While the decision to take the social media plunge requires careful consideration, figuring out what exactly to do through a social media presence requires a robust, comprehensive strategy. Merely jumping on the bandwagon and putting up minimal/irrelevant updates can only lead to major trouble for your brand’s reputation. Some fantastic examples of how big brands have leveraged social media to power their brand communication include GE, Citibank etc.

While setting up an internal team sounds like the easier thing to do, it is also the trickier option. To start with, one needs to hire dedicated resources who have considerable expertise in the field. To expect an existing resource to take on social media marketing in order to ‘learn a new skill’ would be a risky decision to make as a manager. Not only will that mean that the effort won’t get the kind of attention it deserves, it will also result in minimal results if at all. The other risk is that putting rookies up to the task as a learning exercise means that you should expect sub-par outcomes and a not-so-great reputation in social circles.