If you search for advice about marketing and growing your business online, youre likely to run into an expert thats passionate about using social media. In just a few short years, social media has not only leveled the marketing playing field in many industries, its also provided existing and potential customers with unprecedented access to information on the companies they do business with. If your company is thinking about using social media, its important to remember that this outlet requires just as much strategy and planning as a multimillion dollar marketing campaign; and without proper goal setting, it could do more harm than good.

The need for a Social Media Objective Scorecard

For most established businesses, the idea of using social networking sites to promote their products and services is a foreign and uncomfortable concept. The biggest problem is that the longer you wait to implement and test your social media efforts, the more likely it is that your competitors will gain a significant advantage; especially if they are already interacting online. Provided there is a good fit for the use of social media in your industry, its essential that you join the online conversation as soon as possible. That being said, you have to define realistic objectives, initiatives, measures, and targets for your company over the next 12-18 months before you dive in head first.

What is a Social Media Objective Scorecard?

If you wanted to, you could sit down with your current marketing team, delve into the research about social media best practices, and hammer out your own plan for implementing the use of social networking sites into your already existing advertising and customer relations efforts. However, if you want to get your social media efforts up and running as quickly as possible, you can also use this easy to download Social Media Objective Scorecard. All you have to do is open it up in Microsoft Excel and youll be ready to start devising a plan to establish your brand in the market place using social media applications.

The template already has clear objectives listed for how you will need to move through the process of utilizing social media, including gaining corporate approval for social media, establishing a system of governance, increasing brand awareness, and integrating social media with other channels of marketing already in place. Underneath these larger objectives are ready made suggestions for programs, initiatives, and actions that must take place in order to achieve the outlined goals within your target timeline. With this document, youll be able to streamline your social media utilization process and maintain an important line of communication with your target audience.

Social Media Readiness | Social Media Template