In the frenzy of trying to get social media apps to market, do most companies really know what they expect social media to do for them?  Are they aware that they democratize their product by opening up social media channels? Are they aware that it may already be happening?

It seems to be an easy choice; most execs will say “we want to be where the people are!”. Of course it’s a great way to gain visibility, find your audience and grow your audience but you have to be prepared for the organic nature of social media. The original question remains – what do you want it to do for you?

Growing an audience is great but if you’re in the business of making money, you need to sort out how social media will enhance your revenue stream. Assumptions are dangerous as community members will not necessarily convert into customers. The key is to identify what the problem is before you can go about developing a social media strategy.

Creating a comprehensive social media map is a good place to start. You don’t have to be an information architect to do this. Just start with one or two channels, say Facebook for example and draw on a white board how a community might grow around your product. As you visualize, some questions will emerge:

• What activities will they engage in?
• Are the conversations around your product sustainable?
• If it’s a subscriber model, how do you keep the community interested and coming back for more?

As you go through this exercise, you will start to see what a rudimentary pathway to a purchase could look like. Don’t worry if there are more questions than answers. The important thing will be to have the questions ready when you go to hire a social media consultant. Now you have a direction and some problems to solve and are well on your way to a social media strategy.

CommonCraft has a great way of explaining social media and social influence marketing in plain English: