The New Year is in full swing and online bloggers, vloggers, microblaguers and taggers are all busy busy, predicting the next big thing.  Marketers, Social Media gurus and hawkers at the front of the pack have already jumped onto their hastily built bandwagons and are hanging off the running boards, helpfully extending their well manicured paws ready to grab the cash as the rest of us poor slow coaches struggle to get a leg up.

I feel like a beleaguered housewife, trapped in my living room while some dodgy carpet cleaner salesman pours dirt onto the Axminster and pressures me into buying a machine that wouldn’t look out of place in a Pertwee  episode of Dr Who.  He’s got facts, figures, flashing lights and a bamboozly patter that has been honed over 100s of hours in other people’s houses.

All I’ve got is a grubby carpet.

High up on many of the top bloggers lists of things we must consider to stay in the online game this January is an online social media policy.  All very fancy if you are large enough to warrant a policy, but if you’re not and you are eager to engage with emerging media –  do you need to worry about policy and procedures really?

Takes deep breath and pauses for dramatic effect…  No. I don’t think you do.

Easy Tiger! I do think you need a plan, and I also think you need to work out how to translate your brand (personal and/or business) for online interaction – but I genuinely don’t believe you need to over-think it.  If you have already spent time developing your business and marketing plans, then you’re over half way there.

If you can answer  an honest ‘yes’ to the next five questions, you can be confident that you’ve got what you need to start adding elements of social media activity to your communication mix.  If you can’t, then whether you should focus on Twitter or LinkedIn may be the least of your worries this year…

• Have you got a clear business plan?
• Does it include a fully researched marketing plan? Be honest now!
• Can you list your brand/personal values?
• Have you got a basic grasp of the key elements of online/mobile communication channels? (blogging, Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, Digg etc)
• Are you clear about what you want to achieve by entering the online space?

If you can answer a confident ‘YES!’, then you have the foundation for a successful online presence ready for you to build your campaigns. All you need to do is review your marketing plan and add in some emerging media elements.  Base your decisions on what you know about where your target audience hangs out online and what benefits you can deliver to them.

Don’t get hung up on deep analysis - just work on making an existing business activity better.

Don’t forget to build in clear measurement criteria, so you can assess the success of your adventures.

Copymojo! Tip:

There is plenty of help online to get you started.  Try going to the source for clear information and free advice about each of the channels, you will find plenty of marketing information and helpful tips on the homepages of social media websites.

If you want a crash course in social media check out www.hubspot.com it is a fantastic resource.