Every association needs a Social Media Toolbox equipped with a Social Media Policy and  a Social Media Strategy. Without these essential tools, you will not be able to build a healthy, effective online presence.

Before you send your team out into the world of Web 2.0 with nails and not a hammer, use these tips to construct a Social Media Strategy.

Listen.

Listening to social media means getting an idea of what is being said about your organization or similar organizations. This can easily be done by setting up Google Alerts for keywords that are important to your association’s mission and goals. Google Alerts can send you notifications through email or through Google Reader. Also searching for keywords or hashtags (pre-selected phrases prefixed with a # sign, usually used for a specific event) on Twitter can produce real-time search results.

Identify the gaps in content that you can fill.

In addition to seeing what is being said about your organization, work towards understanding what your members and potential members desire from online communities and content. Many Twitter users will pose questions to their followers asking for advice on selecting a service or product, or to finding a solution to a problem.

Get to know the communities and how to interact.

Before you jump into a forum or on a social networking site, it’s best to learn the ropes. Get a feel for how people interact because it is different from one social media site to another.

Establish goals.

Besides setting goals for social media, consider how the interaction fits into the association’s communication strategy and goals. Identify if and how social media is contributing to building awareness, developing relationships with members and distributing valuable content.

Check out our newest edition of WhiteSpace about measuring ROI from social media efforts.

Distribute your social media policy.

Don’t have one? Check out our blog post on creating a social media policy for your association.

Go to town.

Finally, you can add content. But, only valuable content that fits within the association’s social media policy and strategy.

Review, adapt and repeat.

Regular reviews of how social media is affecting your association’s communication efforts is a must. Use some of the tools listed on our comprehensive guide to social media metrics and ask users how they are enjoying the online experiences to get a well-rounded view of how to adapt.

Even if your organization does not officially engage in social media, it’s very likely that some of your staff members have profiles on social networking sites like Facebook. Having a social media policy is something every organization should consider. But, what exactly is a social media policy, and what should it say?

Here are some tips to help you create a policy that fits your association.

Six Tips to Help you Get Started

1. Introduce the purpose of social media policy.

Staff members need to know what’s in it for them to get them to read the policy and adopt the guidelines. Let them know that the goal of the social media policy is to empower everyone to engage with social media responsibly. The policy is not simply about protecting the association’s reputation, but also about protecting those who chose to participate. Encourage them to be smart about protecting themselves because what they publish is widely accessible and can be around for a long time.

2. Define what is included in the policy.

Let staff members know that the policy applies to all employees and contractors who contribute to blogs, wikis, social networks, virtual worlds, or any other kind of social media. List specific examples including Twitter, Facebook, commenting on online media stories, etc.

3. Define the rules of engagement.

Encourage staff members to be authentic and themselves by using their name, company info and title when appropriate. Remind them that they are a valuable asset to the organization, and their involvement with the association’s social media efforts will enhance the experience for everyone. Just as in meetings in the office, everyone is responsible for what content they share and should strive to add value to conversations.

4. Comply with company conduct policies and company culture.

Everyone needs to know that the same policies that apply in the office, apply online. It’s not okay for employees to harass colleagues in the office, and doing so online will not be tolerated. Same goes for sharing of private conversations and confidential information. Using common sense and common courtesy are great rules to follow.

5.  Set rules for moderating content.

Let staff members know that the social media sites within the association’s control will be moderated, which is the act of reviewing and approving 3rd party content. To create a safe environment for users, you should let it be known that all offensive, abusive, illegal and irrelevant content is prohibited. As content is added from anonymous users, it should always be reviewed before being approved. This isn’t the case for content being shared by registered users. Also, let staff know how you plan to handle comments that could be considered negative for the organization. If you are going to have an authentic online presence, then you can’t hide all the bad comments. Instead, look at it as an opportunity to show the world how you manage conflict.

6. Where to get more information.

There may be times when staff members get involved in conversations online that turn nasty, and they don’t know what to do. Provide employees with a method of contacting your PR department about issues like this. Also, reminding employees that they can contact the HR department to have questions answered about the policy and on how to protect their privacy online. Of course, this first means you must equip your PR department with the skills necessary to handle potential problems. And, provide resources to the HR department that can be used to teach users how to protect their online reputation (i.e. a class on how to properly set privacy settings on Facebook).

Take a look at policies from companies and organizations that are similar to yours. Use those benchmarks and these tips to guide you in creating a policy that fits the culture of your association.

RCG’s Comprehensive Guide To Measuring Social Media Metrics
A list of tools to help you measure ROI, engagement and help you develop social media strategy.

The essentials:

Google Analytics
Feedburner

Calculators:
ROI Calculator for Social Network Campaings from Frog Loop

Social Networking Media ROI Calculator from Dragon Search Marketing

Tools, widgets & more:

Sometrics
Analytics that measure social advertising efforts.

Social Media Metrics Plugin for Google Analytics

Bit.ly
URL shortener that tracks information like number of clicks, traffic sources, and even at what time clicks occur.

Xinu Returns
A great dashboard overview of your website’s standing in social media. Run a report and you will receive information on Technorati, Googe Pagerank, Diggs, and even backlinks to your website.

PostRank
Detailed information on Tweets, stumbles, diggs, and Friend Feed. Great for blogs with a lot of content

SocialToo
Create social surveys and track social stats. Also, reports on Twitter follows and unfollows.

Tweet Reach
Follow your tweets and retweets to see how far they travel.

Social Meter
Check out your site’s social popularity on sites like Digg, Reddit, Delicious, Furl, Google, Technoratic and more.

Statsaholic
Compare rankings and other info on up to three sites at a time.

Site Volume
Compare how often keywords show up on a site.