Social media can be used as a marketing tool by almost any business and can prove to be an effective way of reaching those consumers who would not necessarily be accessible to the company otherwise.

Given the variety of companies that have used social media to effect, it would be fair to say that it is not the product that ensures success but rather the company’s execution and commitment to social media.

Employing various social media platforms into your marketing campaign can potentially reduce costs involved in market research, logistics and advertising as well as providing a channel that can deliver news and information instantly.

If you decide to employ social media as part of your marketing campaign be warned; social media can just as easily invite criticism and bad press if not handled correctly and could be disastrous if left to the mercy of viral vultures.

The following tips should help you to get started:

1. Be consistent. Don’t just start Tweeting because everyone else is doing it. Establish what it is you want to say and to whom and decide on the best platform to do this. Also fix on an online personality in keeping with your company’s offline personality and ethics in order to present a coherent company image. Social media isn’t a stand alone tool; it should seamlessly connect with other marketing endeavors so that people receive the same brand experience both online and offline.

2. Be logical. Following the four Cs framework should help you to devise a suitable social media plan and will increase the significance of you endeavors. By focusing on Content, Conversation, Connection and Collaboration, your company’s social media strategy will provide increased customer value as well as a consistent structure.

3. Be engaging. There is little point in having accounts full of consumers if you are not going to engage with them. More online followers does not equal success. Engaging content will provide more value to the customer and aid retention and loyalty to the brand. Consumers can be very promiscuous and switch to the competition at the click of a mouse. If people don’t have a good reason to follow your company online then they won’t.

4. Be transparent. Social media channels provide companies with the opportunity to present a human side to the faceless corporate image and enable real interactions and open dialogue. Making connections with people builds opportunities for the business and allows for valuable discussions that can be as effective as employing market research. Never manipulate dialogue or attempt to control what people view. This contradicts what social media is about and consumers will see straight through the facade.

5. Be prepared. Social media invites open conversation and people are free to write whatever they want, within reason. Be prepared to deal with negative feedback or unwanted comments. Monitoring and listening to conversations means that this can be dealt with promptly before it incurs negative results. Responses should be considerate of customers’ remarks and demonstrate that the company is listening. Ignoring comments or responding in an unprofessional way could spell disaster, especially if the content is picked up by other channels or the mass media.

6. Be aware. Don’t just concentrate on what you do or the channels that you use. Chances are conversations about your company or brand are happening elsewhere and could be doing more damage to the business than you think. Be aware of what’s going on in the online world as not all publicity is good publicity. On the other hand, contributing to positive online input elsewhere will increase your public profile.

7. Be original. Creating entertaining, original and creative content can be useful for increasing sales but also brand awareness. Particularly entertaining content can create a buzz and potentially become viral if picked up by bloggers or social media sites like Digg. Creating memorable and original content that also provides value to the customer is priceless. However, be careful not to sacrifice the brand identity or customer worth in return for a clever gimmick.

8. Be organized. Having a specific person or team working alongside the main marketing team will help to keep social media efforts up-to-date and input coherent. Constantly monitoring, listening to and contributing to conversations and adding new content will keep the channels fresh and avoid accounts becoming stagnant and ineffective.

9. Be dedicated. If you decide to use social media as part of your marketing campaign, you should be one hundred percent committed to the cause. A half hearted attempt could do more damage than not having any social media presence at all.

10. Be cool. Don’t use social media to simply push sales or talk about products and services. Similarly don’t just talk about rubbish or office gossip. Think about what might interest your customers or try to incorporate recent trends or events into your posts. Keep input at a consistent level; consumers don’t want to be continually bombarded with updates or posts. There can be too much of a good thing.