In celebration of our expanding social media department, we’re creating a series of social media anecdotes for you, our devoted readers.

And, like any good story, we’re starting at the beginning—the place where many find themselves when starting to sort through the social media clutter. Everyone knows the top social media channels—unless you’ve been on a deserted island the last few years—and everyone knows that, as a business, you need to join the conversation. (Actually, even if you were on a deserted island, you and the palm tree probably had a Facebook profile.)

Needless to say, we know social media is a must-do. But that isn’t reason enough to drop everything and start building a profile here and a RSS feed there. There are a few things you should do first before creating your social channels:

• Clarify your overarching business objectives—not social media goals, but business goals
• With your goals in mind, craft a clear story for your audience
• Listen to social media channels to see where your story fits and determine the right platforms to use

We’ll be discussing these topics further as part of our ongoing social media series.

If you take away one thing from this newsletter and this series, it’s to be sure not to jump the gun. Don’t create multiple accounts and profiles without doing your due diligence. We’re not saying it’s not good to learn by doing. It is. Just don’t drag your brand along with you. Instead, create a test account—a personal or dummy account—to learn the nuts and bolts of a platform first. You want to have a strategy firmly in place before letting your brand wade into the deep, dark waters of social media.

Next post, we’ll tackle goals and stories as they relate to your social media marketing.