Your company’s revamped Web site is up-and-running and your social media networks are in place. Now what?

It’s time to start the conversation. Social marketing is a participation game. It’s about engagement. Successful social marketing campaigns require a fresh, consistent stream of useful online content. Here are three tips to keep in mind:

 Be a Publisher

Remember, your company has more to offer than products and services. You can provide useful information. Treat yourself like a publisher. Talk about your industry. Position yourself as an expert, all by crafting interesting content. Sonia Simone, senior editor of Copyblogger noted “great content gives social media life by giving people something more interesting to talk about than what they’re ordering right now at Starbucks.”

Show Personality

When creating content, take a multi-faceted approach. Post useful information and do so often. Give your Web site and social networks a shot of personality. Rebecca Lieb, vice president of eConsultancy, considers that a proven approach. “Think of the personalities not only of your consumers, but of your organization, your brand and your products,” she wrote in Marketwire.com. “This is not a new concept – we’ve had personalities like the Maytag Man in advertising for decades.”

Get Search Results

Once you’ve solidified a voice and committed to fresh content, you’ll reap the benefits of attracting new visitors. As Lee Odden of Mashable explained: “Websites that frequently add content provide more web pages for search engines to include in search results and attract more links from other websites.” Likewise, Brent Csutoras of Search Engine Land, wrote: “Content is what will convince people to return to your site and sign up for RSS feeds. It will be what inspires another blogger or webmaster to want to link to you… it will be what is likely to help your content and site rank better within search engines.

That’s right, content and search engine optimization go hand-in-hand. Your words – be it a blog entry, Tweet or Web page content – can work for or against your business goals. So get going, craft your next message, connect with a new Facebook fan or comment on a relevant blog. And let us know how it impacts your business.

By now a third of businesses recognize social media as a useful tool in promoting products, services and solidifying a brand identity. According to the results of a Deloitte 2009 Ethics and Workplace Survey taken last month, 30 percent of executives noted that social networking was indeed a part of their business strategy. But, as noted in the e-Marketer article, The Problem with Social Media in the Office, 55 percent did not have any sort of official policy for using the networks.

It makes us wonder – are these executives wielding the power of social networking carefully? Are they devoting the proper time and attention to the networks they have chosen – primarily Facebook and Twitter? Are they engaging other users?

Leveraging social media in the workplace is not always top-of-mind. Not all businesses that stand to benefit from this type of exposure can require their employees to sit in front of a computer screen. For those professionals, it is truly important to seek out a dedicated, experienced PR professional who can support these efforts.

Ask yourself:

A. Do I have a social networking strategy?

B. Are my social media efforts linked directly to my marketing plan?

C. Is the time spent on social networking supporting all of our efforts – event planning, specialized pricing, promoting new products and services?

D. Or is it just an afterthought?

If you answered D, it’s time to seek support to guide your efforts. Social networking requires an investment of time. When executives cannot afford to spend time using these tools correctly, the business itself stands to suffer. The message becomes fragmented.

In business, perception IS reality. So tell us, how is your company perceived? An outside perspective and social media strategy can give any company a serious edge moving forward.