Creating a Brand/Awareness

• Build credibility - Establish yourself as an industry expert. Publish articles and messages about anything related to your industry. Give free and useful information.  This will not only gain you credibility but also drive more hits to your website. 
• PR - Did you know the media are watching social networks for interesting news ideas?  Well they are.   So think of catchy headlines that are topical and use these for updates. Find people in the media on the social networks and invite them to be part of your network so they can receive your updates.
• Successes - Share your successes.  It lets people know you are in business and making progress.  This could be a new client, an award or media exposure, for example.
• Projects - Share what you are working on. It better explains your services and others may offer suggestions.
• Announce new products or services - This lets people know you are continuing to grow your business.
• Announce promotions - Let your networks know of any special offers your company has.
• Give your company more personality - Some CEO’s are using social media to connect on a more personal level with their employees and customers.  They post company news and also share personal reflections and interests.

Customer Service

• Customer service interaction - Some companies have created websites that allow customers to add, delete and edit content. They list answers to frequently asked questions about each product and let customers add contributions.  Other companies monitor information and may interact (fix an issue or maybe just let the customer know that a problem is being addressed) with customers having issues or concerns.
• Customer feedback - Some companies aren't as much social media participants as they are social media "listeners”. Using search tools on the networking sites are an easy way to keep track of what's being said about a company, its product or the industry.

Professional Development

• Feedback/Help - You can ask any question in the world and get an answer on sites like Twitter. You can ask for feedback on a site you’re building, ask a question about a program you are trying or even ask a question about your dishwasher. People are just waiting to help you.
• Newsfeeds/Education - Find people in fields that you would like to receive updates from or learn more about.  Join communities or groups.

If you are going to use social media to supplement your marketing activities, then create a messaging calendar. Determine what your goals are and the types of messages/networks that will help you obtain them.  Then build your messaging/activity calendar week by week.  You should be doing status updates/messages at least once a week so people can get to know you.  Some advocates of Twitter recommend at least one message per day.  By having a well thought out strategy and plan, you will maximize your impact and time spent utilizing social media.  And again, even if you are not ready to actively participate, at a minimum set up accounts and “listen”.