We don't drive clients to use social media because it's the latest craze.  We assess the social media landscape as it relates to each client - their market, their buyers, and their competitors.  

We look carefully at the following for each client to assess the social media landscape:

1.  What's going on in your market?
Identify where your buyers go to learn about new products and services.  What are the destination sites, and who are the influencers in your market?

2.  What are your competitors doing?
It's important to understand what your competitors are doing in relation to social media.  If they're all over the destination sites that your buyers visit, that's a potential competitive threat.  If they're not, that could represent a competitive opportunity.

3.  What activities do your buyers engage in?
Another critical factor to evaluate is what activities your buyers want to engage in.  If your buyer isn't the type to comment on blogs or post ratings or reviews, then it doesn't make sense to put a lot of effort into creating these tools or participation on those types of sites.

On the other hand, if your buyer is already actively engaged in blogs, social-networking sites, or social-bookmarking sites, you can accordingly plan the activities you should focus on.

Finally, each client's readiness to dive in must be assessed.

Link to article:  http://www.marketingprofs.com/8/factors-to-consider-before-jumping-on-social-media-bandwagon-erickson.asp?sp=1

Lynn Moss
Def 6 Client Manager