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If you have adopted a social media plan are you on the right track? How do you know if you are taking the right steps? In order to understand the position you are in today, it is important to answer five questions.

5 Questions About Your Social Media Plan

• Have you adopted the right tools to effectively leverage social media as a marketing channel?
• Are you participating in the social networks that best reach your target audience?
• Do you know what to say in your messages?
• Do you have an effective contact strategy?
• Can you measure your efforts?

5 Components of Social Media Diagnostic

• Social media overview: Analytical review of your social media presence
• Profile analysis: Reports how well your profile is strategically positioned to maximize and attract opportunities
• Diagnostic overview: Review to insure all your social media sites include your links, links are interconnected, and all your sites are pointing links to and from one another
• Marketing analysis: Insuring that you understand how to send your blog article links, leave links in comment sections of blogs, and how to move your value message forward in a strategically targeted method
• Traffic analysis: Insure your sites are open to traffic, check availability of widgets and their usage, and analyze your networking efforts within each social media site

Results

If your company can not answer any or a majority of these questions then it is time for a social media marketing diagnostic. Before you begin investing time-money-manpower-effort into this vital strategy get more information on how to get started.

My business partner Susan Hanshaw, Founder and CEO of Inner Architect, enjoyed a successful Direct marketing career which culminated with her position as Vice President and second in command of her firm. She performed and consulted on marketing campaigns that included Bank of America, Health Magazine, and Victoria Secret.

Together we are studying the possibilities of converging direct marketing methodology and social media. Two questions must be answered before we can move. We are asking for your help:

1. In today’s world has Direct marketing finally met it’s match within the social media space?

2. If Direct marketing and social media are compatible, what would be the best methods to utilize and the best social media networks for your Direct marketing campaign?

Entry Points

The idea in today’s world for any entrepreneur, job seeker, or company is to find an entry point in which they may engage with their audience. Once these entry points are identified, then the value message can be strategically delivered to targeted consumers, hiring managers, or specific audiences.

Peter Kim is a social media expert, strategist, and someone who intimately understands the importance of these entry points for companies. In Peter’s article for Mashable.com “22 Step Social Media Marketing Plan”  ,Peter outlines the major tools (and entry points) for companies and entrepreneurs to consider in their social media efforts.

How could you utilize these tools in a direct marketing plan?

Peter Kim’s Framework of 22 Major Tools for Social Media Marketing

1. Blogs (Johnson & Johnson, Delta Air Lines)
2. Bookmarking/Tagging (Adobe, Kodak)
3. Brand monitoring (Dell, MINI)
4. Content aggregation (Alltop, EMC)
5. Crowdsourcing/Voting (Oracle, Starbucks)
6. Discussion boards and forums (IBM, Mountain Dew)
7. Events and meetups (Molson, Pampers)
8. Mashups (Fidelity Investments, Nike)
9. Microblogging (method, Whole Foods)
10. Online video (Eukanuba, Home Depot)
11. Organization and staffing (Ford, Pepsi)
12. Outreach programs (Nokia, Yum Brands)
13. Photosharing (Rubbermaid, UK Government)
14. Podcasting (Ericsson, McDonalds)
15. Presentation sharing (CapGemini, Daimler AG)
16. Public Relations – social media releases (Avon, Intel)
17. Ratings and reviews (Loblaws, TurboTax)
18. Social networks: applications, fan pages, groups, and personalities (British Airways, Saturn)
19. Sponsorships (Coca-Cola, Whirlpool)
20. Virtual worlds (National Geographic, Toyota)
21. Widgets (Southwest Airlines, Target)
22. Wikis (Second Life, T-Mobile Sidekick)