These days there is no shortage of statistics that show social media  outlets are the place to be when it comes to marketing your brand.  There is no question that services like Facebook, Twitter, or Tumblr are viable platforms to get your message out there, but that being said, there is still a lot of debate on how to successfully transmit that message.  A successful social media approach uses humanization to influence how a company is perceived.  While this may seem like a simple concept, humanization requires a lot of planning and calculation to get the desired message across.   In order to help get you started in the right direction, I have outlined several steps you should take before you ever start a conversation.

Your first step should be to define and hone your message.  You should ask yourself: What are we trying to achieve?  By asking yourself this question you should be able to develop a set of goals you are trying to reach.  This is an important first step because it gives yourself a chance to measure your success later on.

To help you define the goals mentioned above, it is essential to know what people know about your brand.  This requires listening and observing of what people are saying about you.  This step requires a lot of research, but it is well worth it.  It will help you to not only understand your brand image, but also where people are talking about your brand, who is talking about it and why. This brings value beyond marketing your brand in that it will help you improve your product or service.

Once you understand what is being said and you have outlined your goals, you should work to define your target audience.  Is your target audience the same group that is already talking about your brand or are you trying to reach a new demographic?  By asking yourself these types of questions you will begin to understand where you should be holding conversations about your brand.

At this point you should be ready to start generating content to share with your audience.  In order to make sure your message stands out from the crowd you need to define your angle.  For example, Apple presents itself as an innovative force where as Volvo prides itself on being one of the safest car manufactures in the world.  This point is absolutely critical because if your message does not stand out then you nobody will take notice and your time will have been wasted.

Finally, you need to continually  analyze what worked.  Whether it be awareness, increased sales, loyalty or some other desired result, you should be able to measure any changes.  This will help you to refine your process and message to reach your final goal of increased revenue.