Social media is not a strategy.  It is not a goal.  It is a series of tactics.

I’m not one for semantics, when it comes to your social media the difference between these three terms are important.

If you are a small business or a startup trying to venture out into the social media world, you can easily be led to think that you should neglect traditional marketing, customer support, PR, and just replace them with social media.   

“We need to put everything on Facebook and Tweeter, that way we won’t need to send out newsletters!”

If that statement makes sense to you, or is even remotely attractive, HALT. Don’t even think about taking that direction. Go get your marketing plan, and consider where social media tools will support or extend your existing marketing strategy.  (Social media can enhance more than just marketing, but that’s a good place to start)

These are the actual Merriam-Webster definitions:

Strategy : the science and art of employing the political, economic, psychological, and military forces of a nation or group of nations to afford the maximum support to adopted policies in peace or war

Goal : the end toward which effort is directed

Tactic : a device for accomplishing an end

Don’t get so hung up on these terms that you become paralyzed.  All you need to do is have a clear, written plan to help you accomplish your corporate goals.  You’ll use a variety of marketing strategies, one of which is social media.