Social media can provide a highly useful tool for companies and individuals looking to expand their reach, however used incorrectly it can make your company look out of touch. Here are my 5 steps to better social media:

1. Spread it around and mix it up – chances are your audience is not all on one media service. So spread it around. I like to use twitter, facebook, tumblr, flickr and others to make sure I reach a wide variety of audiences. Also mix it up, don’t just make all your twitter and facebook updates reference your blog. You will have overlapping audiences so make sure there is original material in each place, you can overlap some but too much will hurt in the long run.

2. Consistency – Some people/companies will have a lot to push through social media, some will have little. Above all just make it consistent. The worst thing you can do is hardly tweet for weeks, then push 50 out in a day, and then go back to almost none. Dramatic swings in post numbers will make you lose followers/friends/fans.

3. Monitor it – Social media is a bit like websites. You must monitor it and make adjustments in order to be successful. Do things like utilize link monitoring on twitter (bit.ly, hootsuite), add google analytics to your tumblr, and get a flickr pro account.

4. Be responsive- Embrace the social aspect of social media. Even if you are a big company/popular individual. People feel special to get a response, this enhances your loyalty and makes people more likely to buy your product, services, or listen to what you have to say … if responded to well.