A few days ago I met with my roundtable group of 25+ marketing executives from a very eclectic group of companies and industries to discuss how they are responding to social media. Some of these executives have barely dipped their toe in the water. Others have taken the plunge and are treading water, while yet others are in the eye of the storm.

Here are some key bullet points from the roundtable discussion:

• Get clear about why you’re taking the plunge. As marketers, think about using social media in terms of critical strategy and keeping your target audience and corporate business goals front and center. Blogging and tweeting are just activities serving no particular useful purpose unless you know what you are trying to accomplish. The end goal is not to “be on facebook.” Define your ROI! Are you seeking a reduction in number of calls to your customer service center, are you seeking publicity for a new product, or awareness of your cause marketing initiative? What else?
• Carve out the time to learn the technology and not feel guilty about it. It doesn’t cost anything (except your time). It costs way more NOT to be involved.
• Be open to learning, allow yourself to “goof”, change your assumptions and have ah-ha moments.
• Make sure that you, your CEO and executive team are “socially relevant.” This may mean having to become clever in your strategy to convince your CEO and peers to dip their toes in the water. Find out what their passions are and help them get started by monitoring activity in that arena. Perhaps your CEO is a motorcycle fanatic? Perhaps your CFO is a gourmet cook? Show them how they can use the technology by feeding their passion.
• Get help. Find a mentor. Hire an intern. Get a consultant to do some behind-the-scenes social media coaching.
• Be patient. Give yourself time to gradually immerse yourself. No way to take shortcuts. Build your network and expertise over time. This is about engaging in conversation and building community.
• Find out who else in your company is using social media and partner up. For example, HR is using social media extensively in attracting and recruiting prospects.
• Recognize the potential of social media as a public relations tool as well as a crisis management tool.
• Be yourself or be your brand, but be authentic/transparent either way. Social media allows you to become more authentic in your relationships with customers. Listen to both the good and the bad, complaints as well as compliments.
• Take advantage of the ability of social media to track trends and listen to the “voice of the customer” in unique ways that supplement your more traditional research methods. Use search functions to track keywords and monitor how folks are talking about your company and industry.
• Leverage the ability to reach your influencers and journalists that cover your industry. These folks, in turn, can carry messages/issues to larger audiences.
• Recognize that the boundary between your personal and professional life is getting blurred (use privacy settings on social media sites such as Facebook).
• Capture the existing passion of your audience/customers. Don’t try to force a conversation.
• Use social media to break up “the arthritis in the joints” in your organization. If you have web sites that are “old” and your IT staff is not very responsive to updating requests, social media will provide you with another venue to communicate quickly, immediately and authentically with your customers.
• Use social media to tie a cause to your brand (cause marketing). For example Tide’s “Loads of Hope” raised $100,000 in four hours via Twitter.
• Use social media as a tool for competitive intelligence and measurement. Tealium was mentioned as a tool that goes beyond Google Analytics.

What other advice do you have?

Do you have stories illustating how social media is providing challenges/opportunities in the workplace. Read what others say and add your own: http://HRUndercover.com