A great article appeared in Fast Company called ‘Abusing Social Media.’ In comic/tragic ways, it details how some very savvy brand marketers like Starbucks and Papa John’s have done some pretty stupid things when attempting to use leverage web 2.0 platforms and technologies like widgets, Facebook or Twitter.

In order to help companies avoid wasting money and/or looking foolish when stepping into the world of social media marketing, here are some best practices to follow:

1. Know Your Audience: This is a fundamental consideration in any marketing endeavor but it’s doubly important with breakthrough-type efforts that run the risk of not garnering the attention they deserve or alienating your customer base.   Once your audience is identified, deeply explore and understand the platforms, tools, methods or styles under consideration to reach your target.

2. Align with Your Strategy: Make sure your campaign is clearly correlated with your business goals for maximum impact and ROI.  Carefully plan tactics to convert user engagement into brand awareness, customer acquisition, retention, or upsale.

3. Be Creative: Presumably, your reason for entering the social media space is to effectively connect with customers and prospects.  Hence deployment of a lone corporate Twitterer talking about nothing of value isn’t going to get you anywhere.  Invest in inspired brainstorming and superior creative thinking so your campaign can make a genuine impact.

4. Establish Realistic Benchmarks: The Fast Company article references a Facebook widget with 34 active users that may have cost $34,000 to build and deploy.   When defining your social media plan, carefully research competitive campaigns to help determine reasonable, comparable participation/penetration metrics.  These numbers, in turn, should help validate your budget.

5. Make a Commitment: Even if you’re simply testing the waters, back up your social media marketing with a bona fide commitment from your organization and your team.  Invest appropriately in creative, execution, and support.  Back up your campaign with a well-considered outreach strategy and a reasonable p.r. effort.  A half-hearted operation may do considerably more harm than good, while a successful one can make a tangible impact on your business in many ways.