For guidance on this one, I'll put my money on one of the originals in the social media game, my friend Lon Safko, who has already published his third edition of the bestselling book, The Social Media Bible (http://www.amazon.com/Social-Media-Bible-Strategies-Business/dp/0470623977). In the book, and in his popular lecture series, he says you can do it yourself, and outlines five steps to success, which I have adapted a bit for startups as follows:
Analyze existing media, social media, and your demographics: Before you start, analyze existing media, demographics, and new social media alternatives for a fit to your rollout campaign requirements. Factor in the fundamental shift to pull marketing taking place across the world in media and advertising. See more detail on pull marketing later in this section.
Understand the basic tools – the social media trinity: Blogging (WordPress), micro-blogging (Twitter), and social networks are the...