Social media is a great tool for research as well as customer service. Used effectively  social media can improve your profit margin.

There is a flip side is that it can become a distraction when using it as a tool for for employees. Sometmes it’s tough to see how stopping to read twitter or browsing the Facebook News Feed can be productive to business.

Social media is just like any other tool. Used right  it can make a major impact or wrong become a time sink. The challenge is to formulae a good strategy to use this as tool and minimize the distractons.

Make a Plan, Set Goals and Execute

Do you need more traffic to your website, or are you looking for more brand awareness? Do you want to prevent bad press before it happens, or are you more interested in creating a community that will generate good press? Decide on the goal first.

Once you have a goal, set a plan. Set up metrics to measure success and implement tools that will help you measure ROI.

Execute. Don’t be afraid to reach out, make mistakes, and be vulnerable. Even if you make a mistake.

Avoiding Social Media as a Distraction

- When you need to concentrate on an intensive tasks close social media windows and apps.

- Dont use the tools when your bored. This is for business not recreation.

- Prioritize. Focus on the tasks at hand before using social media to create more.