what can be shared via Social platforms on (Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, blogs etc.)?

Read the entire article at Maximize Social Business.

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