Amy Mac: Taming the Social Media Beast: 5 Easy Steps to Social Media Success

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Whether you are starting a tiny business from your basement or you're a brand manager for a major conglomerate, anyone responsible for getting the word out about a brand has a vague sense they should be using social media much, much better.

Thing is, social media is overwhelming. You could always be posting more, tweeting more, updating your Facebook status more. Then you get to thinking "Is anyone reading this stuff? Is this really making any sort of impact, or would my time be better spent on traditional marketing? Or maybe just having a margarita and catching up on The Good Wife?"

I am sad to say, from a professional marketing and branding perspective, an effective social media strategy is paramount for connecting with your audience, and thus, you'll need to pour out that margarita (it's 9 a.m., for heaven's sake) and get cracking. Good news is, it's easier than you think to devise a winning social media strategy. In fact, I've broken it down into 5 easy steps:

TOSS the elaborate plan. Many social media efforts fail before they get started because there's too much planning. Nail down what you want to accomplish, make sure it benefits your audience, then GO.

FOCUS your efforts where your audience is most engaged. This isn't an all-or-nothing endeavor. Pick one place to focus, whether it's a blog, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram or whatever and focus your efforts.

STICK to a schedule. Determine how much time you realistically have to spend on social media, put it on your calendar, and stick to it 100% of the time. Period.

CREATE an ideas file. There's that little "I had writer's block" problem solved.

HIRE it out. Maybe social media just isn't your thing. Pay someone to do it for you. Investing in marketing is always a good investment, and a smart social media campaign will build your business.

See? Easy.

(This post is a recap of an article from my newsletter. Read the full article "5 Easy Steps to Consistent Social Media Success" here. Sign up for the quarterly Amy Mac PR newsletter here.)