So you are all ready to jump on the social media bandwagon. Visions of thousands of Web hits and unsolicited leads dance in your head. Social networking services are free, easy to use and can yield tangible results – if you have a plan.

Once again it all comes down to the fundamentals of public relations – understanding your target audiences and building meaningful (credible) relationships with them. All the fancy tools in the world will get you nowhere without a strategy in hand. So before you play with social media ask yourself these basic questions:

• Do I have a basic understanding of what social media is and what it is not?

• What are the objectives I hope to achieve through my social media program? How do those objectives support my organization and my bottom line?

• Who am I trying to reach through my social media program?

• Are my target audiences engaged in social media? If so, how and where? What is relevant to them? And, just as important, what is not.

• What, if anything, are people saying about my organization online?

• How can I reinforce my organization’s key messages through social networks? What will work? What won’t?

• How am I going to gauge the success of my social media program? What benchmarks do I hope to achieve and in what time frame?

These basic questions are just a starting point. Remember your social media strategy should NOT simply be a corporate Facebook Page or Twitter account. With a little bit of planning, and a strong understanding of the medium, social media can open new doors for your organization.