This is a superb check list from ClickZ Analytics to help you determine if you are on track with your social media marketing efforts, and which areas you need to improve on.

Listening

1. Do you have brand monitoring and/or other analytics in place? If you don’t have the budget for professional social media monitoring, use free options such as Google Alerts, Twitter Search, and Google Analytics.
2. Are you analyzing the information collected?
3. Are you taking action where appropriate based on your brand monitoring? Remember, about 2 percent of the comments require any company interaction.

1. Do you have social media guidelines for how employees should represent themselves and what they can say?
2. Do you have guidelines for what’s acceptable for customers and the public to contribute on your organization’s website, blog, and/or forum? This doesn’t mean you can delete negative comments! Customers will say whatever they want on their own and third-party social media networks where you have no control.
3. Do you have a crisis management plan? If so, do you review it regularly to ensure it’s up to date and employees know what to do? If not, here’s help to develop one.

1. Do you have goals for your social media marketing? This is a critical first step of any marketing strategy. Don’t think it’s just a test and we’ll figure it out later. If it works, you’ll need to make a case for more resources.
2. Are your social media marketing goals related to your overall business objectives? This is a must for any marketing plans!
3. Is your social media marketing driving revenues? For many businesses, this is a sign of social media maturity.

Management

1. Does senior management buy into social media as part of your marketing and business plans? Recognize this can be difficult to achieve. Research shows leadership at one in three businesses supports social media marketing after three years.
2. If management doesn’t buy into social media marketing, are you bringing them up to speed? Chances are that you need to show how it drives results associated with business goals.
3. Are you expanding buy-in beyond senior management? Think customer service, sales, product management, human resources, investor relations, and other organizational departments.

Social Media Marketing Strategies

1. Do you have a social media marketing strategy? What do you want to accomplish?
2. Are your social media marketing strategies integrated with your overall marketing plans?
3. Are employees monitoring social media marketing implementation(s)? Customers will use every point of contact to reach a human being.
4. Are you promoting your social media marketing efforts? To drive customers and the public to your social media marketing, you must continually promote it. Use internal media.
5. Do you make it easy for social media participants to share your content? Think social sharing including Facebook, Google+, LinkedIn, and Twitter.
6. Do you have tailored call-to-action and tracking mechanisms integrated into your social media marketing efforts? Prospects and customers need to be guided through your sales process.

Social Media Marketing Content

1. Are you creating tailored content for your social media marketing initiatives? Since social media thrives on content, ensure your social media efforts have the fuel they need.
2. Have you created a variety of content formats?
3. Does your content support every stage of the purchase process? The information consumers need may cut across your organization. To support these efforts, use an editorial calendar and marketing personas.
4. Is your social media-related content integrated into your search optimization efforts?

Social Media Marketing Budget

1. Do you have a dedicated social media marketing budget? Social media marketing isn’t free! You can’t count on having a robust social media marketing strategy without financial and headcount resources. If you don’t have a dedicated budget, can you leverage other resources or hide your social media marketing budget?
2. Do you have headcount dedicated to your social media marketing efforts? If not, are social media marketing activities incorporated into specific employees’ job descriptions? If no one’s required to do the work, it won’t happen.
3. Do you have social media training to ensure employees understand how to engage on social media platforms and are consistent in how they represent your organization? Many firms overlook this important factor.
4. Do you have a social media contingency plan to ensure you have personnel involved and monitoring social media 24/7? What happens if your social media manager’s sick or unavailable and there’s a problem?

Metrics

1. Do you have established metrics to track social media marketing efforts back to marketing and/or business objectives? This is best done when you’re planning your strategy.
2. Do your metrics include the full purchase process not just the last marketing touched? Social media can influence customers before you realize they’re shopping and after they’ve bought your product or service.
3. Do your social media metrics go beyond marketing? Think broadly across your business such as customer service.
4. Are you measuring the ROI of your social media marketing? Understand it takes time to have a well-integrated social media marketing strategy where you can measure your investment and results accurately. Short-term, determine whether your social media marketing contributes to achieving your business goals.