There’s a lot of debate about who "owns" social media. At Castle, we continue to focus our time on what we do best – communicating and presenting our clients’ messages, values and opportunities intelligently and meaningfully. When it comes to social media strategy, we play many roles. Sometimes we simply monitor the conversations on behalf of clients, sometimes we collaborate on strategy; most likely we're walking in lockstep with clients to create engaging content, build communities and track results. Here are some conversation starters – what else is on your mind?

I know I need to be online—beyond “Facebook for Dummies,” how do I determine the best SOCIAL MEDIA STRATEGY when the options change every day?

PR is about content. Social media is about content. The options change quickly, but your strategy shouldn’t. It starts with your message and your audience, and then a consistent focus on marrying the two in the shrewedest possible ways…

I have no idea WHERE TO START WITH SOCIAL MEDIA.

There’s no one place to start for any organization. Like any marketing effort, your participation should be guided by your marketing goals. Goal-setting is step one of social media immersion. What are your goals...

How much will SOCIAL MEDIA COST me?

There’s a cost to any marketing initiative. Social media brings with it a need for financial, creative and human resources. Depending on your company’s size, you may need 24/7 monitoring, in-house staff and agency support to develop content, build communities and participate in communities. It’s important to put the right resources toward social media to even start to experience success…

I’m concerned about NEGATIVE COMMENTS on social networks.

Often companies that receive negative feedback from their communities deserve it. Other times, a small number of disgruntled people can cause you angst. But they will voice their concerns and complaints whether or not your organization is participating in social media. It’s better to be engaged and proactively manage any crisis or bad comment. Doing so with finesse and delivering successful outcomes require thought and energy…

Can you manage INVESTOR RELATIONS through social media?

Smaller organizations can have success reaching investors, analysts and the public through social media. For OTC companies especially, we see lots of opportunity to share your investor value, tell your story and enhance your shareholder value through social media done right. Are you looking to put “social IR” in place for your organization...