I published this blog post recently on the Sysomos blog:

In the last blog post, we talked the importance of having a focused approach to social media as opposed to trying to be all things to all people. If you buy into this theory, the next step is determining the best and most appropriate social media services that meet a company’s strategic and tactical needs.

The first – and probably most important – step is listening to what’s happening within the social media landscape. It’s a walk before you run approach that gives you a good handle on where the most conversations are happening about a company’s brand, products, services and industry.

If there’s lots of chatter on Twitter, it probably means Twitter is a good place to get involved. If there’s no action within the blogosphere, then maybe starting a blog isn’t such a good idea. All you want to do during the listening phase is discover the hot spots.

The next move is selecting a small handful – one to three – of social media services where the target audiences exist. Then, a company needs to determine whether it has the people who can run these services on a day-to-day basis, whether it needs to hire some people to dit, and whether there’s a budget (time/money) to make it happen.

Once these hurdles are handled, it comes down to tactical execution and making sure that whatever you do is sustained, enthusiastic and engaged. A key point to remember is social media is a long-term commitment in which tangible results can take time to materialize.

Sure, there are examples of companies that hit the social media jackpot with a video or contest that goes viral but these examples are few and far between even though you might get the impression they happen all the time based on how often they’re cited by social media consultants.

Another important consideration is that it’s important to take a flexible approach to social media. While you may have a well-defined social media strategy, you also need to go with the flow, experiment and be willing to change directions tactically if you’re not getting the desired results even after putting in the time.

Final point: despite the hype surrounding social media, it’s still early days. There’s lots of time to get involved so don’t feel like something has to happen right away. Take your time, study the landscape, and then take the plunge.