With 2013 right around the corner, there’s no doubt you are planning next year’s marketing strategy. When thinking about your plans, don’t forget to dabble in the world of social media.

This past year was a big one for social media. Facebook reached one billion users, 175 million tweets are sent out every day, and Pinterest users spend an average of one hour and 17 minutes on the network every time they are logged in.

PR Daily talked with thought leaders in social media to provide some tips to incorporate into your plan.

• Mitch Joel, president of Twist Image, says his number one tip is to read a lot. He says, “Read content out of your sphere of interest and read content that drills down into areas you are very passionate about.” Reading inspires his creativity and helps him create great content at least once a day.
• Liz Strauss, founder of Inside Out Thinking, suggests you get to know your customers and always make it about them. Share how your product or service benefits the people you want to move to action.
• “My tip for social media marketers and for marketers in general, is simply this: Focus on serving your customers and prospects,” says Shelly Kramer, CEO of V3 Integrated Marketing. She says when you do this, you are relevant and add value.
• CEO of Social Media Explorer, Jason Falls, says to integrate. Mix your channels of communication to support each other. “A healthy mix of the two – engagement and calls-to-action – and integrating social as the close –to-the-bone connection point will help us be more integrated in our approach to social,” he says.
• Christopher S. Penn, co-founder of PodCamp has a similar tip to Falls. He says marketing is integrated and social media is one important ingredient. ”Work closely with all of the other branches of marketing to maximize synergy and success.”
• Blogger at Social Media Examiner, Kristi Hines, says to define your goals for social media and make sure you measure your results to ensure you’re meeting them. There are a lot of tools to choose from when you are measuring, so do some research and find the right one for you. Some examples are Google Analytics, Crowdbooster, and Social Mention just to name a few.
• Steve Rubel, EVP of global strategy and insights at Edelman says to follow how the media use social media. “No one has innovated and iterated more than the press and it has helped their core business immensely,” he says. We can all benefit from their knowledge.

There are many different ways to create and execute your 2013 social media plan. To be successful plan, execute and review your plan. And most importantly don’t forget to measure. These tips will get you off to a good start in preparing for 2013.

What other tips would you add? Have you already started to build your 2013 social media plan?

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