Building relationships is important for any business interested in selling their products.  A social media campaign allows you do that.  However, it’s important to understand that success is based on execution – not just going through the motions.  When you engage in social media, you should create a series of contact points for prospects to share your content, like your Facebook page and spread your message.

Here are the three important components that can help you have a more focused social media program

1. Take time to create your messaging, voice, tone, positioning in the market place.

What is your objective?  Don't take the first step until you know the destination: sales, page traffic; audience perception?

Know the audience, starting with their email address and opt-in status. Learn their preferences through two-way communications and analytics, then learn more by experimenting so you can further personalize.

Building a valued relationship depends on sending the right message at the right time to email and social audiences, based on customers' wants and needs.

The best campaigns go light on sales, heavy on value -- and the call to action is more like a way to keep the conversation going. Keep content light, fun and engaging and it will get shared.

2. Deliver with Impact

Let the nature of the message help determine which channels are most appropriate. Businesses can use email to automatically share campaigns and messages to Facebook fans, Twitter followers, Linked-In connections, and email subscribers -- not to mention blogs.

Keep it simple with email-social templates, ditto for producing Facebook landing pages, creating engagement and delivering messages with professional-looking "Like" pages that are clean and focused.

Viewers respond more enthusiastically and are more likely to share your messages with video.  A combination of video and email can show benefits instead of a long article.

3. Make Measurement Count

Success can't be measured without an established way to get metrics. Measurement can't succeed without set benchmarks. It's the starting line and the finish line of each campaign.

Reporting will show how campaigns drive page visits, shares, new Facebook fans and email subscribers so that it can all be tracked and the campaign success exactly measured to fine-tune future campaigns.