In the realm of using social media to promote your brand, have you taken the time to build out your strategy to ensure you get more bang for your buck? Even if you are doing all of your own social media tasks, you still need a roadmap, something that guides your actions and your message, ensuring it’s true to your brand.

To that end, there are certain social media truths that must be considered when building your strategy. You’ve likely heard some of these in the past, while others may be something new. All are worth consideration – especially if your social media strategy could use a facelift. Take a look and see if any of these truths hit a nerve:

1. The next big thing is a drain on resources
2. Consumers want to be inspired
3. Markets are created through communities
4. People don’t want to buy things, they want to be a part of something (refer to point 3 on communities)
5. Don’t just seek the Like – go for the engagement
6. Bring value to the table – don’t just shout advertisements
7. Be real
8. Be realistic
9. Use tools only as tactics not your overall strategy
10. There are no guaranteed results
11. Do the hard stuff first
12. A broken business is not fixed with social media
13. Fix the business strategy before launching the social media strategy
14. Avoid automation when engagement applies
15. Study your audience – learn from their actions and activities
16. You will lose followers
17. You will get criticized
18. Don’t stress over where to start – just start
19. Measure, measure, measure – but only those things that matter
20. Only communicate on a human level – only the tools are computerized.

That wasn’t so bad, was it? Only a 20 item list – and each item is digestible. It’s true that there are many more truths to add to make your social media strategy take off, but this list is a great place to start. The point is to take a closer look at the mechanics of social media and how they apply in your environment. At the same time, keep in mind that it’s not the be all to business success – it simply gets you in the conversation.